Wimbledon Singles Semifinals

Two Mondays ago, there were 128 players. Now, there are four left. Wimbledon seems to have flown by in a flurry of aces and errors, routine wins and upsets. Today, the ladies play their semifinal matches.

The seeding held up for the three top women: Lindsay Davenport (#1), Maria Sharapova (#2), and Amelie Mauresmo (#3). However, there is one unexpected semifinalist: Venus Williams (#14). Her sister Serena was seeded fourth, but went out in straight sets during her third round match with Jill Craybas after struggling in her first two matches.

Venus is a surprise package; despite her two Wimbledon and US Open titles, she hasn't been beating the top women players for the past two years. Yet she blasted her way to the semifinals without dropping a set by playing the athletic power tennis she was known for. She plays Sharapova today; their head-to-head record has Sharapova winning the two times they have met. Neither of these occasions were at a Grand Slam tournament, and Maria has incentive to get to the final. After all, she is defending Wimbledon champion. This will be a match to watch, because both are big hitters. However, television viewers would be well-advised to turn down the volume on their sets while watching, because both are loud grunters (er, screamers?) as well.

In the other half of the draw, Davenport meets Mauresmo. After a brief stint as world number one, Amelie surrendered the top ranking to Lindsay when she had to retire in a final against Lindsay last year. Although Mauresmo made it to the Wimbledon semifinal last year, she suffered a mental lapse (common whenever she plays a big Slam match) and lost to Serena Williams.
Davenport has a better record during Slam tournaments; she has won the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. This year, she made the French Open quarterfinals despite playing without much interest. Their match may be a testament to whose mental fortitude holds up longer.

Meanwhile, in the men's singles event, the same thing has occurred. The top three seeds Federer, Roddick, and Hewitt are in the semifinals, but the Swede Thomas Johansson (#12) sneaked in, slaying Slam giant-killers such as David Nalbandian and Max Mirnyi. Johansson (not to be confused with Joachim Johansson, his countryman and fellow tour player) won the Australian Open in 2002 by defeating Marat Safin. However, that career achievement has been seen as an anomaly. This year, he seeks to prove that perception wrong as he meets Andy Roddick tomorrow.

For the third time in three years, Andy Roddick has reached the Wimbledon semifinals. However, this time around he had to pull out two five-set matches: his second round match against Daniele Bracciali and his quarterfinal versus Sebastien Grosjean. After losing in five sets at last year's US Open and in this year's French Open second round, I'm relieved to see Andy tough it out and win. However, he needs to play better as his potential opponents may be better able to capitalize on the lapses that put him in the five-set situation.

One of these potential opponents is Roger Federer, who plays Lleyton Hewitt in the other men's semifinal. Federer has dropped only one set in his run to the semifinal, and his head-to-head record versus Hewitt shows him to be at an advantage. The last seven matches they have played, Federer has won. Federer has also bageled Hewitt five times in those seven matches. In this year's Australian Open and French Open, however, Federer has been beaten in the semifinal round. Can Hewitt avenge his 6-0, 7-6, 6-0 loss from last year's US Open?

I've watched this year's tournament from the start; I'll be watching it finish on Sunday.

(Originally posted on June 30, 2005.)

posted by Noelle De Guzman @ 12:00 PM