Tennis has always been my favorite sport and no other sport can take it’s place. I can remember the first time i ever watched tennis on TV and getting hooked to the glamour of the game. It was way back in 1988 when I watched the Wimbledon Ladies finals on tv during a beautiful rainy day in Karachi (wow i cant believe it’s been 20 years). That was when i fell in love with the new champion Steffi Graf who defeated Martina Navratilova in a three set thriller (5-7, 6-2, 6-1). That was the moment I knew that Tennis would be the only sport I would follow. I respect people who religiously follow Cricket (a lot of fans in the sub-continent) and Football (most of the world and the English). I can’t pretend to love these sports as they are not my cup of tea. I have to admit though that I only watch the Ladies playing as it’s a lot more fun than watching Men play. They say that the Gentleman game is loads more fun than the Ladies Singles. I don’t see any fun in watching men hit the ball and try and finish the game by clinching 3 sets to win the match. It is a lot more fun to watch women play in a competitive manner and to seal the deal. Anyway once again I have drifted away from the main post which was to discuss Wimbledon 2008. Wimbledon is one of the most prestigious Grand Slams as it is very “posh”. There was a time when i would only watch the tournament because I loved watching Steffi Graf win. It was sad when she played her last Tournament in 1999 when she lost to Davenport. That was when I decided to back a new player. Venus Williams was a young upcoming player at that time and she was one person to watch out for. That was when I decided she was the one for me and she would be my favorite player till her retirement. Serena Williams joined the list a couple of months later when she won the US Open.
Wimbledon is no fun without the Williams sisters. I remember the thrill I got when I found out that Venus won Wimbledon for the third time in 2005. I was totally gutted when I found out she had lost to Jelena Jankovic in 2006. That put me down big time and I refused to read the sports pages both on line and offline. It was a big thrill for me once again when Venus won Wimbledon for the fourth time in 2007. She was very elated and was on top of the world. I felt like i was a part of her victory as I prayed a lot for her victory. People laugh at me when I tell them that i love Venus and Serena. They are all like “they look like men”,”classless gals”, etc. I don’t care as i am a loyal fan and I believe in them full time. They are true sports superstars in their own right who haven’t burned out because they only play when they know they can compete. Venus and Serena have truly been dominant at Wimbledon throughout the last eight years except for the losses to Sharapova and Mauresmo. I don’t seem to understand why all these commentators always have no good word for them and are always backing the underdog.
Wimbledon 2008 has been quite exciting for me so far. I have been following the tournament both online (on the BBC website where i can view streaming video) as well as the normal BBC channels. I was so stressed about the matches that I kept dreaming about Venus and Serena playing. So far I am very happy as most of the seeds have crashed out. Venus and Serena did not play so well during the first 3 rounds. However they are playing really well now and have even trashed the so called giant killers. Serena was really powerful in her match against the Polish player Radwanka or whatever her name is and won in straight sets 6-4, 6-0. She was so dominant in the second set that i thought the Polish player was gonna break down and cry. It proves that Serena has the potential to make it to the final and win. Venus had a good match against the Thai player Tamasurin who played really well. However she wasn’t powerful enough for Venus’s serve and eventually lost. Dementeiva had a tough match against Petrova as both of them played erratically and seemed to crumble under the pressure. I am so glad I did not watch them play as they aren’t my favorite players. The big surprise of the tournament is the Chinese Wild card who has made it all the way to the semis after defeating Vaisodova and is no gonna play Serena. I hope Serena plays as well as she did in the quarter finals. I really want the sisters to play against each other in the final on Saturday provided the heavy rain forecast doesn’t ruin the day for them.
I really think that the tournament officials are biased as they made the Ladies play on court 2 on Monday. Court 2 is known as the Graveyard of Champions as a lot of people have lost playing over there. I guess it’s all psychological and that’s what brings them down. Fortunately Venus and Serena managed to win all three of their matches on Monday despite the awful reputation of Court 2 (Singles and Doubles). It is rather unfortunate that they were made to play there despite being former Champions. They would never subject the men to such treatment. It took the Tournament Officials forever to give the women equal prize money. It proves that Men always give preferential treatment to their own kind (for shame you chauvinist jerks). I know some of my words sound like as if i am quoting what the players said but then it’s true.
I just hope that the sisters win against their opponents on Thursday and reach the Final. It doesn’t matter who wins as one of them will have a major title in her name once again. Good luck to you girls. Wish you all the best.
