The Williams Sisters Are Out and Wimbledon is Wide Open
Venus and Serena Williams are legends of tennis even though both sisters have yet to turn 32 years of age. The pair have won 12 Grand Slam doubles titles together and won multiple titles playing alone, and sometimes against each other. However, in 2011, their Wimbledon performance was less than stellar. Both sisters left the event with straight-sets defeats, only the second time in 11 years they were both shut out so early.
Serena Williams was actually the defending champion this year, but lost to Marion Bartoli of France. The same event saw five-time champion Venus Williams lose to Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria (a repeat of last year). Neither sister advanced to the quarter finals.
What explains this fall from grace? It’s not merely a coming of age story; Serena Williams actually took time off, close to a year, in order to recover from foot surgery. She also had blood clots in her lungs and a hematoma in her stomach. In fact, she only came back to tennis within the last month. The older sister Venus took time off (although five months compared to her sister’s yearlong absence) in order to recover from a hip injury.
Both sisters showed weak game, as Venus dropped serve four times and made 16 unforced errors. Serena also showed signs of rustiness. Unfortunately, neither sister had much time to prepare for the tournament–a tournament that features world-class competition. Not too many in the industry we’re surprised, as in previous years, the Williams had more time to prepare, healthier bodies, and excellent momentum going into the event. The sisters have played a total of 16 matches this year.
In reality, the Williams have nothing to be ashamed of, as they dominated the sport throughout the 2000 decade and late 90s, and have won many accolades and awards. Wimbledon goes on, even with the phenomenal Williams sisters out of action. Atop the women’s singles rankings as of June 27, 2011, we have Caroline Wozniacki, Vera Zvonareva, Li Na, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova, making up the top five. Will the favorite Sharapova go on to win the event or will there be an upset?
For the men’s singles, we have Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Robin Söderling in the top five. How will the event end? On July 3, 2011 a new tennis champion will be announced, just in time for the official 125th anniversary of the series. Who do you think is going to take the men and women’s singles championship?
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Categorized in: Tennis
Tags: Wimbledon