The Mark Graham Sports Blog's posts tagged wimbledon

See all posts tagged with wimbledon »

• Serena Moves Into Second Round at Olympics

  July 28, 2012

  

  Serena Williams ousted former world number one Jelena Jankovic to move into the second round of the Olympic tennis singles event at Wimbledon.

  Williams, just coming off her fifth Wimbledon title, defeated Jankovic 6-3, 6-1 in a dominating display. She had a first serve percentage rate of 76% and had 20 winners compared to 11 unforced errors.

  Serena broke Jankovic's serve to open the second set and got off to a commanding 4-0 start. It took Serena only 27 minutes to win the second set.

  "I was a little nervous in the first set, but I think once I got relaxed, I played a little better," Williams said. "I actually think I played solid. I felt the ball well. I missed a few shots, but at least I was going forward."

  Serena will now face Urszula Radwanska in the second round. Urszula is the younger sister of Agnieszka Radwanska, the second ranked player in the world.

  0 Comments
• Rafa Pulls Out of Summer Games

  July 19, 2012

  

  Spainish tennis star Rafael Nadal has pulled out of the London Olympics, stating that he is "not in condition" to compete.

  Nadal said that the decision to pull out of the Summer Games is one of the saddest moments of his tennis career.

  Nadal aggravated his knee during his second round loss to Lukas Rosol in this year's Wimbledon. He has not played since the loss.

  Nadal was set to be the flag bearer for Spain for the opening ceremonies.

  He was set to defend his gold medal won in the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

  0 Comments
• Tsonga Receives Painful Hit From Opponent

  July 07, 2012

  During yesterday's Wimbledon semifinals match between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Andy Murray, Tsonga suffered what appeared to be a painful shot. At least for us guys.

  Tsonga would recover to take the third set, but lose the match to Andy Murray.

  Who says tennis players aren't tough?

  0 Comments
• John Isner Ousted In A Five Setter On Day One

  June 25, 2012

  

  American and 11th seeded player John Isner was upset on day one in a five setter against 73rd ranked Colombian Alejandro Falla.

  Isner lost 6-4, 6-7(7), 3-6, 7-6(7), 7-5 at the All England Club on Monday.

  Isner was considered by many to be a sleeper pick at this year's Wimbledon but just didn't have it today.

  Falla won 27 of 34 net points to overcome the tall Isner's 31 aces. Falla broke Isner's final service game to win the match.

  John Isner is best known at Wimbledon for playing, and winning, the longest match in tennis history, an 11 and a half hour marathon that ended with Isner defeating the Frenchman Nicolas Mahut, 70-68 in the fifth set. Isner had a chance to face Mahut for the third straight year at Wimbledon in the second round.

  0 Comments
• Wimbledon: Day 1 Update

  June 25, 2012

  Wimbledon Day 1 results as of 12:30 EST

  Gentlemen's Singles

  (1) Novak Djokovic def. Juan Carlos Ferraro 6-3, 6-3, 6-1

  (8) Janko Tipsarevic def. David Nalbandian 6-4, 7-6 (7), 6-2

  (13) Gilles Simon def. Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3, 5-4 ret.

  (17) Fernando Verdasco def. Jimmy Wang 7-6 (7), 6-4, 7-5

  (18) Richard Gasquet def. Tobias Kamke 6-2, 6-2, 6-2

  (26) Mikhail Youzhny def. Donald Young 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3

  (28) Radek Stepanek def. Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-1, 1-0 ret.

  (29) Julian Benneteau def. Gilles Muller 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 (7)

  Ryan Sweeting def. Potito Starace 6-2. 2-0 ret.

  Michael Russell def. Adrian Menendez-Maceiras 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (9)

  Ruben Bemelmans def. Carlos Berlocq 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (7)

  Inigo Cervantes def. Flavio Cervantes 2-6, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-2, 6-1

  Philipp Petzschner def. Blaz Kavcic 6-4, 6-4, 6-2

  Jeremy Chardy def. Filippo Volandri 6-0, 6-1, 1-0 ret.

  Fabio Fognini def. Michael Llodra 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5

  Ladies' Singles

  (1) Maria Sharapova def. Anastasia Rodionova 6-2, 6-3

  (3) Agnieszka Radwanska def. Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3, 6-3

  (5) Samantha Stosur def. Carla Suarez-Navarro 6-1, 6-3

  (11) Li Na def. Ksenia Pervak 6-3, 6-1

  (15) Sabine Lisicki def. Petra Martic 6-4, 6-2

  Camila Giorgi def. (16) Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-3

  Stephanie Foretz Gacon def. (29) Monica Niculescu 6-4, 3-6, 6-3

  Arantxa Rus def. Misaki Doi 7-5, 6-3

  Elena Vesnina def. Venus Williams 6-1, 6-3

  Tsvetana Pironkova def. Vesna Dolonts 5-7, 6-0, 7-5

  Bojana Jovanovski def. Eleni Daniilidou 5-7, 6-3, 2-0 ret.

  Andrea Hlavackova def. Kai-Chen Chang 6-1, 6-2

  Su-Wei Hsieh def. Virginie Razzano 6-2, 6-4

  Ayumi Morita def. Jarmila Gajdosova 6-4, 6-3

  Anna Tatishvili def. Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-4, 6-2

  Sorana Cirstea def. Pauline Parmentier 6-4, 6-1

  0 Comments
• Venus Ousted In First Round At Wimbledon

  June 25, 2012

  

  Five time Wimbledon ladies champion Venus Williams has been eliminated from this year's Wimbledon, losing 6-1, 6-3 to Russian Elena Vesnina.

  It's the first time since 1997 that Venus had lost in the first round at the All England Club.

  Venus has been battling an autoimmune disease that she was diagnosed with during last years US Open. She lost in the second round of this year's French Open, her first Grand Slam tournament since being diagnosed.

  Williams lost her first five games to Vesnina, the 79th ranked player in the WTA. Venus played a better second set, but her serve was broken when she missed a forehand shot by Vesnina. Vesnina clinched the match on a service winner.

  Williams has played in 16 straight Wimbledon's and, before today, hadn't lost since her debut.

  0 Comments
• What Is The Greatest Sports Theme Music Of All Time?

  June 20, 2012

  Lately, I have been pondering about what is the greatest sports theme song of all time?

  Excluding John Tesh's amazing "Roundball Rock" for NBA on NBC, a classic, what could it be?

  Here's one that could be: The old NBA on CBS theme.

  The quintessential basketball theme of the 80s. You hear it and just wait for Magic and Larry duking it out at the Garden or the "Bad Boys" of Detroit throwing punches.

  Another nomination is the old Hockey Night in Canada theme.

  You know its great when an entire nation and Wayne Gretzky spoke up and tried to save it (to no avail however, CBC lost the rights).

  Or what about Wimbledon on NBC?

  Waking up as a child on a Sunday morning and hearing this as Andre Agassi took to the hallowed grass of Centre Court is perhaps my earliest tennis memory. I look forward to Wimbledon every year, but now the song is silenced because ESPN now has the exclusive rights to Wimbledon. You will be sorely missed.

  There's countless others that I don't have the time to put on here. Hit up my Facebook page (link to the right of the screen) and tell me your favorite theme.

  0 Comments
• Aussie Open Woman's Final Is Going To Be Loud

  January 26, 2012

  With Victoria Azarenka's three set win over defending champion Kim Clijsters and Maria Sharapova's win over Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, the two will now face each other for the Australian Open championship.

  Problem is both Azarenka and Sharapova are regarded as the loudest players on the WTA. Players have complained about their loud grunts they make as the tournament continued on.

  Polish tennis player Agnieszka Radwanska said of Sharapova screaming, "About Maria, I mean what can I say? For sure that is pretty annoying and it's just too loud." The Australian crowd mimicked Azarenka's grunts during her second round match against Aussie Casey Dellacqua.

  This leads to the debate of changing the rules to curb excessive grunting for its players. However, you can't also change the way a player approaches their game, if a player who's grunted and screamed throughout their career, it's going to be hard to change them with just a little rule. They need to start at the root of the problem and that's junior tennis. Those players are still young and you can change them and prohibit the grunting. Nick Bollettieri, you should listen to this.

  One thing is for sure though, if you are at Rod Laver on Saturday, bring some earplugs. You'll need them.

  0 Comments
• The Phenom That Never Was: Andrea Jaeger

  October 19, 2011

  The year was 1980. The USA hockey team defeated the mighty Soviets in hockey. Ronald Reagan defeats Jimmy Carter for the presidency. The game Pac-Man is released and young Andrea Jaeger was introduced to the tennis world. But in five short years her career would end and a new, more rewarding life started.

  Chicago native Andrea Jaeger was the best junior tennis player in the United States becoming the youngest to win the prominent Orange Bowl and Boca Raton in 1979. In 1980, at the age of 15, she became the youngest player ever ranked at Wimbledon (later surpassed by Jennifer Capriati) and made it all the way to the quarterfinals. Later that year, she would become the youngest player to become a US Open semifinalist and was named Rookie of the Year.

  However not everything was coming up roses of Jaeger. Her relationship with her father was a strained one. Jaeger's father, Roland, pushed her into the sport as she lost her childhood and was trying to deal with the nasty world of professional sports. He would sometimes physically beat Andrea and would berate whenever she lost and once berated her throughout a 1,000 mile car ride after a loss in the US Open. Before her Wimbledon Finals match in 1983 against Martina Navratilova, Jaeger and her father got into an extremely heated argument and kicked her out of the room. Jaeger tried to get Navratilova to convince him to let his daughter back in, but Navratilova refused to help. Navratilova's trainer however did help her get a taxi.

  The next day Jaeger lost to Navratilova 6-0, 6-3 a match Jaeger later said she threw. She did not want to become a top ranked player and threw more than one match to keep her from not getting the top ranking. As she was becoming a big star, she would frequent hospitals and got more enjoyment out of helping those in need than winning titles.

  In 1984, Andrea Jaeger suffered a career ending shoulder injury at the French Open. Instead of seeing it as a curse ahe saw it as a blessing. A reason to leave the sport and the drama surrounding it and start a new life. Many young athletes probably would have fallen down the wrong path but not Jaeger. Andrea Jaeger attended college an received a degree in theology. In 1990, she used all of her winnings to start Silver Lining Foundation, a foundation that helps children with cancer by sending them to Aspen for a week of activities and support. The first contributor to the foundation was John McEnroe and many others followed suit. Andrea Jaeger, at the age of 41, became an Anglican Dominican nun in 2006.

  Andrea Jaeger had finally found her calling and it wasn't tennis. She has done more good in this world than she ever would have had she won Wimbledon. She has touched the hearts of many sick children and tried to make their lives better. Oprah Winfrey has called her, "A superstar turned superhero."

  Truer words have never been spoken.

  0 Comments