POSTED BY DAVE: Hurray!* Keys and
Serena will meet in an all-American women's semi. The winner will face whomever wins the all-Russian semi between
Sharapova and
Makarova. I'm loving this "Cold War" setup for a USA vs. Russia final. Aren't you?
Let's pause for just a second to acknowledge the changing of the guard. I was sad to see
Venus lose her chance for a Grand Slam semi, especially so late in her career. But Venus simply didn't have the energy and power that her younger opponent displayed. Still, she held her head high in defeat. The announcer said of Venus after the match, "A great champion, gracious in defeat." Indeed!
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| Watching via my Dell. |
In a nod to the "Cold War" era, I watched the Keys-Venus match tonight on a small screen with bland announcers, minimal graphics and sometimes-shaky video feed. At times, this felt like the 1980s all over again. But, no, this was live stream on my aging Dell, via the Australian Open website. I should feel grateful to have caught the match at all, even if it had to be online instead of via cable. Thank you, Bess, for alerting me that I would miss the Keys-Venus match entirely, unless I logged on the computer immediately. I doubted her (twice), but isn't that what friendship is all about?
*Note: This hurray intended solely for Keys. She suffered some sort of leg strain, yet showed true gut and grit by grinding out a win in three close sets, and over one of her childhood heroes, to boot. Keys hit three times as many winners as Venus; that, in and of itself, is impressive. In the subsequent match, Serena played exceedingly well, which I'm sure was, in part, a focused effort to avenge her sister's loss. But I'm not sure Serena's win is hurray-worthy. Frankly, the match was just boring. And I had predicted that it would be a bore, as evidenced by this text exchange with Bess just as the match got underway:
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| Future ESPN talent? |
Looking ahead to the semis, I'm predicting Serena and Sharapova will win their respective matches. Experience is on their side, and both are hungry to kick 2015 off in style. There's also a jockeying game in progress for the top ranking. At this point, I don't think Sharapova can steal Serena's ranking, unless Serena loses to Keys, and Sharapova wins both her semi and the subsequent final. I think that's an awfully tall order, even for someone like Maria. (Bad pun alert: Sharapova is 6' 2".)
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| So close in purpose, yet so far away from one another. |
Before I close, a random yet nagging question. Why are ESPN's tennis commentators sitting so far apart from one another at the main booth? This Slam, the gaps seems particularly large, especially when a player joins them for a featured, on-set interview. The configuration is looking more and more like a local television news forecast in a small, struggling market.
TENNIS FANS: Who do you think will make it through to the women's final? Why?
So proud of Keys last night! And, yes, sad for Venus. But overall a great start to the year for her. I hope it is a precursor of more deep runs at the majors.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping for a Keys/Sharapova final, but Keys beating Serena is definitely a tough call, especially having to play back-to-back days with that leg injury. We'll see, though!
I know I don't understand TV sports programming, but it seemed odd to me that we couldn't get the all-American Venus/Keys quarterfinal on non-Tennis Channel cable TV somewhere. A missed opportunity to promote the sport here in the U.S. I'm sure there are reasons. I just don't like the reasons. Plus, as Dave said, I miss the "voice" of my regular commentators.