Serena d. Maria, again (aka early Groundhog Day)

POSTED BY BESS: Going into last night's women's final, here was my thinking: "Serena will most likely win. I just hope it's a respectable showing for Maria and a good match." I certainly nailed the Serena call, and I got what I hoped for with Maria's performance.

As you'll see below, Dave and I texted throughout the match. Let the record show that Dave, professed Sharapova superfan that he is, was ready to throw in the towel after the first set. I, however, mere mortal Sharapova fan that I am, was holding out hope.

That's kind of how it went, match-wise and texting-wise. One would never know that Dave and I are professional communicators with exchanges like this:

It seems odd to watch the world #1 and the world #2 face off and just simply hope it's not a bloodbath, but that's the essence of the Maria/Serena match-up. So one-sided, for so many years. As Dave said, and I quote, "This is where you realize Serena is the better athlete, technically. And player, mentally." 

And so it came to pass, that Dave begrudgingly acknowledged Serena's superiority.

Thankfully, the second set turned out to be a great display of what makes Maria and Serena respectively great. Maria refuses to give up. Serena can summon greatness at will--especially when the trophy is in sight. 

All credit to Maria for staying in this one--serving well, taking risks and keeping Serena on her toes as long as she did. I'm sure Maria's frustrated with the loss, but I also believe her when she says she wants to play the best, and Serena is it. So she'll take the loss (again) and hopefully learn from it.

Does Maria desperately want to beat Serena one of these times? No doubt about it. Hopefully last night proved she has more of a shot than most people (myself included) gave her credit for. And maybe one of these days she can give the classiest of victory speeches against Serena, instead of the classiest of runner-up speeches. 

As for Serena, she is now second only to Steffi Graf for major titles in the Open Era, prompting Dave to text this, post-match:

Barring injury, I feel it's somewhat inevitable. You know, 23 is not that far away from 19--when you're Serena.

One more note from the final: that 12-minute rain delay while they closed the roof. What is with the army of ballkids with towels, on their hands and knees madly "drying" the court while it's still raining? So bizarre.

Dave and I had a funny exchange about it. (See left.) But Chrissie Evert's comment was the best, "It looks like the movie Annie out there." Someone else chimed in, "It's a hard court life." Brilliant.

My sleep deprivation is beginning to show. I should wrap this up. 




DAVE ADDS: This is absolutely a nightmare, stoked by my getting up at midnight to watch the women's final, and then trying to go back to sleep after such a sad defeat. (There may have been some noshing on pizza in there, too.) Slowly waking up here on the West Coast, and to Bess' public declaration, no less, that I have "acknowledged Serena's superiority" once and for all.

Ouch.

I'm so sorry, Maria. Please don't hate.

The second half of the second set was fun to watch. THAT'S the kind of final which I had hoped for Maria, and selfishly, for me. Something highly competitive, and also truly reflective of both athletes' great talent, physically and mentally. They are both such fighters! I'm grateful that Maria's fight and intensity finally came through, even though it was too little, too late. So, I truly can't complain or criticize. At least the match didn't go as quickly as I had originally feared.

My prediction, shortly after the start.

Props to Serena. She's got the eye of the tiger, as they say. And the mad skills to deliver on that intense focus. She truly is a powerhouse. You know, Chrissie remarked that Serena should be concerned about Keys and "all of the other power players rising to the top of women's tennis now." Like who? Personally, I don't see that kind of depth. If Serena stays healthy and motivated, which she certainly should with Graf's and even Court's records in sight, then I see no reason why she won't remain #1 for this year, and likely beyond.

Are you still with me? Good.

Listen to this short video clip, please, of Maria's post-match speech. Such gracious and sincere remarks about Serena. And you'll love what she says about "the life of a tennis player." (Let's just say that we can all relate, whether you're a tennis player or not.) Perhaps what I most admire about Maria is that graciousness and honesty, in victory but especially in defeat. She's a true class act. Bravo, Maria!

On a closing note, I'd like to remark on how amazing Navratilova looks in this video clip. She's 58 years old, people! To be honest, I was always Team Chrissie, rather than Team Martina. (Sorry, Martina.) It's a bit like I'm Team Maria, not Team Serena, I suppose. One is clearly more powerful than the other, and I'm repeatedly for the underdog.

I have long admired Martina's physicality and intensity, though, just like I do Serena's. As the years have passed, I've grown to admire Martina even more for all that she's done for the LGBT community, true underdogs in our society. Likewise, I was encouraged last night to hear Serena mention she donated $200 for each of her aces to motor-neuron disease research. Maybe Serena is growing into that true champion status, where she realizes that it's not about the trophies and the twirling, but rather the sportsmanship, the role modeling, and the leveraging of one's star status for the greater good.

On to the men's final tonight. Can't wait!

TENNIS FANS: Will Serena go on to break Steffi's Open era record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles? And what's next for Maria? Weigh in, please!