A few thoughts...

Posted by BESS: A few additional thoughts on the men's match... interesting tidbits I picked up from watching the NBC broadcast, coupled with a few of my own observations:

• Since the rankings change tomorrow, today's men's final was the battle of the outgoing and incoming number ones. While personally I think it would have been more interesting for the incoming No. 1 to lose to the outgoing No. 1 (only furthering the ongoing debates about the confusing ranking system and being some consolation to Rafa), it's certainly a better statement for Djokovic that the incoming No. 1 beat the outgoing No. 1. A little sigh of relief for him. Complete victory.
• It took an amazing 10 minutes into today's NBC coverage before someone mentioned Djokovic's new gluten-free diet, which is credited with his incredible 48-1 win streak this year. It took about 20 minutes more for them to haul out the tired "Nadal was a righty who was taught to play left-handed" storyline. Yes, we get it. Given the amazing stories in tennis, however, get some new plot points! While the Djokovics are not my favorite tennis family, I feel there are a battery of interesting tidbits you can discuss about what they've done--together--to drive Nole to the top. Get some journalists on this!
  
• Djokovic v. Nadal pitted two of the game's fastest on court with two of the slowest between points. Quite a contrast. Nadal is notoriously methodical and slow between points. But while Djokovic had seemed to curtail some of his incessant ball-bouncing before the serves, that habit returned a bit today. And it definitely rears its ugly head when he's stressed--a dead giveaway to his opponents! At one point I found myself getting all Brad Gilbert-ish, because I totally called a Djokovic double-fault based on the amount of ball bounces. And, yup - there it was!
• Djokovic has clearly gotten inside Nadal's head. While Nadal had won all five previous battles in the majors, Djokovic had beaten him four straight times coming in to Wimbledon. Both of them mentioned that mental edge in their post-match interviews with McEnroe. It's got to be a powerful advantage for Dj0kovic. Now, even stronger. [Note that I typed all this before reading this quote from Nadal's post-match press conference, paraphrased, but still interesting: "Dude is in my head. I know it, you know it, he knows it. Now it's on me to figure this out." Wow! Such honesty.]
• Djokovic has ended a 7.5-year run where either Nadal or Federer held the No. 1 spot in men's tennis. The "stranglehold" we so often hear about. And as much as they're trying to tout this new "top three," with no offense to Fed, it really feels like a clear "top two" to me right now. The pundits keep saying they believe Fed has more major titles to win, but I'm not so sure. I think we all agree that for it to happen, lots of things have to be in Fed's favor in any given tournament. I think we also all agree that we'd like to see it happen.
  

And a few final tidbits on the women's side:

• While Wimbledon Champion Petra Kvitova thankfully doesn't contribute to The Great "Grunting" Debate of 2011^®, Mary Carillo pointed out that Kvitova has her own audible tic--what Carillo called Kvitova's "squawk of delight." Love that name! And once I noticed it, I actually found it kind of endearing. It's a little "yip" she utters after winning a point. I can't find a clip of it - but trust me. ;)
  
• Sports Illustrated's Jon Wertheim tweeted during the pre-final warm-up that Kvitova was actually returning Sharapova's practice serves. Wertheim commented that it was shaky etiquette, but he liked the statement it made. Wonder if this will become a thing?
• I indicated I might do a post on the player's fashion at Wimbledon, but then I ended up being quite bored with it. Usually there's something a little more compelling. But other than the two mentions Dave made to Venus's toga/jumper and Betthanie's Lady Gaga-inspired get-ups, there were not many notable outfits--good or bad. Although I did gradually grow to appreciate the neckline on Maria's otherwise forgettable dress, as far as fashion goes, bring on the U.S. Open!

More later, perhaps. But for now, Wimbledon is over...

First round bracketology

Let's cut right to the chase. In the bracket challenge, the first round results are:

Bess
Women: 40/64
Men: 53/64 (nice!)
Total: 93/128

Dave
Women: 37/64
Men: 43/64
Total: 80/128

So far, I am in the lead! Never fear, friends of Dave. This will likely not last long. He has a history of winning these things. All. The. Time.

In other news, I was able to get caught up on some of the matches last night, but not a lot.

Some highlights for me:

• Dave's right that Kimiko Date-Krumm was impressive and refreshing. You go, 40-year-old! Your level of fitness is enviable. And the tennis was downright entertaining. Congrats to Venus on a good win.
• I, too, was sad to see James Blake go. I didn't get to watch that match, but as I said, it was bittersweet either way as I also love Marcos Baghdatis. Hopefully he can stay alive for a few rounds and make it worth the price of Blake. Next up for Bags is Seppi and then, gulp, Novak Djokovic.
• The big news seemed to be Milos Raonic's injury just three games into his match against Gilles Muller. I'm bummed about this, because I've been hearing great things about Raonic and have yet to really see him play. And I'm not bummed about this, because had he won he would have played Nadal, so we just cleared Nadal's path a little (and he had one of the toughest draws, so it's a bit of a relief for me.) Silver lining.
• WTHIGOW Marin Cilic? He was the hot new prospect about a year and a half ago, yet he hasn't done much of late, and lost in the first round here. I sort of like him and his game, so was sad to see this result. Maybe Dave knows what's up?

On the women's side of things:

• I'm bummed that I bought into the (albeit dwindling) hype about both Sam Stosur and Jelena Jankovic. For some reason I took them both 2-3 rounds in, but both lost in the first round. Particularly deflating for me since I truly should have trusted my gut on that Jankovic pick.
• I had picked Christina McHale to make it to the second round, which she did, beating Makarova who was seeded. Nice job, young American-I-Couldn't-Pick-Out-Of-A-Line-Up! (Sidenote: She's from New Jersey!) And since Peer lost, McHale's second round just got a little easier, we'll see how far she can go.
• The other notable loss (and questionable fashion... see Dave's post below) was Bethanie Mattek-Sands. I get that it was a tough, three-set loss. But refusing to shake the chair umpire's hand? Especially when, according to the commentators, that last shot you thought was in really wasn't? That's no way to comport yourself on court. And, as Dave also noted, it makes your ridiculous outfits seem even... more ridiculous.

That's about it for my first round wrap-up. On to round two! But next, I think we should talk fashion...

On the Edge of Glory?

Not so much, at least for Bethanie Mattek-Sands and her Gaga-inspired outfit today. If you're going to dress like a superstar, you should at least win your first-round match. Maybe she should have taken a page from Kimiko Date-Krumm, who dressed conservatively but played aggressively, showing she's still got game at age 40. (Yes, 40!) A performance both inspired and inspiring today, vs. my pick to win it all, Venus. Hope your DVR caught that match.