May 31, 2008

Before I let go.....she did beat herself

Wow! Friday's pill was a tough one to swallow. With Serena's exit from Roland Garros, there will be a 1st time French Open Champion. The match began at 5:00am (EST) and I got up at 3:45am to shower and watch the match before arriving to work at 7:30am. As I watched the match and saw Serena's forehand go awry, volleys smacked wide and overhead smashes (and casual strokes) land in the net, I knew the result was not going to be a favorable one. Granted, Serena did beat Srebotnik in Charleston (to go on and win her 1st Family Circle Cup title), but I knew (when I posted the "match-up" info on my blog) that this was going to be a tough one. When Serena lost her serve I was thinking, "this is not the match to start off slow" (which she has a habit of doing). Srebotnik got so many balls back that all she had to do was wait on Serena to make the error, which she did. Serena went only 1-for-7 on break points, including 0-for-5 in the second set. She also lost 14 of the 21 points when she went to the net, thanks to some poor approach shots, crazy volleying and four passing winners off Srebotnik's racket. Srebotnik took Serena out of her game by repeatedly changing angles and speeds and showing some awesome retrieving skills.

Gosh, I did not have the energy or desire to talk about any of this yesterday. I was seriously in a state of shock and was praying that no one asked me about this match (ESPECIALLY AT WORK)! I'm over it, Serena will learn from it (it must truly sting) but she will go on. Besides, green grass beckons and the opportunity for a 3rd Wimbledon title. Being 25-3 thus far this season with 3 titles is not bad, not bad at all. Keep moving forward Serena. Call me crazy but if she gets FOCUSED (she's already fit), I can see her winning Wimbledon, a few summer hard court tournaments, Olympic Gold, the U.S. Open and regain the #1 ranking. That being said, my pick for the French Open..... Ana Ivanovic.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

God! I did not expected her to lose... not at this time of the tournament at least... with her and Sharapova out, i stick with Ivanovic too...

Btw, me and my friends love ur blog (we're from brazil).

RRice27927 said...

Victor,

I truly did not expect Serena to lose this tournament (at all). I want to thank you and your friends for visiting and appreciating the blog. I kind of felt that Safina was going to beat Sharapova today. Maria did not impress me during this tournament and Serena only showed a few (quick) flashes of brilliance. Hopefully they will bounce back and I hope sooner than later, especially Serena!