Day 8: Devastating

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Agnieszka Radwanska could afford to acquire a little grace. I'm all for bucking tradition from time to time, but not when it comes to the traditional sportsmanship players show at Wimbledon by walking off the court together after a match. This is the second year in a row she has departed before her vanquisher. Nothing earth shattering, mind you. But I can't imagine it would cause her undue pain to suck it up and just do it.


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Sabine Lasicki could afford to get more fit. She hasn't won a three-setter that I'm aware of and today, she was a waste in the final set of her match. I thought she was gagging, which she might have been as well, but she was simply unable to put anything behind her incredible serve or get in position to hit her ferocious ground strokes.

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Francesca Schiavone could afford a little pampering when she returns to Italy. Strike that. Her people should throw her a big party with loud live music and a feast. My longest-lasting dark horse did everything she could to make the final eight, everything she could to defeat her opponent, but without the weapon of a finishing shot, the Russian with the body to die for and the tennis to back it up was just too strong.

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Victoria Azarenka could afford to get out of her own way. Clearly, as I said in the comments earlier, she has the talent and desire to become the star the hypemakers are trying to turn her into, but her inexcusable temper and attitude when things don't go her way will keep her from becoming a champion. Nicole Vaidisova 2.0. And I sure wish she would stop making that dying pigeon sound every time she strikes the ball. At least she could smile and chat with her vanquisher as they walked off the court together.

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Venus Williams seems unstoppable, taped knee be damned. I feel sorry for the Russian with the too-small clothes. Almost.


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Dinara Safina seems way out of her league. What else is new. But here she is in the final four despite herself. Her fight a tribute to the peasant stock from which her people come.

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Elena Dementieva seems to enjoy flying under the radar. And boy was she flying today. She can do just about everything on the court when she feels like it. If only she possessed a bigger and better serve. But what legs.

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Serena Williams seems to have played her match as though saying "Fuck you!" to the Wimbledon schedulers who decided her opponent's "hotness" trumped Serena's ranking, past Wimbledon history, and current tennis form when they put together the Day 5 Order of Play. Apparently, Serena got lost trying to find her way to the new Court 2 last Friday. Now I see why Serena said "no comment" when asked about it in her press conference after.

Today, she let her racquet do all the talking. Not another young, blonde, "rising star" was going to build a career on her back by allowing the ingenue to hit her off Centre Court. No way. No how. What Serena ultimately said was beautiful, brutal, vicious, outrageous, devastating.