Was it because it was the thirteenth day of the tournament? Or was it the fact it was the 11th anniversary of the "Black Day" when Martina lost that heartbreak of a final attempt at title #10? Whatever it was, today was just not our day. Martina lost both her matches within the span of a few hours and just like that, her Wimbledon was over.
The womens doubles loss came in the form of a straightforward 6-4 6-4 defeat to the unseeded pair of Svetlana Kuznetsova & Amélie Mauresmo. Martina & Anna-Lena put up a brave fight towards the end, rallying from 1-5 down to come to within a point of levelling at 5-5 but it was not enough.
The mixed result is one that will haunt me for a long time to come. Martina & Mike lost to the #4 seeds, Kevin Ullyett and Liezel Huber 3-6 6-4 9-7. The specifics of the match have already been covered on the message board. Our team started out at an acute disadvantage. Mike had to play a four-set mens doubles final earlier in they day (which he lost). Martina, as mentioned before, was invovled in her womens doubles match. On the other hand, Huber had just a quick womens doubles match earlier while Ullyett had nothing besides the mixed. Nevertheless, what makes this defeat so disappointing is the number of opportunities our team had to finish the match off, first in straight sets and then again in the third. It is not often that you lose a match after being a set and "two" breaks up - 6-3 3-0. Or that you lose after being up a break in the third with multiple chances to consolidate that lead with a double break. Or you lose after serving for the match at 6-5... on second thought, I guess Lindsay Davenport would disagree... Anyway, I'm not sure exactly what happened out there and right now, I honestly don't want to know. This could well have been Martina's final Wimbledon and today's double-whammy seems like such a cruel way for it all to end.
Two articles on the two matches from the tournament website here and here. For photos, click on the following links: Photo One, Photo Two, Photo Three, Photo Four, Photo Five, Photo Six. Martina's final column appeared in today's Guardian; while a very nice interview with her appears in tomorrow's Observer. I've tried not to provide links to articles that attempt to psychoanalyze Martina and her intentions on her 21st Wimbledon article but this one from 'The Independent' seems harmless enough; just take the commentary with a grain of salt.
Perhaps a week from now, I will look back on this tournament and realize what a great run it was for Martina to get to the semis in the womens doubles and the quarters in the mixed. After the year we've had since the Australian Open, this is obviously one of her finer showings - the womens doubles result is certainly her best of the year to date. Thank you, Martina, for all the memories from this Wimbledon fortnight; the happier ones of which will stay with me forever.
The womens doubles loss came in the form of a straightforward 6-4 6-4 defeat to the unseeded pair of Svetlana Kuznetsova & Amélie Mauresmo. Martina & Anna-Lena put up a brave fight towards the end, rallying from 1-5 down to come to within a point of levelling at 5-5 but it was not enough.
The mixed result is one that will haunt me for a long time to come. Martina & Mike lost to the #4 seeds, Kevin Ullyett and Liezel Huber 3-6 6-4 9-7. The specifics of the match have already been covered on the message board. Our team started out at an acute disadvantage. Mike had to play a four-set mens doubles final earlier in they day (which he lost). Martina, as mentioned before, was invovled in her womens doubles match. On the other hand, Huber had just a quick womens doubles match earlier while Ullyett had nothing besides the mixed. Nevertheless, what makes this defeat so disappointing is the number of opportunities our team had to finish the match off, first in straight sets and then again in the third. It is not often that you lose a match after being a set and "two" breaks up - 6-3 3-0. Or that you lose after being up a break in the third with multiple chances to consolidate that lead with a double break. Or you lose after serving for the match at 6-5... on second thought, I guess Lindsay Davenport would disagree... Anyway, I'm not sure exactly what happened out there and right now, I honestly don't want to know. This could well have been Martina's final Wimbledon and today's double-whammy seems like such a cruel way for it all to end.
Two articles on the two matches from the tournament website here and here. For photos, click on the following links: Photo One, Photo Two, Photo Three, Photo Four, Photo Five, Photo Six. Martina's final column appeared in today's Guardian; while a very nice interview with her appears in tomorrow's Observer. I've tried not to provide links to articles that attempt to psychoanalyze Martina and her intentions on her 21st Wimbledon article but this one from 'The Independent' seems harmless enough; just take the commentary with a grain of salt.
Perhaps a week from now, I will look back on this tournament and realize what a great run it was for Martina to get to the semis in the womens doubles and the quarters in the mixed. After the year we've had since the Australian Open, this is obviously one of her finer showings - the womens doubles result is certainly her best of the year to date. Thank you, Martina, for all the memories from this Wimbledon fortnight; the happier ones of which will stay with me forever.
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