Amelie vs Serena Williams

sunny wrote:Hey girls

Terrible second set
Apparently she had a medical time out for her leg.
Puh,and that first set gave me so much hope.
Come on Amelie,it aint over 'till it's over,play some more

hi

this first set gave us all hope ... but now :(

but this is just ... i so like her on grass ... :(

Pez wrote:but this is just ... i so like her on grass ... :(

yea I really thought she could pull out something big...I guess it's the leg.

sunny wrote:

Pez wrote:but this is just ... i so like her on grass ... :(

yea I really thought she could pull out something big...I guess it's the leg.

... yea ... she fought at least back in the first from 2/4 to 4/4 ... we havent seen that for a while or not?

Pez wrote:

sunny wrote:

Pez wrote:but this is just ... i so like her on grass ... :(

yea I really thought she could pull out something big...I guess it's the leg.

... yea ... she fought at least back in the first from 2/4 to 4/4 ... we havent seen that for a while or not?

Yeah that's true
But I'm really sad 'cause of the fact how low criteria got ...from 2 time GS champ,Olympic medalist, 20 and more titles to, put it in Amy's way: At least you tried.
One hard season to cope with.

sunny wrote:

Pez wrote:

sunny wrote:

Pez wrote:but this is just ... i so like her on grass ... :(

yea I really thought she could pull out something big...I guess it's the leg.

... yea ... she fought at least back in the first from 2/4 to 4/4 ... we havent seen that for a while or not?

Yeah that's true
But I'm really sad 'cause of the fact how low criteria got ...from 2 time GS champ,Olympic medalist, 20 and more titles to, put it in Amy's way: At least you tried.
One hard season to cope with.

True, she hasn't played that well in a while.
It's disheartening to see her lose. Specially on grass.
On the upside, at least we know she can still do it.
If her leg held up, I'm sure without a doubt, she would
have beaten Serena.

Was it the leg?

I half watched it and tought that both made some beautiful points! I liked it how they both came to the net, they showed serena afterwards and she said that playing doubles really helped her with the volleying.

Serena v Mauresmo: Leading ladies find it hard to remember Wimbledon lines

By Mark Hodgkinson
Last Updated: 9:25pm BST 27/06/2008

Have your say Read comments
A cold wind blew through Centre Court yesterday, which did not make things easy for Californian girl Serena Williams. The wind whistled annoyingly through the microphone on the umpire's chair, the white trench coat that Williams had worn for the warm-up threatened to take flight off the back of her own seat, and she did not look at all comfortable during the opening set of the meeting of former champions against France's Amelie Mauresmo.
Still, the unsteady tennis cannot have all been down to the weather. For all the men's shorts, tuxedos and summer trench coats that have been on show during the women's tournament, what the All England Club is yet to see is an assured and accomplished display of tennis from any of the leading players. Maria Sharapova lost to a Russian girl who did not like her shorts and tuxedo, Venus Williams took her time in beating a couple of British women, and Ana Ivanovic did not have much of a forehand in losing yesterday. Serena, the 2002 and 2003 champion, has not exactly had the Midas touch either, and there were plenty of shots yesterday that were quickly followed by loud cries or yelps of frustration that would have carried all the way up the hill to Wimbledon Village.


Williams hit 19 unforced errors in the first set to Mauresmo's seven, but won it on a tiebreak. That she came through the second so quickly, to complete a 7-6, 6-1 win that took her into the fourth round, was mostly down to Mauresmo being semi-injured. Williams wore a trench coat for the warm-up; Mauresmo wore heavy strapping on her thigh all match. "It was so windy out there that I couldn't make my shots," Williams said. "It was definitely intense and I was glad that I got through that tiebreak. I'm not playing my best but I'm thinking positive and there's so much more I can do. In the second week, I will do a lot better."
Williams has demonstrated in the past that she can be a totally different player in the first and second weeks of slams. This could be the year when Williams puts a third Venus Rosewater Dish into her enormous gold lame handbag. This is her first grass-court event of the season, after she went through her usual preparations of not bothering with warm-up tournaments, and instead spending her time on a practice court with her older sister Venus, the defending champion. With Sharapova and Ivanovic now both out of the tournament, the possibility of an all-Williams final is growing. Williams apparently did not pay too much attention to both Sharapova and Ivanovic, another two players who didn't bother with warm-up tournaments, saying their goodbyes. "I pretty much focus on my own results. I'm trying pretty much not to go down myself," said Williams, who will next play fellow American Bethanie Mattek, a player she seemingly admires as much for her "courageous" on-court outfits as for her tennis. However, Mattek, who once wore knee-high socks at the All England Club, has apparently toned it down this time; she wants her tennis, and not her socks, to do the talking.
When Mauresmo won Wimbledon in 2006, she was the first Frenchwoman to do so since the inter-war, brandy-fuelled Suzanne Lenglen. Mauresmo plays tennis that is very easy on the eye; she has a classical and sophisticated game and chases into net to play a volley with a regularity that is unique at the top of the women's game. But what she hasn't had since that victory two years ago is anything approaching consistency. Having her appendix removed last year certainly didn't help. Williams, meanwhile, has a more direct and powerful game. Still, with all the errors from Williams, the opening set was of variable quality.
Mauresmo was very much second best in the second set. Her leg injury was affecting her movement, and midway through the set she received a medical timeout, helpfully cutting the tape herself as the trainer applied more strapping around the thigh. There have been suggestions in the tennis world that Mauresmo is looking at an exit strategy. But Mauresmo hopes to be back next summer. "Oh yeah, I think so," she said, with a smile.

JOIE wrote:

True, she hasn't played that well in a while.
It's disheartening to see her lose. Specially on grass.
On the upside, at least we know she can still do it.
If her leg held up, I'm sure without a doubt, she would
have beaten Serena.

I saw the match last night (actually just the first set,didn't have the guts for the 2nd ). Apart from the fact that Amelie looked stunning and pumped up she played quite good. Speed,moving,shots,tactic, everything was there. Not in the amount we are used to,but it was closest to Ame '06 brand I've seen in a very long time. Like CL said both of them played some really beautiful shots. That was the first set I really think she can be satisfied with her performance and take a lot positives from it. I hope she will heal the leg soon and be ready for the hard court season.I'm really looking forward to it now,after watching her play.( it hit me in a moment how much I missed her tennis).
Oh and I watched Serena's after match interview,she said that she has a lot of respect for Amelie,and praised her a lot,and she said that she thinks it was a good match in which both of them played good and brought out the best from each other
So I guess we all have a lot to look forward too,as long as she is injury free.

Crazy Lady wrote:Was it the leg?

I half watched it and tought that both made some beautiful points! I liked it how they both came to the net, they showed serena afterwards and she said that playing doubles really helped her with the volleying.

Yeah I think it was. I read somewhere that the pain started once again during the tie break in the 1st.
I can tell the difference in her movement in the 2nd - even at the later part of the 1st set tie break.

Serena actually sucked at the net in doubles. It was her sister who kinda carried them through.
If Amelie moved better in that match, I'm certain it would at least be a very tight 3 set match.

I think she really should let it heal. Talent is talent, it won't go away.
Once she's in better shape, things will start to fall into place.

So proud of Amélie on Friday! Even though it was a defeat, I thought it was the best match she's played since Henin in the Eastbourne Final 2007 (I hesitate to say, the ONLY match she's really played like Amlélie, since then!). She was the better player in the first set, and if only she hadn't been carrying this sickening injury she would have won this match. It's proof of what I've been saying all along, that if she could only get the chance to play against her PEERS then she would be back. Because let's face it, even when she's been beating the top 80, top 150 -ranked players she hasn't really been playing like herself, and when she's lost to that sort of shite... well....

But on Friday she was all there. Up for it. Mentally tough (fewer dfs than Serena); the game all in place. Unfortunately the fear of the injury (I think) made her just a fraction too slow, which was why Serena edged her out of the first set (though why oh why she didn't make a hawkeye appeal on 5all in the tiebreak, I'll never know. I think sometimes she forgets the challenge system exists!). Then of course the injury came back with a vengeance and she couldn't really compete any more.

To me, her spirit and her standard of play should have put paid to any talk of imminent retirement (unless she thinks that the body just can't take it any more)... but then I open my paper the next day, and find it's all about this match spelling the end of Mauresmo's career....

What I do know is she said she'd be back at Wimbledon next year! And this year, she surprised even me, with my mad optimism about Amélie. I was bemoaning the fact that this was the first Wimbledon (since discovering Amélie had got me back into tennis after about 20 years) that she had Absolutely No Chance of winning. You know? After Friday, I really think that if the sodding injury hadn't happened, she might still have been a contender even this year!

Thanks for your report Jimmy

Thanks Jim!

Hey guys, I think we should appoint him "member of honor" ..what you think?

Crazy Lady wrote:Thanks Jim!

Hey guys, I think we should appoint him "member of honor" ..what you think?

I was thinking about Sir but both sound too aristocratic for his socialist spirit
Maybe camarad ROFL

oh difficult....lol