WTA June 25-July 8: Wimbledon Wimbledon, GBR Grand Slam £16,060,000 all events 128 - outdoor: grass matches: - - draws: - women's: - - men's: - - - - Y! Serena struck 58 winners 17 aces with 36 unforced errors 4 double faults while scoring on 5 of the 15 break points she reached against Agnieszka and totaling 99 points in the match. Agnieszka hit 13 winners 2 aces with 14 errors 5 DFs while converting both of the 2 break points she reached against Serena and totaling 80 points. Serena totaled 102 aces for the entire tournament, an all-time record. I almost didn't make it. It's so worth it, and I'm so happy... That's why she has had such a great career, and so young. You guys should give her another round of applause because she's amazing, and she did an amazing job today. Serena won the 2010 Australian Open and Wimbledon titles, then stepped on broken glass at a restaurant after Wimbledon and was sidelined for about 11 months, during which she also suffered from a pulmonary embolism. Upon returning to play last year she won the Stanford and Toronto titles; this year she also won at Charleston and Madrid. Serena has a 34-3 singles match record in 2012. Her three losses were to Virginie Razzano in the 1st round of of the French Open, Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals at Miami , and Ekaterina Makarova in the 4th round of the Australian Open. Agnieszka is now 10-3 in WTA singles finals. She had won her last six finals in a row. This was her first Grand Slam singles final. Aga has a 44-10 singles match record this season. Six of her other losses were to Victoria Azarenka, the rest to Petra Cetkovska, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Tsvetana Pironkova. Victoria Azarenka will be 1 in Monday's WTA singles rankings; Agnieszka Radwanska will be at a career high 2. While practicing on Saturday, June 23, top seed Maria Sharapova frowned while doing the medicine ball thing, frowned while doing the pull cord thing, hit some serves, hit some drives, displayed nice baggage, and smiled while listening to some good tunes... Anastasia hit 7 winners no aces with 11 errors 2 DFs while converting 2 of the 3 break points she reached against Maria and totaling 41 points. Maria averaged 103mph on 1st serves and a quick 93mph on 2nd serves; Anastasia averaged 91mph on 1st serves and 84mph on 2nd serves. Akgul hit 11 winners 6 aces with 6 errors 0 DFs while converting 1 of the 6 break points she reached against Petra and totaling 58 points. Petra averaged 99mph on 1st serves and 89mph on 2nd serves; Akgul averaged 103mph on 1st serves and 88mph on 2nd serves. Petra fell behind 0-4 at the start of the match. It was my first time being defending champion of a Grand Slam. Of course I would like to make everyone happy, but it wasn't that easy, but I'm happy I stayed calm and didn't panic in important moments. It was a huge honor to play on Centre Court today. Barbora hit 17 winners 1 ace with only 13 errors 3 DFs while converting 3 of the 6 break points she reached against Serena and totaling 43 points. Serena averaged 104mph on 1st serves and 81mph on 2nd serves; Barbora averaged 99mph on 1st serves and 87mph on 2nd serves. Both players went to net 26 times, with Serena scoring on 13 of her trips forward, and Barbora scoring on 14 advances. If I ever play anyone else like that in the tournament, this was a good opportunity to get practice. I enjoyed it and had fun. It was a good match and good tennis, but that doesn't really help me. I still lost in the first round today. No one will remember how great a match it was, they'll remember who won. No British woman had won a match on Centre since Jo Durie won one in 1985. This is my first singles win at Wimbledon, including juniors, so I'm so pleased... I was lost in the moment, the crowd was amazing and I had the adrenaline going. I was having fun. Venus hit 18 winners 3 aces with only 13 errors 2 DFs while converting 1 of the 2 break points she reached against Elena and totaling 44 points. Elena averaged 103mph on 1st serves and a very zippy 93mph on 2nd serves; Venus averaged 106mph on 1st serves and 81mph on 2nd serves. To beat Venus at Wimbledon is something amazing. I really wanted to play against her because I have so much respect for both Serena and Venus. I don't know what to say... Maybe for her it was not one of her best days, but for me it was one of the best days. I don't think that helped. I have to give all credit to her. She played very well today. Venus took several months off at the start of this season because she has Sjögren's Syndrome, which causes fatigue and joint pain. Life is challenging, but I'm always up for a challenge. The Tour will be around for a few more months this year, and I will just continue to try to improve my game. There wasn't anything specific I did - we were playing with the same balls, I played with the same racquet - I just told myself to do better. It doesn't work that way, but she has the perfect game for it. She always does really well against top players. She really rises for the occasion. I haven't seen too many of her other matches but every time I play against her and every time I see her face a tough opponent, especially here, she plays extremely well. Arantxa struck 11 winners 2 aces with 20 unforced errors 5 double faults while scoring on 6 of the 8 break points she reached against Samantha and totaling 77 points in the match. Samantha hit 20 winners 1 ace with 24 errors 4 DFs while converting 6 of the 16 break points she reached against Arantxa and totaling 86 points. In the 2nd set she broke me in the first game, and with these great players if you don't keep the score even, they will just play better amd better. In the 3rd set it was important to win the first game. It was very, very quick. After you win a set 6-0 you think you definitely have momentum, then all of a sudden you're quickly down in the third. That's how it goes. I hit a good serve down the T; she hit a great return back; I missed a slice into the top of the tape the next point to go to deuce, and then there's pressure again. I didn't do the wrong things to lose that service game, but then again, four points went by very quickly, and then the match was just finished. It was great to be back on Centre Court. It's amazing and I served really well. Serving wise it was definitely better, more consistent. So it's something to be happy about. Marion hit 10 winners 1 ace with 14 errors 10 DFs while converting 1 of the 7 break points she reached against Mirjana and totaling 58 points. After reaching the 1999 Wimbledon semis, Mirjana's career faltered, and she did not play in a WTA main draw from 2004 to 2009. I'm thrilled to beat Bartoli and be in the third round of Wimbledon again. It's a huge win for my confidence as well. I've been working really hard for so long and it's really fun to see all the hard work come to fruition. Na hit 26 winners no aces with 24 errors 2 DFs while converting only 2 of the 12 break points she reached against Sorana and totaling 73 points. Kateryna hit 20 winners 2 aces with 16 errors 8 DFs while converting 3 of the 6 break points she reached against Ana and totaling 70 points. I still feel I can be a lot more offensive. I just focus on myself and my next match... As soon as the last point was over for me it was kind of like an explosion of happiness, relief of the match, all the tension's kind of gone, and it's setting in. Su-Wei hit 7 winners no aces with 8 errors 2 DFs while converting 2 of the 5 break points she reached against Maria and totaling 45 points. I was like, 'Where did she learn how to play tennis like that? Uses both hands, switches racquets. I hadn't played her since then, but I knew her game really well. I don't think she had time to do all of that today on grass. If I'm hitting a hard shot, I don't think she has time to create, which is something she really likes to do. Jana hit 15 winners 1 ace with 16 errors 2 DFs while converting 2 of the 5 break points she reached against Vika and totaling 54 points. Jie hit 21 winners 1 ace with 17 errors 3 DFs while converting none of the 6 break points she reached against Serena and totaling 91 points. I think she played an unbelievable match today... My serve definitely helped me out today, because I wasn't doing my best on my return... It's good to know I can rely on my serve. It was a long, tough match. She has a big serve. It's difficult to play against her on a grass court. But I played well, and I had some chances in the final set. At 7-all I didn't have such a good service game. But it was still a great match for me. This was an unbelievable match. Slava did not lose a point in the 1st set 24-0. It was the first time in the Open era that any woman has achieved a shutout set. I didn't believe him. I thought it must be a mistake. I wasn't concentrating on the statistics during the match, I was just playing point by point. I was just thinking that I played a good set. I'm the first woman to make a golden egg! I've had it for four days, but it was getting worse and worse every day, and today it was pretty bad. I'm disappointed I couldn't continue the match. You never want to retire during a Grand Slam, and especially in a great match when you're playing against a good player. It never feels good to do that. The wind made it really tough for both of us, and Vera hits a flat, low ball over the net, which is hard. To say I'm coming off the court with a good feeling, I don't think so. But I have two days to practice and get that feeling. She obviously has a lot of confidence, coming off the French Open now. She hits it flat and hard and she's a champion... It's nice to play her again. I like challenges, and I'm looking forward to the big match again. Nadia hit 12 winners no aces with 12 errors 1 DF while converting 2 of the 8 break points she reached against Camila and totaling 72 points. It was Camila's second big win this week. After going through qualifying, Camila defeated her compatriot, 16th seeded Flavia Pennetta in the 1st round, 6-4, 6-3. Camila also defeated Nadia earlier this year in the 1st round at Memphis, 6-4, 6-2. Maria hit 15 winners 5 aces with 15 errors 4 DFs while converting 2 of the 3 break points she reached against Sabine and totaling 53 points. It was the third time in four years that Sabine has defeated the reigning French Open champion at Wimbledon: Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2009, Li Na last year, and now Maria. Sabine had lost all three of her previous encounters with Maria. As soon as I stepped on the court I felt like I was playing very well. Even though I lost the first game and missed a couple of points here and there, I just felt very good and confident overall. I was feeling very confident. She played extremely well today, and did many things better than I did on this given day. You just have to hand it to her. It wasn't fun for me in that moment. That's why I didn't play so well. When I made the break early in the second set after one hour, or however long we were playing, it was better for me. I knew I could play with her today and break her more. Tomorrow is a different day, so I hope it will be better tomorrow. I definitely felt like I let her back into the match. She's a great player and she's been doing really well, but I felt a little sluggish out there and I had to pull myself together mentally. I feel like I can do a lot better, which is very comforting. Kim hit 10 winners no aces with 13 errors 4 DFs while never reaching a break point against Angelique and totaling 30 points. I think I did a good job today, and I'm very happy to be in the quarters right now. I just felt my opponent was better on every level. That's all I was thinking about during the match. Tamira hit 25 winners 4 aces with 22 errors 5 DFs while converting 2 of the 4 break points she reached against Victoria and totaling 66 points. Maria hit 52 winners 9 aces with 30 errors 1 DF while converting 5 of the 12 break points she reached against and totaling 109 points. The match began on Court 1, but was completed on Centre Court late on Tuesday due to rain. I was waiting in the locker room almost the whole day. It was raining and windy outside, then at the end we played under the roof too, so I'm so happy I could finally close it out in three sets after almost three hours. It's much better to finish it in the same day than to wait another day. Petra hit 21 winners 3 aces with 14 errors 2 DFs while failing to convert the 1 break point she reached against Serena and totaling 56 points. It's not easy to defend your first Grand Slam title, either. I think when I defended my first one I didn't win. She held herself in ultimate class and played her heart out. I don't think I've seen her play that well. I don't think I played badly, I think she just served very well. In the last game it looked like she did almost four aces. Sabine hit 57 winners 10 aces with 50 errors 5 DFs while converting 5 of the 8 break points she reached against Angelique and totaling 108 points. The final from Eastbourne was in my mind, where I lost with match points also. It was a very tough, tough and important match for me. I think everybody saw it was a very tough fight from both of us. I had no chance in some games because she served so well. She made the points and I had no plan. But I knew I just needed to play until the last point. Victoria hit 14 winners 1 ace with 9 errors 4 DFs while converting 1 of the 2 break points she reached against Serena and totaling 63 points. I got a little tight in the second set. I think I was looking too far into the future and getting too excited about it. So I'm really happy I got through that second set tie-break. I just have to give her all the credit because she did her job. I know she'll be getting every ball back. It'll be a tough match, regardless. Angelique hit 26 winners 2 aces with 14 errors 1 DF while converting 1 of the 3 break points she reached against Agnieszka and totaling 49 points. I had a tough quarterfinal match, and it's always tough against Angie, so it's good I had a day off yesterday. Of course this was the semifinals of a Grand Slam, and I was nervous at the beginning. You try your best but sometimes you do too much, and your hands are shaking a little bit, but after a couple of games I loosened up out there. Everybody wants to play the final of a Grand Slam. These are the best two weeks of my career. My plan was to play aggressive tennis and make the points, but she moved very well and doesn't make so many mistakes, so it was tough. But I was fighting until the last point. Maude would win the title again in 1885, defeating 1884 semifinalist Blanche Bingley. George Hillyard, would win the title six times, a feat matched only by Dorothea K. Douglass Lambert Chambers 7 titles , Suzanne Lenglen 6 , Helen Wills 8 , Billie Jean King 6 , Martina Navratilova 9 , and Steffi Graf 7. But, in practice, it had always been a throbbing hive of hustlers, racquet dealers, clothing reps, agents, tournament directors, assorted groupies, gofers, and camp followers. Now journalists had access to this sanctuary. Flashing a special forty-five minute permit, I passed the guard at the door and, during yet another rain delay, climbed the stairs to the third floor and stopped at the Prize Money Office, where a woman cheerfully explained her job. Once a player lost, he or she popped in here to pick up a check. A player's agent or manager could collect prize money, but only with written permission. Foreigners paid a flat 25% on their winnings, but they received a £150 per diem exclusion before British taxes bit into their purse. The Prize Money Office also deducted WTA dues and fines for code violations. That's a lot different from the old days. Everyone who has played there--and almost everyone has at some point--will tell you that the toughest tennis tournament in the world is the one at Roehampton. There are sixteen courts at Roehampton. Unlike the pampered, protected courts at Wimbledon, they are in constant use--and it shows. There are brown patches everywhere--or, to be accurate, green patches on the brown--and after it rains, players would be well advised to show up wearing cleats rather than sneakers. When the players arrive at Roehampton, they report to the referee's tent to sign in; then they await court assignments. Waiting for their matches to be called, most kill the time sitting on a large, grassy knoll that serves as both the players' and the umpires' lounge. Announcements calling players and umpires to their courts, paging people to the telephone, seeking drivers to take players back to hotels, or updating schedules can be heard around the grounds all day long. Admission to Roehampton is free; there are no ushers and no security... Roehampton is both a launching pad and a graveyard... Everyone is tight, nervous, and ready to explode with pent-up energy. The other Grand Slams are very important; Wimbledon is history... Only at Wimbledon does Centre Court stay empty from the day of the final until the Saturday before the tournament begins the next year. The weather in England is almost always rotten. Rain cuts practice time, as does a lack of practice courts. At Wimbledon, practice time on the sixteen outside courts is limited to thirty minutes at a time--unless two seeded players are practicing together. Then, they can get an hour. The adjacent practice courts at Aorangi Park so named because the land was once owned by the government of New Zealand are not as tight, but still tough to come by. By the time the tournament begins, people are a little tired, a little homesick, frequently frustrated, and very, very nervous. Douglass Lambert Chambers, p. May 23, 2007 The AELTC has installed Hawkeye instant replay gear on Centre Court and Court 1. At Wimbledon in 2007, players on these courts will be allowed three incorrect challenge-video replays in each set, after which they can no longer challenge calls in that set. The US and Australian Opens both utilize the Hawkeye instant replay system on show courts, and allow players to challenge calls and request replays until they lose two challenges in each set. Roland Garros does not yet have any form of instant replay gear installed for French Open call challenges--of course, on clay courts, ball marks are generally used to judge questionable calls. Jan 6, 2004 revised Wimbledon will have a new retractable roof for Centre Court in place in 2009, officials announced. Construction will begin after The Championships in July, 2006. The 2007 Championships will be played with no roof at all the current partial roof removed , a new fixed partial roof will be in place in 2008, and the retractable roof completed in 2009. The roof will take 10 minutes to deploy, so Centre Court rain delays of up to 30 minutes will still be possible, but the roof is being installed to assure TV networks of almost continuous coverage, even if it rains. The arena's capacity will also be increased from 13,800 to 15,000. The article on equal pay for women in pro tennis, the Slims Tour, and the formation of the WTA, formerly reproduced here, is permanently archived on the page.
