Yesterday my alarm clock rang at an ugly hour: 4:30 A.M.! I was off to day three of The Championships after failing to get tickets on Tuesday. This time I was determined to get my show-court on. I caught the 5:11 bus and made it to the ground by 5:35, only to be the 1,490th queuer of the day. WTF?! These people are hardcore.
Know who else is hardcore? Wimbledon D-Listers. So hardcore in fact that I’m back with set two. Enjoy!
Maria Sharapova warmed up on Court No. 6 before her disastrous 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 loss to Gisela Dulko on Centre Court. I caught most of the warm-up, wondering why she was hitting so poorly, but definitely digging her new, abbreviated service motion. And no, Hashers, Maria doesn’t make the D-List, but her two hitting partners certainly do. They provided the most action of the session when one (we’ll call him Tweedle D) was returning Maria’s serve and smacked the other (Tweedle C) right in the groinage. There was a loud gasp from the crowd (Maria put her hand over her mouth), and then laughing at the two hitting partners giggled about it. Who knew Maria supplied them with cups and jock-straps?! I bet Yuri put that rule into action.
At the newly-christened Court No. 2 (my show court for the day) I took in Robin Soderling (of Rafa-beating fame). But my eyes were mostly on Soderling’s box, not the match, where my (and Martina Hingis’) former boyfriend sat- Magnus Norman. You remember Maggie, right? He was that cute, world no. 2 that made us all wonder: ‘how does such petite, regular-built guy compete at the top of tennis?’ He answered that question a couple years ago by completely falling off the map. But he’s re-emerged as a coach as Soderling has surged. Oh Maggie, how I’ve missed you and your Ross-inspired hair!
Later on Court 12, I took in a fierce battle between Michelle Larcher de Brito and Francesca Schiavone. While there was plenty to see (and hear) during this match, I couldn’t help but wandering my eyes back to the seats. There sat the Queen of Bad Calls, Mariana Alves. Mariana must’ve wanted to take in some of her compatriot’s match, and is obviously pissed that Michelle is stealing her spotlight. I mean, Mariana totally worked really, really hard for that spotlight, over-ruling balls that were three inches in and somehow still keeping her job. Look at her, you know she’s piiiiiiiiissed.
(image via atp web site)
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