Wimbledon Finals

The Wimbledon finals weren't very dramatic.  On Saturday, Iga Swiatek took less than an hour to crush Amanda Anisimova:  6-0, 6-0.  On Sunday, Jannik Sinner defeated Carlos Alcaraz in four sets:  4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.  They were both worthy champions, and Wimbledon looks as beautiful as ever.  Now we head to Northern Ireland for this week's Open Championship of golf.

Wimbledon Update

Novak Djokovic defeats Father Time and Flavio Cobolli and advances to the semi-finals with a 6-7, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 win.  So the semi-finals look like this:

MEN'S SEMI-FINALS:

(1) Jannik Sinner (ITA) v. (6) Novak Djokovic (SRB)

(2) Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) v. (5) Taylor Fritz

LADIES' SEMI-FINALS:

(1) Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) v. (13) Amanda Anisimova

(8) Iga Swiatek (POL) v. Belinda Bencic (SUI)

Wimbledon Update

The quarter-finals at Wimbledon are set.  Here are the men's and ladies' draws (numbers in parenthesis represent seeding).  The Americans have two competitors left in the men's draw, and one left in the ladies' draw:

MEN'S SINGLES:

(1) Jannik Sinner (ITA) v. (10) Ben Shelton

(22) Flavio Cobolli (ITA) v. (6) Novak Djokovic (SRB)

(5) Taylor Fritz v. (17) Karen Khachanov (RUS)

Cameron Norrie (GBR) v. (2) Carlos Alcaraz (ESP)

LADIES' SINGLES:

(1) Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) v. Laura Siegemund (GER)

(13) Amanda Anisimova v. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)

(7) Mirra Andreeva (RUS) v. Belinda Bencic (SUI)

(8) Iga Swiatek (POL) v. (19) Liudmila Samsonova (RUS)

Wimbledon Update

Here are the men's semi-finals:

(1) Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) v. (3) Daniil Medvedev (RUS)

(2) Novak Djokovic (SRB) v. (8) Jannik Sinner (ITA)

Here are the women's semi-finals:

Elina Svitolina (UKR) v. Marketa Vondrousova (CZE)

(2) Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) v. (6) Ons Jabeur (TUN)

Oh, and Kentucky beat Germany 81-73.

Wimbledon Update

With one week to go, here are the quarter-finalists in the women's singles draw (seeds in parentheses):

(1) Iga Swiatek (POL) v. Elina Svitolina (UKR)

(4) Jessica Pegula v. Marketa Vondrousova (CZE)

(3) Elena Rybakina (KAZ) v. (6) Ons Jabeur (TUN)

(2) Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) v. (25) Madison Keys

It's pretty exciting to see all four top seeds make it this far, and we still have two Americans in contention.

Wimbledon

Many years ago, when America still had world-class tennis champions, Wimbledon was one of my favorite events of the year.  But no American man has won the single's title at Wimbledon since Pete Sampras in 2000, and my interest has waned.  Also, it seems like they used to play the final around the Fourth of July, but I noticed on ESPN that they just started Round One.  I tried to watch some of it, but of course it immediately started raining and they went to interviews, so I've switched over to the Tour de France.

Anyway, here are the last ten men's singles champions at Wimbledon, a period that covers 11 years:

2012:  Roger Federer (SUI)

2013:  Andy Murray (SCO)

2014:  Novak Djokovic (SRB)

2015:  Novak Djokovic (SRB)

2016:  Andy Murray (SCO)

2017:  Roger Federer (SUI)

2018:  Novak Djokovic (SRB)

2019:  Novak Djokovic (SRB)

2020:  None

2021:  Novak Djokovic (SRB)

2022:  Novak Djokovic (SRB)

Federer has the most titles of all time, with eight.  Djokovic and Sampras each have seven.  Rafael Nadel won in 2008 and 2010.  Since 2002, every men's singles title at Wimbledon has been won by Federer, Djokovic, Nadal, or Andy Murray.

There's been a lot more parity on the ladies' side:

2012:  Serena Williams

2013:  Marion Bartoli (FRA)

2014:  Petra Kvitova (CZE)
2015:  Serena Williams

2016:  Serena Williams

2017:  Garbine Muguruza (ESP)

2018:  Angelique Kerber (GER)

2019:  Simona Halep (ROU)

2020:  None

2021:  Ashleigh Barty (AUS)

2022:  Elena Rybakina (KAZ)

Martina Navratilova leads everyone here with nine titles, followed by Steffi Graf and Serena Williams, who each have seven.  Billy Jean King has six titles, Venus Williams has five, and Chris Evert has three.

U.S. Women's Open -- Day 4

This weekend, which started out with a lot of promise for Kentucky golf fans, ended up being quite disappointing. As Eric has already noted, Miss Emma Talley shot a 72 today -- her best round of the weekend -- and finished in a tie for 46th, but missed out on being low amateur by one stroke. At the Greenbrier Classic, Kenny Perry couldn't build on his second-round 66, and also finished in a tie for 46th place. J.B. Holmes, who was tied for 3d place going into today's final round, shot a four-over par 74 today and finished in a tie for 27th. And the golf tournaments themselves were virtually unwatchable. Webb Simpson, the U.S. Open Champion who led the Greenbrier Classic after three rounds, stumbled to a seventh-place finish. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson both missed the cut at Greenbrier -- the first time that's happened in a PGA event since 1993. The tournament came down to a playoff between two complete unknowns: Ted Potter, Jr. and Troy Kelly (Potter won). And at the U.S. Women's Open, Na Yeon Choi shot a rather desultory 73 today, but still cruised home with a four-shot victory. She becomes the fifth woman from South Korea to win this tournament since 2005 -- remarkably, none of those five women have won any other major tournaments.

On the whole, it was a good weekend to watch tennis. Serena Williams and Roger Federer both won at Wimbledon -- the first pair of 30-somethings to take the singles titles at Wimbledon since Billie Jean King and Arthur Ashe did so in 1975. It's been a long, long, time since tennis was more interesting to the typical middle-aged American sports fan than golf; but we have reached that point again.

Here is the final leaderboard. Congratulations to 2010 champion Paula Creamer, who finished as Low American.

1. N.Y. Choi (KOR): -7 (71+72+65+73=281)

2. A. Yang (KOR): -3 (73+72+69+71=285)

3. S. Gal (GER): +1 (71+70+74+74=289)

T4. I.H. Lee (KOR): +2 (72+71+77+70=290)

T4. S. Feng (CHN): +2 (74+74+71+71=290)

T4. G. Sergas (ITA): +2 (74+71+73+72=290)

T7. P. Creamer: +3 (73+73+71+74=291)

T7. M. Miyazato (JPN): +3 (71+71+73+76=291)

T9. S.R. Pak (KOR): +4 (72+73+76+71=292)

T9. S. Pettersen (NOR): +4 (71+68+78+75+292)

T9. C. Kerr: +4 (69+71+77+75=292)

T9. I. Park (KOR): +4 (71+70+76+75=292)

T9. N. Castrale: +4 (73+70+74+75=292)

Tennis Update

I like to keep track of how good all these guys are/were. So here is a list Grand Slam titles for major men's champions since around 1970:

Roger Federer (SUI): 16
Pete Sampras: 14
Bjorn Borg (SWE): 11
Rafael Nadal (ESP): 11
Jimmy Connors: 8
Ivan Lendl (CZE): 8
Andre Agassi: 8
John McEnroe: 7
Mats Wilander (SWE): 7
Stefan Edberg (SWE): 6
Boris Becker (GER): 6

No American man has won a grand slam title since Andy Roddick won the U.S. Open in 2003.

Since May 2005, every men's grand slam title but one has been captured by Federer, Nadal, or Novak Djokovic. Djokovic has 5 titles already, and this weekend he should get his sixth at Wimbledon.

Here is the list for women:

Margaret Court (AUS): 24
Steffi Graf (GER): 22
Chris Evert: 18
Martina Navratilova: 18
Serena Williams: 13
Billie Jean King: 12
Monica Seles (YUG): 9
Evonne Goolagong Cawley (AUS): 7
Venus Williams: 7
Justine Henin (BEL): 7

Steffi Graf won the Grand Slam in 1988 -- she is the only male or female player to accomplish this since 1970.

Graf had won 9 Slam titles by the spring of 1990, while Seles had none. Three years later, in May 1993, Graf had 11 titles total, while Seles had 8. In fact, Seles had won 8 out of the last 12 Slam titles and was the number-one player in the world. In May 1993, Seles was stabbed at a match by a crazed fan. Seles only won one more Grand Slam title in the rest of her career.

Tennis and the Long Arc of History

In 1961, Arthur Ashe of Richmond, Virginia won the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association's Interscholastic Championship at the University of Virginia. Here is an excerpt from Sports Illustrated's story on this event:

Ashe is the first Negro to win this tournament, and he is the last who will win it at the University of Virginia, where it has been held since 1946. People in Charlottesville have been unhappy at the university's role as tournament host since Negroes began to appear regularly. Despite an agreement with the USLTA extending through 1963, Virginia asked to be excused this year, but reluctantly agreed to hold the tournament on condition that it definitely be moved in 1962. The likelihood is that the new host will be Williams College, in Williamstown, Mass., where the sight of a Negro in white flannels does not upset white citizens as it apparently does in Charlottesville.

Two observations:

1. That last sentence is very nicely done.

2. These days, folks in Virginia have a very different feeling toward Arthur Ashe.

Farewell to sport (books, many of them)

Madisonville's First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is rummage selling Saturday. Christmas shoppers will find among the treasures outstanding gifts for the Louie Dampier and Butch Beard fans on their lists:

Basketball Stars of 1974
Pro Basketball '77-'78
All-Pro Basketball Stars 1978
Pro Basketball '74-'75
Basketball Stars of 1968
The Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball 1995
Basketball Stars of 1967
All-Pro Basketball Stars 1977
Basketball Stars of 1973
Basketball Stars of 1969
Major League Baseball 1975
Pro Basketball Superstars
All-Pro Basketball Stars 1976
Basketball Stars of 1971
Official Collegiate Basketball Record Book 1955
Basketball Stars of 1962
Baseball Stars of 1974
Bruce Weber's Inside Baseball 1991
1965 Official Baseball Almanac
Althea Gibson, I Always Wanted To Be Somebody
How to Play Cricket
The Golden Treasury of Chess
Sports Page
The Baseball Book 1990
NHL The World of Professional Ice Hockey
The Ice Men
Sports and Games in Art
The Great Sports Book
A Century of Sports
Sports in the Nation's Capital
Great Moments in American Sports
All-Pro Baseball Stars 1979
The Book of Sports Lists #2
Bartlett's World Golf Encyclopedia
The Official Associated Press Sports Almanac 1975
Baseball Stars of 1973
Hockey Stars of 1974
Hockey '75 Stars and Records
The Complete Handbook of Pro Hockey 1979 Edition
Pro Basketball Factbook 1972-1973
Pro Basketball Factbook 1973-1974
The Pocket Hockey Encyclopedia
A Sense of Where You Are, A Profile of Bill Bradley at Princeton
Guiness Book of Olympic Records
The New Encyclopedia of Sports
Profiles in Pennsylvania Sports
The Sports Encyclopedia Baseball
The XVII Olympic Winter Games Lillehammer 1994
Summer of '49
Tall Tales
Men at Work
The Breaks of the Game
Life on the Run
The Baseball Draft: 1965-1984
Biographical Dictionary of Anmerican Sports, Basketball and Other Indoor Sports
The Bill James Baseball Abstract 1985
Creative Sports Series, Track and Field
Ed Faulkner's Tennis
100 Great Moments in Sports
Ryan/Torre, Pitching & Hitting