Wimbledon 2007

So, I’m watching Wimbledon, one of my favorite tennis tournaments of the year. And I just have to rant a little bit.

First of all, ladies, seriously, why do you have to scream at every single shot you hit? A few years ago it was just a few annoying girls who did it, and they often got warned by the umpires for it. Now, it seems to be something that’s the “in” thing to do, and everyone does it! It is so annoying. There’s no way that the first serve/point of a match is SO tiring that you need to scream to get up the energy to hit the ball, come on. Yes, I can see in a third set, on a hot day, grunting to get that energy needed, but to scream and grunt at every single point, no matter how much effort you expended? That’s unnecessary and annoying. I swear, I wish someone would shout out “SHUT UP” to Maria sometimes, she is just off the charts with the decibel level. And, I should add, I actually would enjoy watching her, and root for her, if not for her screeching and celebrating when opponents make errors. She’s a good player, but she has absolutely no class.

And players, take a lesson from Federer, would you? Roger doesn’t celebrate when his opponents make unforced errors, and he even applauds them when they make good shots. Maria, there’s absolutely no reason to shout “COME ON!” and pump your fists when your challenger mis-hits into the net, that’s uncalled for, rude, and flat out unsportsmanlike. Get some class, seriously.

I guess there is another “move” to have the clothing rules changed, to allow more “color” to be worn on the courts, but frankly I think this would be a big error. Wimbledon is about class, about dignity, about history, and the one way that it has not changed, is the “all white” rule, I think it should remain.

As for the new “Challenges” system that was put in last year in some of the Grand Slam tournaments, I think I’d have to go with Roger on it, while he uses it at times, he certainly doesn’t take advantage of it just for the sake of stalling or getting time to get his breath back, and that’s certainly what happens towards the end of sets by some players. That’s just wrong. While I like the Hawk Eye tech, and I think it is for the most part accurate, I also think the linesmen are just as accurate, as proven by the challenge success rate over the past year. The linesmen were right the majority of the time. However, from a fans-in-the-stand point, I can see the appeal, sort of like the big-screen instant replay in the football stadiums. So I guess you give a little, you take a little.

So, it is still early. Sad to see James Blake go, but he hadn’t looked on form at all this year, so it wasn’t much of a surprise. Hoping Roger will go on to his 5th consecutive title, that would rock.

Update: And he did! Congratulations Roger!