Wimbledon, Men's Final. Silverstone. Journey's End.

(Picture from www.wimbledon.org/)

Back to back they faced each other, drew their rackets and aced each other!

Rafa won! That was a fantastic final, full of excitement. I thought it was over in the third set. Rafa had taken the first two sets, 6-4, 6-4, and he was 4-5 in the third. He was playing just a notch better than Roger, so I thought he would break Roger and go onto win. But - dun dun duuuuun - rain delay! The third set went to a tie breaker. Roger turned on the tennis magic to win the breaker 7-5. The fourth set, littered with championship points for Rafa, also went to a tie breaker, again won by Roger, 10-8. At two sets all, 2 games all and 40-40, another rain delay. After about 30 minutes they resumed play.

After a really tough battle royale, Rafa took the fifth set 9-7. I think at the end of it all, after climbing to celebrate with his family, then taking a jolly jaunt over to the Royal Box, Rafa was a bit shell-shocked. But, I think, the better player won.

(Picture from www.bbc.co.uk/sport)

Yay! Louis Hamilton did go on to win at Silverstone. From a starting position of fourth, he jumped to second spot from the starting line, then overtook Heikki Kovalainen on the fourth or fifth lap, and led for the remainder of the race. 'Twas an incredibly interesting race in wet conditions.

(Screencap from time-and-space)

Now. Doctor Who. Journey’s End. Not sure if I enjoyed it, or if I was a little disappointed. It had the making of a great episode, it wrapped up all loose ends, but it seemed a little too convenient. However, there were some fantastic components. The threefold man idea was complete genius. It also provided a reason for Donna’s repeated comment ‘I’m only a temp. Catherine Tate completely out-acted David Tennant, and I’d go so far as to say she was amazing. She nailed the quick talking explaining Doctor trait perfectly, though Tennant mimicked her quite well too. Dalek Caan, what a twist! Davros, too, was brilliant. Unfortunately, the cameos from everyone else seemed to fall by the wayside, seeming all pretty pointless.

I do have more to say, but I wont, for fear of spoiling it for peeps yet to watch it. All that’s left to say is – there’s a Doctor-shaped hole in Saturday evenings that needs to be filled!

Wimbledon, Ladies Finals Day.

So I really should talk about the Ladies final, but I think this needs to be said first.

(Pictures from www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/index.html)


Laura Robson won the junior Wimbledon title! She played such a good game. She beat the Thai 3rd seed Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. I really hope she can keep up this level of tennis and break onto the WTA tour with a vengeance!


In the Ladies final, Venus triumphed over Serena to win her 5th Wimbledon title. I didn't watch the match, I was too busy shouting 'Laura, Laura, Laura,' at the TV with Principessa! Venus won in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4.

So, Men's final day tomorrow. I'm not sure if I'll be watching as the F1 race is on at the same time. And as it's the British Grand Prix, I think that might need watching. Let's hope Louis Hamilton can win at Silverstone.

Wimbledon, Day 11

(Picture from http://www.atptennis.com/1/en/home/)

Well, it's the final everyone knew would happen. For the third year. *Yawn*

Roger Federer saw off Marat Safin, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. I was hoping that Marat would find his best form and beat Roger but, as usual, he was far too strong for poor Marat. I suppose a semi-final was more than Marat had expected, so he's probably happy with his performance.

Rafa Nadal saw off Rainer Schuettler, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. After the first set I thought 'yep, there's not going to be much in this match'. I am so glad that Schuettler proved me wrong. It's just a pity he couldn't keep the break he had in the second set to take the set from Rafa. But hey, he did more than I though he would, and gave Rafa a good run for his money.

Laura Robson made it into the girl's singles final. Well done her! I'm hoping she goes on to win the junior Wimbledon title.

Wimbledon, Day 10.

(Picture from www.bbc.co.uk/sport)

Again with the ah wells. Zheng Jie did not manage to overpower Serena, and Elena Dementieva did not manage to overpower Venus, so it's a Williams sisters final. Ho hum.

Arnaud Clement and Rainer Schuettler battled through a 5 hour long, rain delayed match.
Schuettler won 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (7-9), 8-6. He has to play Nadal today. Here is the line-up for the men's semi-finals:

Roger Federer (SUI) 1st seed vs. Marat Safin (RUS)
Rafael Nadal (ESP) 2nd seed vs. Rainer Schuettler (GER)

In the girl's singles, Laura Robson is doing fantastically well. After dispatching the 1st seed in the first round, she took out the number 9 seed yesterday to make it into the semi-finals. She looks like she's going to make a very handy tennis player.

So much for me doing any study last night. Principessa fell asleep just before 5pm, woke up at around 8pm, and didn't go back to sleep until 1am. Knackered, I am. I would so like Principessa to go to bed at 8pm and wake up at 7-8 am. I could handle that! But no. She usually goes to sleep between 9-11pm, then wakes up any time from 7.30-9-30am. That means I stay up until 1am to study. Oh so tired... But if I get a degree out of it, then it'll be worth it!

Wimbledon, Day 9. And stuff.

(Picture from http://sports.espn.go.com/sports)

Ah well. I'm not surprised. There was only a modicum of hope, and that slipped away quite quickly when Murray just looked drained. I think he must have expended far to much energy in the match against Gasquet. At least he said he was outclassed rather than blaming his loss on exhaustion. Oh, yeah, Rafa won 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. It was only to be expected though.

Apart from Murray misery, Safin supremecy ruled! So chuffed! Wish I had not turned over to watch Murray. I was all 'blah' when Safin lost the first set, thinking that Lopez would easily win, especially as Safin was being Angryman again. But the rain delay helped in a big way, allowing Safin to focus. He won out 3-6, 7-5, 7-6, 6-3. *Bouncing* Problem the next... Federer, who beat Mario Ancic 6-1, 7-5, 6-4.

The other quarter final between Arnaud Clement and Rainer Schuettler was suspended due to bad light. Currently it stands at one set each.

On other stuff... Principessa caused havoc last night. Nanny had let her into the bathroom to wash her hands, leaving Principessa to her own devices. About ten minutes earlier, Principessa had pinched a slice of bread (I don't know how she can eat bread without anything on it, but it's one of her most favourite things). Yep, you can see it coming, can't you? She had taken the bread upstairs, and when she got entry into the bathroom - the sink in particular - she blocked the sink with her bread and flooded the bathroom. Argh! Lots of AngryNanny shouting ensued, followed by AngryGrandand shouting. Principessa understood that she had been very naughty and once she had been put to bed with a drink of orange juice she fell straight to sleep. I feel guilty for benefitting from her being disciplined, but having my bed to myself all night allowed me to have a good sleep for once!

I carried on studying Medea after Principessa went to sleep. I can't believe how much of a goldmine that play is in answering the essay question. There is so much good stuff, like how the different areas of the theatre were used to convey masculinity and femininity, and how different parts of the funerary rights were alloted to the mother and father. Lots of interesting info, and plenty of lines that contrast masculine and feminine attributes. I'm loving it! So I have decided to leave the rest of the blockwork for Medea for now, as I feel quite confident of being able to eke out all the good bits, and I am going to start the Don Juan blockwork today. I am hoping that I will find the same confidence with Don Juan that I have with Medea.

It's raining, it's pouring...

Yup, play is suspended due to rain. So, just to keep the anticipation going, here are the highlights (and lowlights) of the Murray/Gasquet match.



*Fingers crossed* the rain clears up.

Wimbledon, Day 8

(Picture from www.wimbledon.org)

Bum! So Tamarine Tanasugarn was knocked out by Venus Williams, 4-6, 3-6. Ho hum. But, Zheng Jie fly-swatted Nicole Vaidisova aside, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1. Zheng played some fantastic shots, but I was worried she would break down after losing the second set. I'm glad she didn't. She has also pledged to donate her prize money to the victims of the Chinese earthquake. Here is how Thursday's semi-finals look:

• Zheng Jie (CHN) vs. Serena Williams (USA) 6th seed
• Elena Dementieva (RUS) 5th seed vs. Venus Williams (USA) 7th seed
  

Looking forward to the Murray/Nadal match and the Safin/Lopez match today. I'd watch Federer, but there is only so many times you can watch brilliance in action before it gets a little bit boring. I'm kind of hoping that Mario Ancic can cause an upset and knock Federer out, if only to cause a little bit of excitement rather than the same-old, same-old.

Well, while I have Principessa occupied watching Balamory and other CBeebies favourites, I shall go and study some more Medea.

Wimbledon, Day 7.

(Picture from www.bbc.co.uk/sport)

Well. Was not expecting that at the start of the tournament. All four of the top seeds in the women's game have fallen. Second seed Jelena Jankovic fell to Tamarine Tanasugarn, 3-6, 2-6. Fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova fell to Agnieszka Radwanska (POL), 4-6, 61-5-7. Zheng Jie also continued her fantastic run, beating fifteenth seed Agnes Szavay(HUN) 6-3, 6-4. This is how the quarter-finals are looking:

• Zheng Jie (CHN) vs. Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) 18th seed
• Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 14th seed vs. Serena Williams (USA) 6th seed
• Elena Dementieva (RUS) 5th seed vs. Nadia Petrova (RUS) 21st seed
• Venus Williams (USA) 7th seed vs Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA)
  

I'm hoping that Zheng Jie and Tamarine Tanasugarn get through, just because they are the unseeded and have played fantastic tennis throughout.

In the men's game, well. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are still going strong. That was to be expected, even though Rafa beat Mikhail Youzhny after picking up a knee injury. Andy Murray played with determination after Richard Gasquet (FRA) went 2-0 up in sets, beating Gasquet in five sets, 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 6-4. There were some absolutely amazing rallies during that match, I kind of wish I had recorded it. Marat Safin continued his fine form too. The quarter-finals look like this:

• Roger Federer (SUI) 1st seed vs. Mario Ancic (CRO)
• Marat Safin (RUS) vs. Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 31st seed
• Rainer Schuettler (GER) vs. Arnaud Clement (FRA)
• Andy Murray (GBR) 12th seed vs. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 2nd seed
  

It's looking like a good few days of tennis!

Doctor Who and Wimbledon, day 6.

As much as I enjoy tennis, I enjoy Doctor Who so much more. I was almost to the point of throwing things at the TV as programs started being moved in favour of the Murray/Haas match. I was willing Murray to win every single point just so Doctor Who would not be interrupted. But, luckily enough, Murray won the match about 30 minutes before the Doctor graced the screen. *Phew*

So, what happened at Wimbledon? Not much. Caroline Wozniacki gave Jelena Jankovic a good run for her money. I was hoping that Wozniacki might win. But no. After a fantastic first set, she lost the match 6-2, 4-6, 2-6. Ah well.

Other than that, nothing spectacular really happened. Janko Tipsarevic ousted Dmitry Tursunov 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. Shahar Peer took out 9th seed Dinara Safina 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 8-6.

As for Doctor Who. Fantastic! I loved The Stolen Earth. I especially loved the crazy Dalek Caan. After all, every race needs its crazy psychics! The sound of drums popped up every now and again... Is this something to get excited and shiver with antici..... pation about? But anyway. I shall stop there in case I let anything important slip that spoils it for anyone (*waves* hello Dave!). I can and I can't wait for next week.

Wimbledon, Day 5.

Big news for the day: Ana Ivanovic, the number one in the world, was ousted by wildcard Zheng Jie. Zheng, ranked 133, decimated Ivanovic, 6-1, 6-4. I don't think I've seen Ivanovic break down like that since the final at Roland Garros last year.

11th seed Marion Bartoli (FRA), a finalist last year, was also knocked out. This was due, in part, to injury. Bethanie Mattek (USA) soldiered on to the fourth round 6-4, 6-1.

But yay! for Marat Safin! He finally made it through to the fourth round after a tough fight against 29th seed Andreas Seppi (ITA). In fading light he came through 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. I think I enjoy watching Safin even more now, as Principessa will sit on my knee and watch with me, cheering everytime he gets a point: "Yay! He scoreded another point!" She is just soooo cute!

So, Andy Murray takes on Tommy Haas (GER) today. I'm not sure I'll be watching all of the match as Doctor Who will probably be on when he's playing. I am NOT missing the Doctor, not when there are only two more episodes left. And not now, when Davros is coming back to the fold. I am really looking forward to these last two episodes.

Wimbledon, Day 4

Another day of mixed fortunes. While Andy Murray triumphed, Anne Keothavong and Chris Eaton both fell despite valiant attempts. Keothavong lost to Venus Williams, 5-7, 6-2. Eaton lost to Dmitry Tursunov, 6-7 (2-7), 2-6, 4-6. (Considering that Tursunov is ranked 639 places above Eaton, I think this is an amazing result. It was also very refreshing to see someone who served and volleyed every point. It's something you don't see very often nowadays. The wind did affect both players at one end of the court, and I think had the conditions been slightly better Eaton would have had Tursunov. I really hope he fights his way to the top 100 soon.) Andy Murray beat Xavier Malisse (BEL) 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

On other Wimbledon news, it was a day for falling seeds.

• (6) Andy Roddick (USA) vs. Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-7 (4-7)
• (9) James Blake (USA) vs. Rainer Schuettler (GER) 3-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-4, 4-6, 4-6
• (19) Nicholas Almagro (ESP) vs. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 2-6
• (24) Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) vs. Marin Cilic (CRO) 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 5-7
  

The biggest surprise was in the women's game:

• (3) Maria Sharapova (RUS) vs. Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) 2-6, 4-6
• (10) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) vs. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) 3-6, 6-4, 1-6
• (13) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) vs. Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) 6-7 (10-12), 6-4, 3-6
• (22) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) vs. Ai Sugiyama (JPN) 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 2-6
• (25) Lindsay Davenport (USA) vs. Gisela Dulko (ARG) Walkover (Knee injury)
• (26) Sybille Bammer (AUT) vs. Shuai Peng (CHN) 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 3-6
• (32) Sania Mirza (IND) vs. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP) 0-6, 6-4, 7-9
  

So that's now the third seeds from both the men's (Djokovic) and women's (Sharapova) gone. Who'd have thunk it! It's also nice to see that Tamarine Tanasugarn is continuing her great run after winning at 's-Hertogenbosch last week, and that Ai Sugiyama is still battling on.

Wimbledon, Day 3. And other stuff.

It was a disappointing day, yesterday. Elena Baltacha could not build on her battling victory of the first round. She went under to Zheng Jie (CHN), 2-6, 5-7.

The big news of the day was the unceremonious dumping of Novak Djokovic. Former world number one Marat Safin bossed the game completely, not allowing Djokovic any foothold in the match. To be fair, Djokovic seemed rather out of sorts, but I haven't seen Safin play that well for a long time. I'm hoping he can keep this form, I like watching Safin play.

The tennis took a back seat to my tutorial in the evening. It was nice to meet the tutor, even though it seemed he didn't realise Kirst was there for the tutorial too. I think he thought she was my helper. Oops! But other than that oversight, he seemed to be a very good tutor, sooooo much better than the first tutor we had. He was able to start a debate about masculinity and femininity, and how they are contrasted within the works we are studying for Block 5. It was a big help going to the tutorial, and being able to throw ideas around with others. It really helps in shaping my own thoughts, and focuses me to get down to the work. That maybe why my Wallace essay was so bad. I didn't have that focus. I just wish there was a tutorial for Don Juan, as that was overlooked in the tutorial last night. Ho hum, will have to muddle through that one on my own. (I did sit down and listen to it properly last night, but I couldn't shake the image of a dandy with sparkly teeth skipping and jumping around lush green hills every time the Don Juan strut section happened!)

Wimbledon, Day 2.

Well, it was a surprising day yesterday.

Naomi Cavaday played out of her skin in the first set against Venus Williams, but Venus pipped her in the tie breaker. The second set was a bit of a non-event for Cavaday, really. Score: 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.

Anne Keothavong, on the other hand, battled back from a set down to win her match against Vania King (USA). Score: 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Katie O'Brien also went out. At one point in the second set she was 5-0 up against Shahar Peer (ISR), but Peer won the next seven games to take the match. Score: 3-6, 5-7.

The blokes fared a bit better, two of the three of them getting through to the second round.

Andy Murray played in a highly entertaining match against Fabrice Santoro (FRA). In the end, Murray took the match in three straight sets. Score: 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).

Ranked outsider Chris Eaton, who battled through qualies, rallied hard against Serbian Boris Pashanski, making it into the second round in straight sets. He faces a tough second round match against Dmitry Tursunov (RUS). Score: 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.

Unfortunately, Jamie Baker fell to Stefano Galvani (ITA). Score: 4-6, 2-6, 3-6.

Game, set, and no rain?

So, it was the first day of Wimbledon yesterday. I have to say, it went better than I was expecting. Firstly, Elena Baltacha won her match against Angelique Kerber, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. Happy, happy, happy. Unfortunately for Melanie South, her match against Alona Bondarenko didn't go quite as well, although she put up a spirited fight, losing 3-6, 7-6 (7-1), 4-6! Alex Bogdanovic also put up a fight, but went down 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (4-7) to Simone Bolelli. Ho hum.

Today we have Andy Murray, Chris Eaton (who battled through qualies to get there), Jamie Baker, Naomi Cavaday and Anne Keothavong playing. Katie O'Brien might also be playing today. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that more than just Andy Murray progresses through. I don't hold out much hope for Naomi Cavaday, shes up against Venus Williams, but I'd love her to shock Williams and go through!

I'm looking forward to pawing through 'Kult' now, while waiting for Wimbledon to start. 'Kult' is a roleplaying game from the 90s. I owned it way back when, but sold it because I didn't play it much. Over the last few weeks it popped into my head as being a way to feed my brain with some ideas for story writing. So I went on a quest to find it. Imagine my shock at finding out it was no longer in print, and that I would have to track the bugger down! I had no luck, then last weekend I found a copy on Ebay. 'Yipes,' thought I, when seeing the price. £40! I had a few quid left from my grant, so I thought, 'what the hell, let's just get it!' So get it I did. And read it - I will. Now.

Well, it's been a strange day today. The world is going insane. Yesterday there were two supposed 'terrorist' car bombs in London, thankfully they didn't explode. Then today some idiots ploughed into Glasgow airport in a flaming Jeep Cheroke, trying to set the place alight. One of them ended up on fire, and I'm not sure if it was the same one that had a suicide bomb belt strapped to him. Then tonight my brother texts me to tell me that Liverpool Airport (I only live about a mile away from here) had been closed and the roads around it closed too, and there was a possibility of evacuations. Well, that had me scared, but it was later revealed that this was only a security procedure. It's all totally tits up.

But anyway, on lighter news, another disappointing day at Wimbledon, after it was rained off after just over an hours worth of play. Play had already been delayed due to rain, and the courts were covered until around 3pm. So I sat and watched little documentaries about Billie Jean King and Bjorn Borg. It was good to sit back and watch some tennis history.

My litte Principessa has been doing well with her potty training too. We've been training for about two weeks now, and (touch wood) she harldy has any accidents. I am so proud of her. I have only got to worry about training her for staying dry at night now, I think we're about done with the daytime stuff (apart from the fact that I have to stop her from tipping out her potty after she has had a poop!).

Anyways, sleep time now. Oyasuminasai!