THE CHAMPIONSHIPS, WIMBLEDON 2019

The Spin

This grass season has been quite challenging for the Spin Team. This was due to the fact that a member of our team had plans to visit Birmingham, the plans got shelved, and said team member went into a downward spiral.  It was made even worst when said team member's faourite player in the world decided to play in Birmingham.  That being said, the team member has recovered from her disappointment and is looking forward to the start of The Championships, Wimbledon.

I have not had a chance to look at the draw but I have listened to the Realz podcast and while every draw has its challenges, it would seem as if Serena of House Williams has a tough ride to 24. Venus, also of House Williams also has a challenge in playing against the young American qualifier, Cori Gauff, the youngest player in the draw.

I happened to watch the video of Serena's pre-tournament press conference and she seemed relaxed and happy. For a quick minute she was shocked that Ashleigh Barty was now No. 1, a fact which Pam Shriver thought was disrespectful.  I guess she has never seen or heard her colleagues misidentify the careers of the women on the Tour. There is no reason why Serena should be aware of who is No. 1.The fact that she knew enough about Barty's year, the fact that she knew what tournaments she had won (Miami and the French Open) is to me a testament that Serena does pay attention to what is happening on the WTA Tour. Compare and contrast that to so many players who will tell you that they do not watch women's tennis and as we have seen on social media, during a very over hyped men's match, the women will be tweeting up a storm. I have always found that to be incredibly disrespectful to the WTA Tour but I guess for Pam and others of her ilk, not knowing who is No. 1 is considered to be more disrespectful. 

Anywho, the ATP has been trying to score headlines so players have been coming out on social media publicly declaring that they have resigned from the Player Council. Dramatic. Intended to draw headlines and possibly ending up as much ado about nothing. A situation symptomatic of the ATP Tour. Unless someone comes out and speaks definitively about why they have resigned, I say we all look to the tennis and leave the men alone with their hormones.

Day 1 OOP and Spin's Picks below

Elina Svitolina [8] vs Daria Gavrilova
Margarita Gasparyan vs Anna-Lena Friedsam
Marie Bouzkova [LL] vs Mona Barthel
Bernarda Pera vs Maria Sakkari [31]

Petra Martic [24] vs Jennifer Brady 
Anastasia Potapova vs Jil Teichmann
Danielle Collins vs Zarina Diyas
Kristie Ahn [Q] vs Anastasija Sevastova [12]

Marketa Vondrousova [16] vs Madison Brengle
Karolina Muchova vs Aleksandra Krunic
Caty McNally [Q] vs Heather Watson
Shelby Rogers vs Anett Kontaveit [20]

Su-Wei Hsieh [28] vs Jelena Ostapenko
Dalila Jakupovic vs Kirsten Flipkens
Anna Karolina Schmiedlova vs Monica Puig
Lin Zhu vs Karolina Pliskova [3]

Simona Halep [7] vs Aliaksandra Sasnovich
Mihaela Buzarnescu vs Jessica Pegula
Alize Cornet vs Victoria Azarenka
Ajla Tomljanovic vs Daria Kasatkina [29]

Madison Keys [17] vs Luksika Kumkhum
Polona Hercog vs Viktoria Kuzmova
Venus Williams vs Cori Gauff [Q]
Magdalena Rybarikova vs Aryna Sabalenka [10]

Caroline Wozniacki [14] vs Sara Sorribes Tormo
Veronika Kudermetova vs Ysaline Bonaventure [Q]
Rebecca Peterson vs Yanina Wickmayer [Q]
Shuai Zhang vs Carolina Garcia [23]

Sofia Kenin [27] vs Astra Sharma
Dayana Yastremska vs Camila Giorgi
Iga Swiatek vs Viktorija Golubic
Yulia Putintseva vs Naomi Osaka [2]

Must see matches

Venus v Cori

Putintseva v Osaka

Rybarikova v Sabalenka

Azarenka v Cornet

Hseih v Ostapenko

Upset Special

Putintseva beating Osaka

Ahn beating Sevastova

Too close to call

Hercog Kuzmova

Yastremska v Giorgi (the poor ball)