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| Chris Evert |
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
Saturday 21 December 2013
Birthday Greetings
The management and staff of the Breathe Tennis Blog would like to extend warm birthday greetings to Chris Evert, blonde beauty and winner of 18 Grand Slams. Enjoy your day!
Friday 22 November 2013
Birthday Greetings
The management and staff of the Breathe Tennis Blog would like to convey sincerest birthday wishes to former World No. 1 and 12-time Major champion, Billie Jean King. What a legend!
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| Billie Jean King |
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
Thursday 1 August 2013
Changing Tides in the ATP
We're approaching the US Open, the culmination of the hard court tennis season, and I think we'd be foolish to anticipate anything boring in the wings. Do you feel the winds of change blowing across our faces? Brand new giants are rising up, titans are uprising, GOAT contenders are appearing, newbies are getting their proverbial feet wet and (some might say unfortunately) legends are dying and weaning and fading away.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Andy Murray seems most able to walk away with the USO trophy if the past two grand slams have been any indication of who's coming into form and who's losing their touch.
Federer and Nadal have both suffered several early round exits, while Djokovic seems literally stunned by Murray's newly found confidence and finals "clutch". Murray has more to fear now in the lower ranked players than in the three men in whose shadow he seemed perpetually enveloped.
Now that he has broken through that tough multi-Grand Slam barrier, is there anyone who can stop him? Arthur Ashe Stadium may tell us. Stay here for live coverage and news.
Breathe tennis!!
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Andy Murray seems most able to walk away with the USO trophy if the past two grand slams have been any indication of who's coming into form and who's losing their touch.
Federer and Nadal have both suffered several early round exits, while Djokovic seems literally stunned by Murray's newly found confidence and finals "clutch". Murray has more to fear now in the lower ranked players than in the three men in whose shadow he seemed perpetually enveloped.
Now that he has broken through that tough multi-Grand Slam barrier, is there anyone who can stop him? Arthur Ashe Stadium may tell us. Stay here for live coverage and news.
Breathe tennis!!
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Thursday 11 July 2013
Birthday Greetings
The management and staff of the Breathe Tennis Blog would like to extend warm 23rd birthday wishes to former World No. 1 and our little Danish cupcake, Caroline Wozniacki. Enjoy your big day!!
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| Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark |
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
Wednesday 10 July 2013
Birthday Greetings
The management and staff of the Breathe Tennis Blog would like to convey hearty 68th birthday greetings to Virginia Wade, three-time Grand Slam
champion - the 1968 US Open, 1972 Australian Open and the Wimbledon Championships in 1977. Have an awesome day!!
Today also marks what would be the 70th birthday of American tennis legend Arthur Ashe, who held the US Open victory in the same year as Virginia Wade. Arthur Ashe, like Wade, won every Grand Slam except for the French Open. Rest in peace, glorious titan!!
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| Last British Ladies' Singles Champion at Wimbledon, Virginia Wade (1977) |
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
Today also marks what would be the 70th birthday of American tennis legend Arthur Ashe, who held the US Open victory in the same year as Virginia Wade. Arthur Ashe, like Wade, won every Grand Slam except for the French Open. Rest in peace, glorious titan!!
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| Arthur Ashe: July 10, 1943 to February 6, 1993 |
Tuesday 9 July 2013
The Petite Francaise & The Long-Awaited Brit
It's been a while since our senses were tingled the way they were over the weekend during the last two showdowns at the All-England Club. Our eyes certainly beheld sights they hadn't anticipated, by the crowning victories of two underdogs who proved themselves worthy of coronation at the final ceremony; and I can't speak on anyone else's behalf but my ears sure were surprised by the "pop!" that shot off the rackets of the female finalists in their epic confrontation on Saturday.
Marion Bartoli's very first serve in court died like a lead cannon underneath the frame of Sabine Lisicki's racket. That first game was taut with tension already, and Lisicki emerged from it with an early break. However, Bartoli did not leave her ruthlessness at home and immediately broke back, then broke again in Lisicki's next service game to go up 3-1.
Trailing 1-5, Lisicki seemed to have met her match in power and playing style in the petite Frenchwoman and was lambasting herself (rightly so) for her amassed unforced errors. Yet another netted forehand handed Marion the game and the set 6-1; she pumped her fist in determined passion and Sabine couldn't look more despondent.
She tried in earnest to clamp down on errors in the second set, did Lisicki, but Marion only exploited her resulting tenacity to go up a break and 2-1. It's been only about half an hour since the start of the match and Sabine really hasn't begun to threaten Bartoli's serve, whereas her own is under increased pressure with every service game.
The fifth game seemed to be going the way of the German, but Marion would not let up and soon forced - and captured - a break of serve. With the match slipping away, Sabine must have felt the nerves of inexperience creeping through her system, while her seasoned opponent was really finding her rhythm on the court.
Poor decisions came in torrents thenceforth, including a "drop-volley" that landed so snugly in the doubles alley, you'd think that's where she wanted it to go. Follow the ensuing break of serve with a love hold by Marion and we've got another 5-1 predicament for the young Sabine. Thankfully, she would hold. No embarrassing scoreline for the woman who beat Serena Williams -- Serena Williams!! -- to get here. And then she would break the Frenchwoman's serve - brava! - for a more manageable 4-5 trail. And to think she was in tears just three games before.
Now, the pressure rested on Bartoli's ability to draw on her years of wisdom, including her quarterfinal-or-better performance at every single Grand Slam, in order to see her through one ultimate service game.
It began with a sixteen-shot rally in which Sabine had the upper hand but choked on the gas to give Marion a short ball that was punished by a brilliantly angled cross-court backhand return.
The second point was a swinging serve near the far corner of the service box; Lisicki mis-stepped and threw the return out wide.
The next serve went down the tee and a one-two punch ground-stroke wrong-footed the German again. Wow, was she making it that easy for Bartoli? 40-0.
Out wide went the serve, up high flew the dust, and on her knees went Marion Bartoli, overcome with emotion at her first major title win.
The wily Novak Djokovic commenced his Wimbledon 2013 final bid with a service hold. British would-be savior Andy Murray responded with a hold of his own. Sunday's proceedings were about to get messy and we all knew it.
Despite being both big and clean hitters of the ball, Murray would find an early break for 2-1. The sound of the ball popping off their rackets was the loudest sound in the stadium. Following suit, Djokovic broke back in the very next game to equalize at 2-2, then hold for a 3-2 lead on serve.
Game six would see Andy looking much more comfortable, serving big and handling the overhead well to grasp a love hold for 3-3. Already Novak is pulling tricks out of the bag to play in the mind of the World No. 2.
Case in point: down 0-15 in the next service game, Djokovic tested Murray's defense with a smash, a lob and a volley, all in the same point, only to find that Andy was more than capable of returning each put-away with interest. Nole would eventually miss the forehand down the line to give Murray 0-30. Slightly frustrated by this turn of events, Novak challenged a cross-court backhand of his called wide, but hawk-eye showed it was indeed out and abracadabra Muzzah had triple break point. Wouldn't you know, the Serb would miss the first serve and Murray would punish the second to break again for a 4-3 lead. Would he be able to consolidate this time though?
Could the sorrow of last year's loss have crept into Murray's mind at this point? It may well have, considering he made two double faults to open the eighth game. It turned into a long, multiple-deuce game at that, with Djokovic fighting his way to break point. Access denied! said Murray with a smashing forehand down the line. Convincing hold. 5-3.
"Mr. Resilient" is an alias of Novak Djokovic: he battled back from 0-30 down in the next game to hold for 4-5.
But the ghost of Fred Perry guided Murray's serving arm through four huge serves for a love hold and ownership of the first set, 6-4.
Service games began long and tight in the second set. The commentators were implying that Djokovic was approaching the net far too often to stop from extending the rallies after his marathon semifinal against Del Potro; however, Djokovic came out on top in back-to-back 20+ rallies and fought without face and through slips and falls to hold for 4-1.
Game six was a strange one. When Murray hit a close shot at the baseline, Djokovic hit the return well wide......then tried to challenge Murray's shot? Of course, the umpire refused to comply and we in the audience could tell from hawk-eye (and intuition) that the shot in question was indeed in bounds. In the next point, Djokovic missed an easy forehand so that Murray was able to hold for 4-2. Oh dear, are we seeing signs of mental weakness from the Serbian legend?
He would double-fault himself out of rhythm for a 15-40 deficit in the following game. But it's been "only" an hour and thirty-nine minutes. Much, much more tennis to be had. Nole erased both break points to make it deuce. Andy had different plans, however, and would laser an 86 mph forehand across the court to gain the advantage. Soon thereafter, Djokovic lamely surrendered the break with another double fault.
This 4-3 lead will be worthless if Andy doesn't consolidate, say the mumbles of every Brit fan crowding Center Court and its surroundings.
With things getting tougher on serve, Murray was ballsy to plant an ace out wide on the line, then play a risky drop-shot to prevent a break chance and hold for 4-all.
5-5. Djokovic had been out of challenges for a while now but starting yelling to the umpire about another questionable baseline shot from Murray, and again he's wrong. Andy then conjured up two break points and took the second for a 6-5 lead. He would serve out the second set to love, 7-5.
It must have been the gods of tennis looking down upon Andy Murray that day; it was the hottest day at Wimbledon over the entire fortnight and Djokovic was a world above Murray......in unforced errors, 21-11; the one which sealed the opening game for Murray was a wide backhand.
Successive love holds from both players set the tone at 2-1, favour of Murray. He'd be soon on the back pedal at 2-4.
But the US Open reigning champ reappeared right away with break opportunities on the Serb's serve. Breathing hard after saving the first, Novak would give up the second chance and the break lead.
Spiral/helical blue and green lights above the stands flashed silently as Nole tripped and fell for a second time to ruin blinding forehand point for 15-15.
The likes of Bradley Cooper, Gerard Butler and Wayne Rooney were all in the audience, hoping, like any other, that Great Britain has a long-awaited champion in the dude from Dunblane.
He (Novak) would hold for 4-4, but must have felt it was getting rather ridiculous: Andy had come back from every break down to level things out against the odds. Errors were piling up for the World No. 1 and he was trying out EVERYTHING in his arsenal but Murray had the solution for each weapon. Sign of the times when Djokovic netted the forehand to hand Murray a 5-4 lead and chance to serve for the championship.
Andy's girlfriend Kim Sears looked pumped up as ever. She had good reason to be. Her guy was on the verge of an historical turning point.
One backhand wide from Novak: 15-0.
Andy then put away a clever drop-shot: 30-0.
Big serve. Return long. 40-0. Triple championship point!
Nole was too good at the net: 40-15.
Novak blasted the nervous second serve: 40-30.
Andy's turn to be nervous, he pushed the backhand long: deuce.
Then he netted an inside-out forehand to give Nole the advantage.
A good body serve followed and we were back to deuce.
The net cord found favour with Novak at an opportune time: advantage Djokovic.
Luckily, Murray would remember his ranking and his nerve to recover for deuce #3.
But he was underestimating the Serb - Novak will never just 'go away'. It's break point Djokovic again.
But again, Andy found a way to shut him out. What's that we were saying about Nadal the Great Counter-Puncher? Oh never mind? Okay then. Deuce #4.
The first serve had completely gone away in this unforgettable game. But Murray would find a fifth chance to close it out at home.
And he did it.
His mum was in tears......he had won. Kim oh-emm-gee'd almost in slo-mo. Butler's mouth was agape.
Forget bringing the trophy home after how many decades - this is what it takes to make Ivan Lendl smile.
Breathe tennis!!
Marion Bartoli's very first serve in court died like a lead cannon underneath the frame of Sabine Lisicki's racket. That first game was taut with tension already, and Lisicki emerged from it with an early break. However, Bartoli did not leave her ruthlessness at home and immediately broke back, then broke again in Lisicki's next service game to go up 3-1.
Trailing 1-5, Lisicki seemed to have met her match in power and playing style in the petite Frenchwoman and was lambasting herself (rightly so) for her amassed unforced errors. Yet another netted forehand handed Marion the game and the set 6-1; she pumped her fist in determined passion and Sabine couldn't look more despondent.
She tried in earnest to clamp down on errors in the second set, did Lisicki, but Marion only exploited her resulting tenacity to go up a break and 2-1. It's been only about half an hour since the start of the match and Sabine really hasn't begun to threaten Bartoli's serve, whereas her own is under increased pressure with every service game.
The fifth game seemed to be going the way of the German, but Marion would not let up and soon forced - and captured - a break of serve. With the match slipping away, Sabine must have felt the nerves of inexperience creeping through her system, while her seasoned opponent was really finding her rhythm on the court.
Poor decisions came in torrents thenceforth, including a "drop-volley" that landed so snugly in the doubles alley, you'd think that's where she wanted it to go. Follow the ensuing break of serve with a love hold by Marion and we've got another 5-1 predicament for the young Sabine. Thankfully, she would hold. No embarrassing scoreline for the woman who beat Serena Williams -- Serena Williams!! -- to get here. And then she would break the Frenchwoman's serve - brava! - for a more manageable 4-5 trail. And to think she was in tears just three games before.
Now, the pressure rested on Bartoli's ability to draw on her years of wisdom, including her quarterfinal-or-better performance at every single Grand Slam, in order to see her through one ultimate service game.
It began with a sixteen-shot rally in which Sabine had the upper hand but choked on the gas to give Marion a short ball that was punished by a brilliantly angled cross-court backhand return.
The second point was a swinging serve near the far corner of the service box; Lisicki mis-stepped and threw the return out wide.
The next serve went down the tee and a one-two punch ground-stroke wrong-footed the German again. Wow, was she making it that easy for Bartoli? 40-0.
Out wide went the serve, up high flew the dust, and on her knees went Marion Bartoli, overcome with emotion at her first major title win.
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| The winning moment for Marion Bartoli |
The wily Novak Djokovic commenced his Wimbledon 2013 final bid with a service hold. British would-be savior Andy Murray responded with a hold of his own. Sunday's proceedings were about to get messy and we all knew it.
Despite being both big and clean hitters of the ball, Murray would find an early break for 2-1. The sound of the ball popping off their rackets was the loudest sound in the stadium. Following suit, Djokovic broke back in the very next game to equalize at 2-2, then hold for a 3-2 lead on serve.
Game six would see Andy looking much more comfortable, serving big and handling the overhead well to grasp a love hold for 3-3. Already Novak is pulling tricks out of the bag to play in the mind of the World No. 2.
Case in point: down 0-15 in the next service game, Djokovic tested Murray's defense with a smash, a lob and a volley, all in the same point, only to find that Andy was more than capable of returning each put-away with interest. Nole would eventually miss the forehand down the line to give Murray 0-30. Slightly frustrated by this turn of events, Novak challenged a cross-court backhand of his called wide, but hawk-eye showed it was indeed out and abracadabra Muzzah had triple break point. Wouldn't you know, the Serb would miss the first serve and Murray would punish the second to break again for a 4-3 lead. Would he be able to consolidate this time though?
Could the sorrow of last year's loss have crept into Murray's mind at this point? It may well have, considering he made two double faults to open the eighth game. It turned into a long, multiple-deuce game at that, with Djokovic fighting his way to break point. Access denied! said Murray with a smashing forehand down the line. Convincing hold. 5-3.
"Mr. Resilient" is an alias of Novak Djokovic: he battled back from 0-30 down in the next game to hold for 4-5.
But the ghost of Fred Perry guided Murray's serving arm through four huge serves for a love hold and ownership of the first set, 6-4.
Service games began long and tight in the second set. The commentators were implying that Djokovic was approaching the net far too often to stop from extending the rallies after his marathon semifinal against Del Potro; however, Djokovic came out on top in back-to-back 20+ rallies and fought without face and through slips and falls to hold for 4-1.
Game six was a strange one. When Murray hit a close shot at the baseline, Djokovic hit the return well wide......then tried to challenge Murray's shot? Of course, the umpire refused to comply and we in the audience could tell from hawk-eye (and intuition) that the shot in question was indeed in bounds. In the next point, Djokovic missed an easy forehand so that Murray was able to hold for 4-2. Oh dear, are we seeing signs of mental weakness from the Serbian legend?
He would double-fault himself out of rhythm for a 15-40 deficit in the following game. But it's been "only" an hour and thirty-nine minutes. Much, much more tennis to be had. Nole erased both break points to make it deuce. Andy had different plans, however, and would laser an 86 mph forehand across the court to gain the advantage. Soon thereafter, Djokovic lamely surrendered the break with another double fault.
This 4-3 lead will be worthless if Andy doesn't consolidate, say the mumbles of every Brit fan crowding Center Court and its surroundings.
With things getting tougher on serve, Murray was ballsy to plant an ace out wide on the line, then play a risky drop-shot to prevent a break chance and hold for 4-all.
5-5. Djokovic had been out of challenges for a while now but starting yelling to the umpire about another questionable baseline shot from Murray, and again he's wrong. Andy then conjured up two break points and took the second for a 6-5 lead. He would serve out the second set to love, 7-5.
It must have been the gods of tennis looking down upon Andy Murray that day; it was the hottest day at Wimbledon over the entire fortnight and Djokovic was a world above Murray......in unforced errors, 21-11; the one which sealed the opening game for Murray was a wide backhand.
Successive love holds from both players set the tone at 2-1, favour of Murray. He'd be soon on the back pedal at 2-4.
But the US Open reigning champ reappeared right away with break opportunities on the Serb's serve. Breathing hard after saving the first, Novak would give up the second chance and the break lead.
Spiral/helical blue and green lights above the stands flashed silently as Nole tripped and fell for a second time to ruin blinding forehand point for 15-15.
The likes of Bradley Cooper, Gerard Butler and Wayne Rooney were all in the audience, hoping, like any other, that Great Britain has a long-awaited champion in the dude from Dunblane.
He (Novak) would hold for 4-4, but must have felt it was getting rather ridiculous: Andy had come back from every break down to level things out against the odds. Errors were piling up for the World No. 1 and he was trying out EVERYTHING in his arsenal but Murray had the solution for each weapon. Sign of the times when Djokovic netted the forehand to hand Murray a 5-4 lead and chance to serve for the championship.
Andy's girlfriend Kim Sears looked pumped up as ever. She had good reason to be. Her guy was on the verge of an historical turning point.
One backhand wide from Novak: 15-0.
Andy then put away a clever drop-shot: 30-0.
Big serve. Return long. 40-0. Triple championship point!
Nole was too good at the net: 40-15.
Novak blasted the nervous second serve: 40-30.
Andy's turn to be nervous, he pushed the backhand long: deuce.
Then he netted an inside-out forehand to give Nole the advantage.
A good body serve followed and we were back to deuce.
The net cord found favour with Novak at an opportune time: advantage Djokovic.
Luckily, Murray would remember his ranking and his nerve to recover for deuce #3.
But he was underestimating the Serb - Novak will never just 'go away'. It's break point Djokovic again.
But again, Andy found a way to shut him out. What's that we were saying about Nadal the Great Counter-Puncher? Oh never mind? Okay then. Deuce #4.
The first serve had completely gone away in this unforgettable game. But Murray would find a fifth chance to close it out at home.
And he did it.
His mum was in tears......he had won. Kim oh-emm-gee'd almost in slo-mo. Butler's mouth was agape.
Forget bringing the trophy home after how many decades - this is what it takes to make Ivan Lendl smile.
.jpg "Source: http://news.bbcimg.co.uk") |
| Andy Murray, two-time Grand Slam champion |
Friday 5 July 2013
Same Script, Slighty Different Cast
The past decade or two of tennis in the Open Era has been marked by the success of a handful of individuals who, by their triumphs, losses, spirit and consistency, are all GOAT material, much to the dismay of their lower ranked colleagues. Now, it would seem their victorious era is coming to a sputtering end. One may question the match fitness of Roger Federer, the physical health of Rafael Nadal and the confidence of Serena Williams, now that all three have graciously stepped out of Wimbledon this year. None of these three withdrew, unlike some of their younger rivals, however; we can see that the hunger to win is still lion-like. But how long do we have until they cannot compete at the highest level anymore?
The answer may not be easily attained, but we have a clear idea of who is just itching to fill up their shoes once they become retirees like Andy Roddick and Mary Joe Fernández.
Andy Murray
He's just won a convincing semifinal against Jerzy Janowicz of Poland.
The boys both held serve fairly well to begin with; a point to remember happened when Andy was serving at 2-2. The Brit showed us his wheels by chasing down the kind of ball that even David Ferrer wouldn't bother going after AND producing a stunning backhand on it that forces Jerzy's lob return to fall wide.
But the Pole had definitely brought out his biggest guns with massive serves and delicate drop-shots. Neither player had a decent look at a break point and they both held for twelve combined games in that set, forcing a tiebreak.
Janowicz's big serve put him in a good position at 6-2 in the tiebreak and Murray would forfeit the set with a double fault.
Second set: Janowicz returned the favor by double-faulting at 30-40 to give the Muzzah an easy break. Andy remained a break to the good, all the way to 6-4, wrapping up that set.
Third set: Andy slowed down a bit, flinching under the pressure of Janowicz's deft touch and untouchable service games. Jerzy took charge then and raced to a 4-1 lead. But when both fellas tried to out-net-play one another, it's Andy who came out on top with two successive breaks to lead for the first time at 5-4 with the chance to serve for the set. Murray got hit in the back from a smash by Jerzy at the net on his first set point but maintains his composure to secure the set soon thereafter.
It's two hours and twenty-four minutes into the match when they decided to close the roof. Murray wasn't too happy about that as he probably felt the twenty-minute wait would kill the momentum he was just starting to build. Quite frankly, the World No. 2 had a point: it wasn't raining, neither was it sufficiently dark to justify it. Janowicz was begging for this about half an hour ago, so he got a delayed grant to his wish.
The roof closure didn't seem to help his predicament much, though. Murray soon broke him, channeling his obvious frustration within a chugging train of huge serves and sharp ground-strokes. 3-1 Murray.
Andy was running and running and running away with this set, taking out all his anger on the racket with what the commentators often call 'controlled aggression'.
It's in the blink of an eye that he had Janowicz on the ropes at 5-3, with the Pole needing to hold serve to stay in this. But Jerzy was desperately laying it all out with double faults and wild shots everywhere to give Andy match point at 30-40. Of course, he missed the first serve. And Andy drove a rare soft second serve to claim the match in fine style.
You dare to question the British #1's clutch? I advise you to think twice. He finds himself caged in a corner often, yes. Sure, he had to come back from two sets down against Verdasco the other day but the scent of a second consecutive Wimbledon final appearance was on his nose even then and he bounced back well enough. We may have laughed earlier on this year if he'd said he felt he could end the year in the top spot. But it doesn't look quite so impossible now, does it? It's Muzzah time.
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| World No. 2 Andy Murray |
Novak Djokovic
The Serbian prince hasn't got too much left to prove, with six Grand Slams already under his belt. But he isn't anywhere near slowing down, either.....and the same cannot be said of Roger or of Rafa at the moment. He faces Murray in the final showdown on Sunday after a marathon win over Juan Martin Del Potro on Friday.
Sabine Lisicki
The German blonde with the pretty smile was certainly not showing it off early on in her match versus World No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska (Janowicz's compatriot) on Thursday. Lisicki had to fight very hard to grab the first set from Aggie, who showed up with both thighs taped up after a grueling match against Li Na two days before. 6-4 Lisicki.
If you'll recall, Radwanska was the highest seeded player in the ladies' singles draw and had to show some tenacity to draw out a heap of errors from Sabine and claim the second set 6-2.
Wimbledon says Steffi Graf was the last German woman in the finals here. Lisicki must have made her proud by winning that encounter, even if only after throwing away her first chance to serve for the match and having to play a tense tiebreak.
Final score: 6-4, 2-6, 9-7.
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| Ahh, that smile..... :) |
Which brings us to the weekend.....
On Saturday, a brand new name will echo throughout the bleachers on Center Court when either Marion Bartoli or Sabine Lisicki walks up the podium with the coveted Rosewater Dish.
Then on Sunday, Andy Murray will try to stop Novak Djokovic from creeping closer to Roger Federer's seventeen-count tally of major titles by bringing home the gold this time around.
Of course, live streams can be found here and you know where to come back to for more tennis news.
Breathe tennis!!
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