Wimbledon Diary: Day 12
Originally published on: 08/07/12 00:00
Serena writes more records
It was ladies finals day at the All England Club. Despite a top notch three-set final between Serena Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska, the day belonged to Serena. The 30-year-old American won 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 and the 2012 champ now has five Wimbledon titles; same as big sister Venus, and a stonking 14 Grand Slam singles titles. Saturday’s match was the first time a ladies final went to three sets since 2006, when Amelie Mauresmo defeated Justine Henin.
Where did you get that serve?
Prior to her doubles final, Serena has boomed down 102 aces during this tournament. Considering that Pete Sampras was an idol of hers perhaps this should come as no surprise. “I really loved Pete when I was younger,” confessed the champ. More of a surprise perhaps is that she has a dog who has Pete in its name, as homage to the great man. The dog’s first name is, er, Jacquie.
Sisters are doing it for themselves
Serena and Venus defeated Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 7-5, 6-4 to take their 13th Grand Slam doubles title and their fifth title at Wimbledon. The match started at 9.25pm and finished just before 11pm – an unbelievable time for an outdoor grass tournament. The sisters were focused on their tennis. “We weren't really racing the clock,” insisted Serena. “We were just playing our opponents who were playing really tough and really good.”
Men’s final eve
We got a taste of the whirlwind circulating around the men’s finalists, well, more specifically the British men’s finalist. Andy Murray hit the practise courts at Aorangi Park around 12 noon and there was certainly a bit of a scrum to get sight of the Scotsman as his team put him through his paces. Feds left his practise until later in the day.
Girl’s champ
Agnieszka Radwanska was vying to become just the fifth woman to win the Wimbledon ladies singles title as well as having won here as a junior. (The others are Adrienne Haydon Jones, Karen Susman, Martina Hingis and Amelie Mauresmo.) This year may not have been the Pole’s year to achieve that record, but a junior title today went to Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, who defeated Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine 6-2 6-2. The cool-headed 18-year-old has been talked about as one to watch for the future for a while and becomes the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam junior singles title. Already the defending girls doubles champion, she teams up with Taylor Townsend for this year’s doubles final on Sunday.
Men’s doubles
At around 9.20pm the men’s doubles final was completed under the roof of centre court. Wildcards Frederik Nielsen, from Denmark and Jonathan Marray from Great Britain took on the No.5 seeds Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau. With an incredible performance and a crowd firmly behind them, after three hours and 20 minutes, the wildcards were victorious 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 6-3, handing Lindstedt and Tecau their third straight defeat in the final. Judging by the volume of the crowd support for Marray tonight, the folk at the All England Club may want to secure the roof if it’s shut tomorrow, the 15,000 spectators assembled for the men’s singles final may well blow it off.
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