utter devestation would be an understatement to describe how i felt watching venus down lindsay davenport in the wimbledon championships of 2005.
i was able to cope only after watching kim clijsters win in the finals of the U.S. open in 2005.
Martina Hingis' return reminded me of my childhood fascination with her curiously large forehead and crafty smile in 2006.
and in 2007, maria sharapova proved to me that she was more than a blonde bimbo rumored to have dated andy roddick.
2008, however, is ALL about Ana Ivanovic. I LOVED lindsay, delighted in Kim, welcomed Martina, and liked Maria; but this is the first time since Lindsay, where I am just an AVID fan of a tennis player's GAME and personality.
Ana's game is based on power. her forehead is undoubtedly one of, if not THE, best in the woman's game. her serve is a weapon and her footwork, though not quite as guile nor fast as say Jankovic or Justine (may her legend rest in peace--more on that later)... is 10x more graceful than other fellow players (namely Masha) 6 foot tall and higher.
watching her "mature" as a player and celeb figure has been completely rewarding and it's hard not to shoot for her congenial personality and war-torn national background.
that being said, can we honestly see her dominating women's tennis now that Justine has left?
not quite yet. the number 1 spot, though currently Ana's for the first time in her career, is absolutely up for grabs, as long as Sharapova doesn't let her oddly deflated performance during this year's Roland Garros doesn't affect her... as long as Ana's fellow countrywoman Jelena continues to expand her combo repotoire, and of course... as long as the william sisters decides to sporatically come in and win another grand slam.
the great news is, Ana's only 20 years old (AND NUMBER 1 IN THE WORLD. yeeeeesH). and she's got room to grow... AND dominate. the woman's game was rumored to be changing from POWER POWER POWER, to POWER + MOVEMENT. Sharapova lacks that, but Ana has proved that she is more than game enough to dance on whichever surface she is on... a slong as it's between the lines of course.
as for the finals... it's going to be tough to win against the ROD HOT Dinara Safina, who incidentally, i ABSOLUTELY ABHOR. She's running on momentum (and some talent i suppose), and while Anna's got the more finetuned chops, dinara's been pushed to the brink and has OVERCOME. SEVERAL times. it'll be the battle of the mind. i want to say ana in 3. her past experience, plus her newfound confidence in her most recent win against Jelena... PLUS dinara's streaky emotional performances and the fact that even cats die after their 9 lives... ALLEZ ANA! ALLEZ ALLEZ ALLEZ!!!
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which brings me to Justine's shocking retirement at hte top of her game. i was never too big of a fan of justine. she seemed too robotic and VERY unprofessional at times. Yet, she had the greatest chance of becoming immortal, AS immortal as the likes of Chris Evert and Steffi Graff. Instead, she chose, at the age of 25, to become... an ordinary person.
as sad and incredulous it is for sports world to accept this... how much more sad and provoking is it that a woman would have to choose THIS time, at THIS junction in her professional and personal life to step away COMPLETELY. it speaks volume of the life Justine's led... and volumes of courage she possesses to completely face who she is and what exactly is lacking in her life.
I dont' know if i could have that same courage. and one is bound to wonder if Justine didn't just throw the towel in because she was afraid of falling away from SUCCESS... but... she was never one to listen to anybody else's opinions. which ironically is yet another reason why she will by default, be remembered as a legend of women's tennis.
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i can't wait to become rich and watch these matches LIVE in my OWN box. WOOT.
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