Marion is out of Wimbledon. She suffered a 6-4 6-1 defeat to resurgent American Bethanie Mattek.
Even at 4-4 all in the first set it was clear Marion was having difficulty in some way. Getting a little frustrated and throwing her racquet.
The way her head was buried in the towel made me anxious that she was possibly going to retire in the first set.
Perhaps she stuck it out because it's Wimbledon, and because she's Marion.
She recieved injury time outs for shoulder and leg issues.
Her serve was poor today. But again, I noticed Marion shrugging and trying to loosen her shoulders early on. Indicative of some injury or shoulder cramp from the beginning of the match.
The conditions were changeable but mostly pretty cool. I'm sitting below the tv studio and should put a cardigan on. A bit cool for optimal sporting performance.
I got a text message from friends watching the match on tv. They say that as per usual the commentators are massacaring Marion's game and everything about her.
If true, I find that very dissapointing. But Marion will be back. You cant brow beat a player into abandoning their own game. Even if the purists consider Marion's game abberant.
You cant correct a horse and produce good results by punishing it.
A fellow Marion fan sitting next to me described her as being out of sorts today. That's a more rational appraisal.
One game that went to 9 or 10 deuces was a tough one to take when Mattek held on.
There was one rally at Adv Marion, in which she could have sought to kill the point earlier before Mattek did. But it wasnt to be.
Mattek was hitting the ball short, and Marion just wasnt getting a racquet to balls that she was able to last year. It's as if Bethanie Mattek observed the things that Perebiynis got success with, and then copied it.
When Marion hits the proverbial wall, the moment in a match when these residual injuries kick in, her game just collapses. We saw it against Pertra Cetkovska at Birmingham., and throughout this season.
She'll be back. Sharapova went out. Ivanovic fluked it against Dechy and in down a set against Zheng. So what i'm saying is the womens game is pretty open at the moment. Marion can beat any of them on her day. It was always going to be hard to repeat last year. But she'll be back, and I believe she can win Wimbledon one day.
Take care Marion. It's ok to be sad for a little while. To cry for a little while. I'll join you *tissues*
Thanks for the joy you brought this week. May your time come round again. And may you grasp it when it does.
BE STRONG! WE LOVE YOU SUPER MARION!!
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I'll put pics up in a minute. But wont be able to update the website until tommorrow probably.
Its true the commentators were very rude, they tore her apart for just for calling the trainer, and talked her down for the rest of the match.