Wimbledon 2009

After two weeks of virtually unbroken sunshine and a lot of great tennis, the 2009 Wimbledon Championships has come to an end. Always sad to see the end of Wimbledon, the three tenors of tennis; Borg, Sampras, and Federer, all said in their own way that Wimbledon is The tournament. So it's great to also cherish with pride the fact that Marion Bartoli is the last non-Williams sister to have reached the ladies final.

Congratulations to Roger Federer on winning a record breaking 15th grand slam title, and Serena Williams on winning an 11th grand slam title.

It's hard not to feel a little for Andy Roddick following the men's final and Elena Dementieva following the women's semi final, the tournament produced drama from beginning to end.

A word of congratulation for 2009 Wimbledon junior champion Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand.

Asked about which players she likes, Noppawan told the Wimbledon website, I like a lot of players. Marion Bartoli because she hits very well and takes the ball early, like my style of two hands on both sides."

After two weeks of virtually unbroken sunshine and a lot of great tennis, the 2009 Wimbledon Championships has come to an end. Always sad to see the end of Wimbledon, the three tenors of tennis; Borg, Sampras, and Federer, all said in their own way that Wimbledon is The tournament. So it's great to also cherish with pride the fact that Marion Bartoli is the last non-Williams sister to have reached the ladies final.

Congratulations to Roger Federer on winning a record breaking 15th grand slam title, and Serena Williams on winning an 11th grand slam title.

It's hard not to feel a little for Andy Roddick following the men's final and Elena Dementieva following the women's semi final, the tournament produced drama from beginning to end.

A word of congratulation for 2009 Wimbledon junior champion Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand.

Asked about which players she likes, Noppawan told the Wimbledon website, I like a lot of players. Marion Bartoli because she hits very well and takes the ball early, like my style of two hands on both sides."

 Nadia Ptrrova  
Photo: Marion Bartoli Fan Blog World No.10
Nadia Petrova

Rankings

On the top left hand side you will see the latest WTA tour rankings (Top 20) which were published earlier today. They show a slip of two places by Marion from 11 to 13. However she remains Number 10 in the Race To The Sony Ericsson Championships. Only 85 points separate Nadia Petrova in 10th, Ana Ivanovic in 11th, Dominika Cibulkova in 12th, and Marion in 13th. Agnieszka Radwanska in 14th place is only a few points off the top 10 chasing trio.

The singles rankings are calculated on a rolling 12 month basis. The race is calculated from the start of the season in January and run until the end of the season around November.

Although she didn't play Birmingham this year, Marion broke-even on grass with an identical finish at Eastbourne and Wimbledon to that of 2008.

Whilst it is important to set goals, such as improving ones ranking, it's easy to get hung up on the minutiae of it all. Marion is by nature competitive, and she likes number crunching, but if you examine all the things she has said over the past two months, it is clear that firstly she is focused on her game rather than worrying about statistics or draws.

At the beginning of the year Marion said that reaching the top 10 was something she could achieve. But primarily she seems to be focused on improving her game, and then the ranking will take care of itself.

With the summer hard court season approaching, it has been said that Marion has a lot of points to defend. But another way of looking at it is simply that there are a lot points to gain.

Marion finished an impressive 2nd in the 2008 US Open Series title behind Dinara Safina, reaching the final in Stanford, semi final in Montreal, and cruelly being edged out at the 4th round stage of the US Open following the longest women?s match in US Open history.

Rather than cluttering up her tennis karma with low level clay or hard court tournaments in Europe, Marion has chosen wisely not to return to competition until The Bank Of The West Classic in Stanford on July 27. This gives her a chance to enjoy some mid season recuperation and work on her game with her coach.

French Masters

If plans for a French Masters competition proceed, involving the top 4 Frenchmen, and now the top 4 Frenchwoman also, then Marion may not enjoy much of an off-season. However, it's early days yet. Amelie Mauresmo has shown enthusiasm for the the plan, which has the support of new FFT president Jean Gachassin. A mens Masters competition was held for the first time in 2008, and won by Gilles Simon. www.mastersfrance.com/ Marion is yet to express an opinion about the proposal, as far as I am aware.

Potential positives and negatives..

Positives - The competition would be held in December in Toulouse on Plexicushion. The French public would have a chance to see the creme of their tennis talent in action, and the competition would act as a springboard to the start of the new season.. Which begins with tournaments in Australia played on Plexicushion.

Negatives - On the other hand, not only would it mean Marion would be playing 12 months of the year (is this what the modern game requires?), a French Masters tournament may also further confuse the issue of just exactly who is the top Frenchman, and who is the top Frenchwoman. For example, to this day Marion continues as the top ranked Frenchwoman according to the WTA Singles Ranking and also according to the WTA Race - The most reliable and transparent indicators of form and ability. Yet, say she didn't win this French Masters title (Plexicushion is far from Marion's favorite surface), would it not then further confuse the matter of just who is the top French woman, in the minds of the French public? After all, the French Tennis Federation's own domestic ranking seem quite discredited after last year's debacle, and contradict the Tour's own rankings.

Marion has held position of top ranking Frenchwoman for almost two years solid, a quite remarkable achievement in the highly competitive environment of French tennis. So we can only wait and see how she recieves the possibility of a French Masters.

Edit (2) 11/07/09