Sabine Lisicki Upsets World Number One, Maria Sharapova
(picture courtesy of tennis.com)

Day 7 had a few upsets in the women’s side. The biggest one was Maria Sharapova, who lost in straight sets-6-4, 6-3 to Sabine Lisicki of Germany. Sharapova never really looked comfortable playing againt the 15th ranked player. Lisicki went after her shots, hitting big whenever she could. Another thing that worked against Sharapova? The windy conditions. She was unable to serve as well and had many double faults. Most people had picked Sharapova as the favorite to win Wimbledon. As a result of this loss, Sharapova will lose her number one ranking to Victoria Azarenka.

Kim Clijsters is another grand slam winner who lost on Day 8. She also lost to a German player, Angelique Kerber, 6-1, 6-1. This was Clijsters’ last Wimbledon. She will retire after the US Open, which is next month. Clijsters made 9 appearances in Wimbledon and made it to the SFs twice. This time she wasn’t able play as well as she would’ve liked. Overall, Kerber was the much better player. She will be facing Lisicki in the QFs.

Kim Clijsters’ last Wimbledon match
(courtesy of @wimbledon)

Roger Federer struggled a little bit in the first set of his fourth round match with Xavier Malisse and even lost the third set, but was able to win in four sets to make it to the QFs. During the first set, Federer took a medical time out, which is something he almost never does. He’s one of the few players on tour who’s been able to stay healthy for so long. In fact, he’s never retired from any of his matches during his years as a professional. He was able to overcome his back problem to win this match. Next up for him is Mikhail Youhzny.  Victoria Azarenka’s fourth round opponent, Ana Ivanovic, didn’t give her any problems. Azarenka won the match 6-1, 6-0. Novak Djokovic also had an easy match. He beat his Olympics doubles partner, Viktor Troicki, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3.

Serena Williams had another tough match. This time against Yaroslava Shvedova. She won in three sets agaisnt her, 6-1, 2-6, 7-5. She will be playing Petra Kvitova.  Kvitova also had a hard time in her match. She was playing Francesca Schiavone and like Williams, won in three sets.

Many of the matches, including a few of the men’s fourth round matches, were canceled because of the rain. These matches will be played on Day 9. Wimbledon is being shown on ESPN and ESPN 2.

A day after Rafael Nadal lost to world number 100, Lukas Rosol, it looked like Roger Federer was about to join him on the sidelines. He was playing in the third round and had dropped the first two sets to world number 29, Julien Benneteau.  Federer was able to easily win the next set, 6-2, but struggled in the fourth set. This set went to a tiebreak and most Federer fans were very nervous. It was very tense and Federer was 2 points away from losing this match, but he was able to hang on and win the fourth set 7-6(8-6). It was now even with two sets each and Federer was beginning to look like his old self again. He won the fifth set, and match, without a problem, winning 6-1. Had Federer lost, it would have been his earliest exit at a major since 2005. He will be playing Xavier Malisse of Belgium in the fourth round.

Novak Djokovic also dropped the first set of his match, but was able to win the next three sets against Radek Stepanek without controversy or drama. He plays his countryman, Viktor Troicki in the fourth round. The other favorites did well too. Kim Clijsters was up 6-3, 4-3 against Vera Zvonareva, when her opponent retired. Clijsters, who’s playing in her last Wimbledon, is trying to win one of the two majors she has yet to win. She has won the US Open and Australian Open. Maria Sharapova played much better in her third round match. She won in straight sets and is closer to winning her second Wimbledon title. She plays Sabine Lisicki in the next round.

There were a few upsets in Wimbledon, though none as big as Nadal’s loss. Nadia Petrova, seeded 20th, lost to Italian qualifier, Camilla Giorgi in straight sets. Another upset was Fernando Verdasco’s loss to Malisse. He lost in 5 sets. Verdasco is a player who has the talent, but at times loses matches he should easily win, like this match. Mikhail Youzhny, seeded 28th, defeated Janko Tipsarevic, seeded 8th. Juan Monaco, who was playing in the third round of Wimbledon for the first time in his career, was upset by Troicki in straight sets. Not sure this can be considered an upset, but Richard Gasquet defeated Nicolas Almagro in straight sets. Reason it might not be such an upset is that Almagro is considered a clay court specialist, a completely different surface than the one used in Wimbledon.

How did the Americans do? Mixed results. Sloane Stephens lost to Lisicki in a very close match. It was 7-6(7-5), 1-6, 2-6 for Lisicki. Stephens had two match points at 5-2 in the first set tiebreak, but ended up losing the next five points. Stephens should be proud of her efforts though, after all she had been playing one of last year’s Wimbledon semifinalist. Another young American, Christina McHale, also lost in the third round to Angelique Kerber. She lost in straight sets to the 8th ranked player. One American who did win his match was Sam Querrey. He defeated Canadian Milos Raonic in four very close sets- a 6-7 (3), 7-6 (7), 7-6 (8), 6-4. Querrey was once ranked 17th in the world, but was sidelined for a while after having surgery on his elbow. He’s had a tough time coming back, but this win is one of his biggest wins in a long time.

There’s no Wimbledon on Sunday. Matches will resume on Monday on ESPN from 8 am EST to 3 pm EST and on ESPN 2 from 7 am EST to 5 pm EST.

World Number 100 Lukas Rosol upsets World Number 2, Rafael Nadal

Day 4 had the biggest upset of the day. Actually, the biggest upset of the week. Rafael Nadal, ranked number 2, lost to Lukas Rosol, ranked number 100. This was Rosol’s first time playing in Wimbledon. When he was up 2 sets to 1, everyone believed Nadal would be able to come back and win the next two sets and the match. He won the 4th set and it looked like he was starting his comeback. But Rosol was too good and Nadal lost the 5th set 6-4. This was considered one of the biggest upsets in recent majors. Nadal had just won the French Open and it seemed like he was going to win back to back majors. One of the things that helped Rosol today was his serve. His average serve was 124 mph, his second serve came at 101 mph. During the whole match, Nadal was visibly upset. In fact, during the changeover, Nadal bumped into him. Rosol believes (and so do many people) that it was intentional. He also kept complaining to the chair umpire. Apparently, Nadal was annoyed that Rosol kept moving when he was getting ready to serve. Rosol is the lowest ranked player to ever beat Nadal in a major.

The other favorites did much better. Andy Murray, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitova, and Victoria Azarenka all won their matches. Andy Murray had a tough match with Ivo Karlovic. He won in 4 sets, but struggled a little with Karlovic’s serve. After this match, Karlovic accused the line judges of favoring Murray because they kept calling foot faults on him, including during some very critical points in the match. Williams’ match wasn’t as controversial. She had a much easier match, winning 6-1, 6-4 against Melinda Czenk. Azarenka and Kvitova cruised through their matches, winning 6-2, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-4. The one favorite who did struggle a little was Sharapova. She won the first set 7-6, but lost the second set 6-7. However, she was able to improve her game in the third set and won 6-0.

David Goffin, who was given a wildcard to Wimbledon, is through to the hird round after defeating American Jesse Levine in four sets. Goffin lost the first set, but stepped up his game and won the next 3. He has been very impressive in his Wimbledon. Some people have even started calling him the next Roger Federer. Next up for Goffin is American Mardy Fish.

Most of the Americans did well today. Brian Baker had another great match in Wimbledon. He defeated veteran Jarkko Nieminen in the second round, 6-0, 6-2, 6-4. Baker had a strong performance in today’s match. This is Baker’s first time at Wimbledon and he’s made it to the third round without a problem. Next up for Baker is Paire, which should be a winnable match, although there’s never a sure thing in tennis or any sport, for that matter.

The other two Americans who won today were Fish and Christina McHale. It took Fish five sets and a little over 4 hours to defeat British wildcard, James Ward. At times, it looked like Fish was struggling on the court. Most of it could be due to the humidity both players had to endure. McHale was able to win in straight sets and will be moving on to the third round.

Some other winners today were Andy Roddick, Juan Martin Del Potro, and Tamira Paszek. Roddick won his first round match yesterday, after it had been delayed. This match was easy for him, he won in straight sets. Del Potro won his match in 4 sets and will face Kei Nishikori. After upsetting Caroline Wozniacki yesterday, she was able to win her second round match without a problem. She won 6-2, 6-1 against France’s Ailze Cornet. She will face Yanina Wickmayer in the the round.

Wimbledon will be shown on ESPN tomorrow, not ESPN 2. Same time as today- 7 am EST to 5 pm EST.

We are one week away from Wimbledon and I, for one, am very excited about it.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with Wimbledon, it’s one of the four majors in tennis. It takes place in London and it’s the only major that’s played on grass court. It’s also the oldest tennis tournament in the world, the first Wimbledon tournament was played in 1877. This year, it will take place from June 25th-July 8th.

What do I love about Wimbledon? Well, as I mentioned before, Wimbledon has been around for a very long time. So naturally, they have a few traditions. There’s a dress code for players, they must wear all white, no exceptions.

Roger Federer, the 6-time Wimbledon champion

Another tradition they have at Wimbledon is the spectators are given strawberries and cream when they attend a match.

Strawberries and Cream+ Wimbledon=the perfect match

                When you’re at a Wimbledon match, there’s a chance you might get a glimpse of the Queen of England. The royal family is usually in attendance, esp when the British number 1, Andy Murray is playing a match.

Last year’s singles winners were Novak Djokovic, from Serbia, and Petra Kvitova, from Czech Republic. Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal, from Spain, 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3; while Kvitova defeated Maria Sharapova, from Russia, 6-3, 6-4.  As always, the “big three” Federer, Djokovic, and Nadal are the favorites to win this year. For the females, it’s a little bit more difficult to predict who will win. Maybe the women’s number one player Sharapova will win, could be one of the veterans (Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, etc), or even one of the wild cards ( Laura Robson or Heather Watson, both British players). Who knows, anything can happen. Personally, I will be rooting for Roger Federer and either Williams sister to win the title.

Here’s the trophy two singles players(male and female) will win at the end of the tournament.

Maria Sharapova completed the career grand slam Saturday when she won the French Open title in straight sets over Italy’s Sara Errani.

Sharapova treated the crowd at Roland-Garros to a 6-3 and 6-2 win, which featured 37 winners and six serving aces. Errani fell behind early in both sets and even though she won a few games, she wasn’t able to catch Sharapova.

The win was Sharapova’s first grand slam title since the 2008 Australian Open. The grand slam journey began for Sharapova in 2004, when she defeated Serena Williams 6-1 and 6-4 at Wimbledon. Her win over Williams helped put her in the top 10.

Her next grand slam came in 2006 at the US Open as she defeated Justine Henin 6-4 (twice).

With her French Open win Saturday, Sharapova will become the No. 1 ranked player in the world by the WTA. The last time Sharapova was ranked No. 1 was in 2008. During that time, Sharapova had been playing with a torn rotator cuff and had to miss a good part of the 2009 season.

Also with the win Saturday, Sharapova joined a rare list of female grand slam winners. Sharapova is one of 10 players to achieve the mark, joining such players as Chris Evert, Billie Jean King, Martina Navraltilova and Steffi Graf. The last player to get a career grand slam was Serena Williams in 2003.

Saturday’s French Open Final was Sharapova’s second for the season. She lost in the Australian Open Final in January to Victoria Azarenka.

For Errani, the 25-year-old played earlier in the day as she teamed with Roberta Vinci to win the French Open Doubles title over Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova, 4-6, 6-4 and 6-2. Errani’s match against Sharapova was her first grand slam final as a singles competitor. She reached the quarterfinals at this year’s Australian Open. Errani reached the finals by defeating defending US Open champion Samantha Stosur in the semifinals.