Justine Fever

Justine is pretty enough as she is...

victorious concentration (www.wimbledon.org)

... but make-up really glams her up. :D


lovely. just lovely. :P click on the picture for a larger image. (www.henin-hardenne.be)

I'm so sad I can't even watch the replay

“Amelie was just too good today,”

Justine Henin-Hardenne was gracious in her defeat in the 2006 Wimbledon Finals by Amelie Mauresmo, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Darn. I was unfortunately right in thinking that Justine ought to win in straight sets, otherwise, she’ll have a hard time getting the third. So sayang. She played exceptionally well during the first set; her best so far in the tournament, if the commentator is to be believed. But then Mauresmo gained momentum in the second set (probably because her fans kept shouting “Go, Amelie!” to boost her confidence) and Justine was already tired from playing almost nonstop since the French Open, so Mauresmo won.

Tough luck. First runner-up again. Tsk tsk. She must be very disappointed, especially because she piled up so many unforced errors. Oh, well. There’s always next year, right? But she better improve her forehand! I mean, Mauresmo knew Justine’s backhand is deadly, so she kept forcing Justine to use her not-so-spectacular forehand. Granted, Justine had a lot of forehand winners in that match, but then again some of her crucial unforced errors were due to her faulty forehand.

Dammit. I’m feeling depressed for her. I think I’m gonna be listless for several days, just like the time when I finished reading HP6. I just feel so f*cking helpless and disappointed. She was so damn close to winning the title. I guess this is why I’ve never been a big sports fan, because it’s so frustrating to see your player/team lose after such a stellar performance.

(What makes me feel even more frustrated is that the runner-up doesn’t get to triumphantly climb the bleachers to reach her coach and family at the end of the match. I so want to know how she and her husband would react. Would they just hug, or would they actually kiss? I mean, they’re married, after all. Haha, showbiz ba? :P)

But look on the bright side, HH fans. The Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam title that has eluded her so far, so she won’t stop playing until she wins that. Ergo, she won’t be retiring soon. That would give me time to save enough money to travel to London and watch Justine play in the Wimbledon. Yay! Hehe. Libre lang naman mangarap, di ba?

Happy for Henin

So friggin’ happy. Justine Henin-Hardenne beat Kim Clijsters in the semifinals, 6-4, 7-6. It was a very close fight – HH almost lost the second set. Thank goodness she was able to catch up and force a tie breaker. YAY, JUSTINE! One step closer to reaching your Wimbledon dream. (I still do not know who she’ll face in the final round, though. As of press blog time, Mauresmo has won the first set against Sharapova.)

So Justine won the six previous rounds in straight sets. Her play was quite aggressive and she was unrelenting to her opponents. Each round was more or less an hour, save for the quarterfinals, it was 83 minutes. Such grit and determination. Although that might work to her disadvantage, if, for example, the final round stretches to three sets. Can she handle one or two more hours in the court? Again, it’s gonna be tough, but I believe in her. I’m fervently hoping she’ll finally add the Wimbledon title to her collection of Grand Slams.

Anyway, additional stuff for my previous post.

Dont' take that "who cares about the World Cup" seriously, okay? I think football is a great sport, and that we Pinoys would be better off in football than in basketball, coz let's face it, we're just not tall enough to shoot hoops. We even have to import players fercryinoutloud. It's just that I'm more familiar with tennis players than football teams, so Wimbledon it is. Ayt?

Back to Justine. When she's serving, she doesn’t purse her lips pala. It’s kinda weird, I dunno if I could explain it here. Her mouth is half-open and her lower lip kinda curls over her (lower) teeth. It's like she's grimacing in concentration. Gets? Probably not. Just look for her pictures in the Wimbledon website. :P

I mentioned that Justine’s back hand is said to be superb. I was wrong. It’s not just superb. It’s one of the best in the world.

I watched some replays, and I realized she didn’t have a relatively easy time getting to the semifinals. Severine Bremond, her opponent in the quarterfinals, was a fighter. Bremond was unseeded, yet Justine had to work hard to win those 12 games. Bremond certainly didn’t give in easily. She did not “go gentle into that good night,” so to speak. According to the commentator, Justine seemed rattled while Bremond was quite relaxed during their time off in the middle of the second set. Justine was leading then, but the score, I think, was 4-3, so it was very close.

Bremond is definitely worth watching out for. After her terrific tennis in the quarterfinals, it won’t be surprising to see her among the Top 20 in the next two years or so.

Two reasons why I think Belgium is so great: chocolates and Henin-Hardenne! Heehee. Yay, Justine!

Wimbledon Fever

Who cares about the World Cup when there's Wimbledon?

Semi-finals na, and it's getting more exciting, not to mention tension-filled. Henin-Hardenne vs Clijsters and Mauresmo vs Sharapova. I can't explain why, but I'm rooting for Henin-Hardenne. Probably coz she's won all the Grand Slam tournaments except Wimbledon. So she's very very very determined to win this year. And coz she's cute *idiotic grin*. Just don't look at her face while she's serving, though. Her eyes get really huge and her lips are pursed in concentration; it's actually scary.

I'm kinda scared for her. In her past matches (in Wimbledon), she's had a relatively easy time, making mincemeat out of her opponents and always winning in just two sets. But it's the semis now. It's the battle of the WTA Top 4. She's facing fellow Belgian Clijsters, ranked number 2. And when she gets past Clijsters (oh, she will, I'm telling you), she'll face either Mauresmo, number 1, or Sharapova, number 4 (lang :P) who won the tournament in 2004. Tough, tough, tough.

But then again, I have complete faith in her. I mean, she's not WTA number 3 for nothing. And she just won the French Open this year. And her backhand is said to be superb. And, as I already mentioned, she's very very very determined to win. So tomorrow night, my father, uncle and I are gonna be glued to the TV screen. And I'll be rooting for Henin-Hardenne. Yay, Justine! You go, girl!





Click here for Wimbledon's official website
Click here for Justine's official website

Agassi lost to Nadal. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*dead faint*

Why why why did he let Nadal catch up in the tie breaker during the first set!?!? It was already 5-2, in Agassi's favor, dammit. Then the tide turned, Nadal scoring five more points and winning the set. Aargh. And I was hoping for a Federer-Agassi face-off in the finals. *sniff*




(Click here for Wimbledon official report of the game.)