Out in Sports: July 2007 Archives

It sure makes me want to go to Paris again! This new ad is meant to attract Londoners to Paris for the Rugby World Cup...Oh La La!!!
Do you think it works?

After they won the Wimbledon singles titles over the weekend, Roger Federer and Venus Williams got all dressed up for the Champion's dinner on Sunday night in London. Roger is holding the trophy as champion for the fifth time and was the favorite going in. But Venus, who with her victory jumped from 31 to 17 in the world rankings Monday, was not expected to add a fourth trophy to her impressive collection.
I'm so happy for them both. And so ends my Wimbledon coverage of 2007...

Wonder how it feels to win five Wimbledon singles titles in a row? Roger Federer does, becoming the first man in 27 years to accomplish the feat on Sunday. The world number one beat Rafael Nadal in a classic five-set match of superb quality, suspense and drama. Federer has now won 11 of tennis' four grand slam tournaments, three shy of the all-time record of 14 won by Pete Sampras. It was well worth waking up at 6 a.m. to watch - especially having my friend Henry call me from India after match point so we could celebrate Federer's historic win together...



"It was such a close match," Federer said. "I told Rafa at the net he deserved it as well. I'm the lucky one today."

After Federer left the court, he and Bjorn Borg (the last man to win five Wimbledons in a row) exchanged hugs and smiles in front of the board that lists tournament champions. Federer's name had already been added to the list for 2007. Federer stretched his record grass-court winning streak to 53 and his Wimbledon winning streak to 34.

I just love how affectionate tennis players are with each other...it's very sweet. In Saturday's men's semifinals, the very promising 20-year-old Serbian Novak Djokovic had to quit due to injury after splitting sets with Nadal who consoled the fourth-ranked player with a tender hug at the net.


The half-hug Nadal gave to arch-rival Roger Federer was not as warm but that's understandable: he lost to the Swiss star for the second-straight year in the finals of Wimbledon. Federer has now won five in a row.

And finally, men's doubles champions Amaud Clement and Michael Liodra were feeling the love after they upset the top-ranked team of Bob and Mike Bryan on Sunday.

I love looooooove Wimbledon.
XXX00

The women's singles final at Wimbledon was pretty much a forgone conclusion from the beginning with Venus Williams crushing a cute French gal named Marion Bartoli who somehow beat the world's top player, Justine Henin, in the semifinals a day earlier. Venus came into the tournament ranked 31st and largely written off as a threat - just like two years ago when she also came out of the lower ranks to win the tournament. She is now a four-time Wimbledon singles champion - only the fourth woman in the era of open tennis (since 1968) to have won at least that many times. Steffi Graf won 7 while Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King, who won 9 and 6 respectively, were on hand sitting in the Royal Box Saturday to watch Venus win. During her on-court interview, Venus showed what a great sense of history she has when she noted that she was getting prize money equal to the men for the first time and how much of the credit goes to Billie Jean, a trailblazer both on and off the court.
“Now we have equal prize-money. Billie Jean King fought for years and no one deserves this more than her,” she said. “She’s done so much for women’s tennis and I wouldn’t be here without her ? and thank you to the All England Club for playing under equal terms.”
I got goose bumps and was so glad to see this great advocate for equality get her due on really what was Venus' day.

All-American hearthrob Andy Roddick had a shocking loss at Wimbledon on Friday, losing to Richard Gasquet 8-6 in the fifth set. Ouch! He's gotta be so heartbroken over this...I know I am! Andy had been my pick to win simply because I thought it would finally be time for him to topple four-time defending champion Roger Federer who he would have played in the semifinals. Instead, Federer's road to a fifth straight Wimbledon crown just got a little easier. He'll play Gasquet, who is probably exhausted, tomorrow. Also in the semis is Rafael Nadal, the man with the muscles ranked second in the world who will play the wonderfully demonstrative Novak Djokovik who is pictured below in a series of shots from his five hour match against Marcos Baghdatis. Novak has climbed all the way to number four and I think has supplanted Roddick as the next big thing.


And you all know how much I like to post pics of Rafael Nadal (below)...he's showing that his trip to last year's Wimbledon final was no fluke. But Novak has beaten him before so his semifinal will be no cakewalk.


But in the end, there's a guy named Roger Federer (below) who is more than capable of beating any of the remaining players (including Nadal) on the grass of the All England Club where he has not lost a single match since the 2002 tournament.

Maybe Novak Djokovic is starting a new trend: win a match at Wimbledon, tear off your shirt! I think it could drive ratings up some - at least among heterosexual women and gay men! Rafael Nadal also won Thursday but, sadly kept his shirt on.

Novak is the real deal and destined to be a major champion. He reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals by beating former champion Lletyon Hewitt in four tight sets.

After taking the first two sets from Nadal, Mikhail Youzhny had to get medical assistance then lost the next three sets and the match. Below, Nadal celebrates...

This makes me sad. Defending Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo was beaten in the fourth round of this year's tournament on Tuesday. The openly-gay Mauresmo, has had a subpar season in 2007 which has to be attributed, at least in part, to injuries and recently having her appendix removed. I'll be rooting for her at the U.S. Open. Last year, Amelie won her first grand slam tournament in Australia then followed it up with the Wimbledon win. She was also ranked number one in the world for much of the year. She is now number four.

World number two Rafael Nadal had squandered a two set lead on Monday and how finds himself in a fifth set in his quest to reach the last 16 (quarterfinals) on Wimbledon where he was runner-up last year. Rain forced the match to be postponed until tomorrow.

The rain is really screwing things up at Wimbledon 2007. But defending champion Amelie Mauresemo, an open lesbian since she made her debut on the tennis tour a decade ago, made quick minced meat out of her opponent and made it to the fourth round. She is seeking her second Wimbledon title. I think she is a lovely and well-spoken champion.

But the rain and slippery grass prevented second-seed Rafael Nadal from even getting past his warm-up so he'll have to wait until Monday to play for a spot in the quarterfinals. His arch-rival Roger Federer is already there: his opponent, Tommy Haas (pictured below) had to withdraw due to a torn stomach muscle. Ouch!