Forget the World Cup, the big sports story in Canada is Wimbledon

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Mendalla

Mendalla

Happy headbanging ape!!
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For the first time in the Open era (which goes back something like 46 years), we have a Canadian in the Wimbledon semis. And, in the total history of Wimbledon, it goes back even further.

Except it gets better: we have a Canadian in the women's semis AND a Canadian in the men's semis.

Eugenie Bouchard and Milos Raonic should be shoo-ins for Canadian Female and Male Athlete of the Year after these performances (Eugenie already deserving it after being the first Canuck to make it to the semis in a Grand Slam, not once but twice, even before her win at Wimbledon this morning).

I'm not sure they can make it to the finals (Bourchard landed the number 3 seed as her semi-final opponent while Raonic faces tennis legend Roger Federer in his) but I'll be hoping and cheering for them.
 
"Wimbledon. n. That lost drop which, no matter how hard you shake it, always goes down your trouser leg."
-- The Meaning of Liff by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd
 
It is an exciting day for Canadian tennis! I'm not a real fan - have never learned to play & don't fully understand the rules & scoring, but I'll be cheering for them!
 
I used to play. Haven't much in recent years. I do prefer it to team sports like soccer and hockey. No rough stuff and much more focussed on skill than who can hit the hardest or take the best dive.
 
She's In!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, folks. Eugenie Bouchard beat 3rd seed Simona Halep 7-6 6-2 and is now going to the final. Her opponent in the final is 2011 Wimbledon and WTA Tour champion Petra Kvitova.
 
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It was a really exciting thing to see. And she is so calm and polished when interviewed. She comes across as a lovely young woman
 
Carolla said:
It is an exciting day for Canadian tennis! I'm not a real fan - have never learned to play & don't fully understand the rules & scoring, but I'll be cheering for them!
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^^ This, although I played a little bit just hitting the ball around with my Dad and in gym class.
Is it possible to cheer without actually watching? :)
 
I can't watch since I'm at work but I'm following the scores on the Wimbledon website (they have a little Flash app that updates in more or less real time).

First men's semi is over and Novac Djokavic (hope I got that right) advanced though his opponent took him to 4 sets and the last two were close.

Now it's Canadian Milos Raonic against Roger Federer. Federer has the edge on experience (the guy was probably the best men's tennis player of his generation when he was at his peak last decade and he's still no slouch) but Raonic is the kind of player who, like Eugenie, can pull out an upset.
 
I haven't been watching this year's Wimbledon, but I did watch much of the Raonic vs Federer match. Too bad for Raonic. But the women's final tomorrow with Bouchard will be great to watch. It starts early on the west coast ~ 6 am. I think I will PVR, ignore all news to avoid spoilers, and start the match a bit later.
 
Federer took Raonic in straight sets (6-4 in all three). I was really pulling for Raonic but there is no shame in being beaten by the best. If Federer wins the final on Sunday, it will be his eighth Wimbledon title (including 5 consecutive from 2003-2007). He and Djokavic are fairly close in their historical matches against each other. Federer has won 18 and Djokavic 16. IOW, if Federer stays on his game, this could be a great final.

But I'll still miss seeing Milos there. :(

On to the women's final.... (and it's on at 9am Eastern so, as myst says, 6am for those of you on the Left Coast).
 
I was in the ICU at work today, chatting with an elderly woman who sadly is resident there - and she's a great sports fan - so she filled me in on the standings, what time the match starts tomorrow etc. So now I'd better tune in, since I'll be back to see her on Monday & no doubt she'll ask me! She felt Raonic played pretty decently - seemed to me the scores reflected that he did too.
 
Flipping TSN has exclusive rights in Canada and I don't subscribe. ABC has rights in the US but they aren't showing it live (it's on at 3pm this afternoon). Wimbledon's livestream is blocked in Canada (maybe I can find a UK proxy??), likely due to flipping TSN's flipping rights.

You would think that for an event as publicized as this, they would flip it over to CTV (which owns TSN) or otherwise open it up to promote their content.
 
Too bad. She didn't win but amazing to get there. There was a good quote from Harnet, the biker, he said this is the best time for her. When she exceeds expectations. From now on she will have the pressure and the news will be all about missing the prize. That is a sad state of affairs.
 
Oh Mendalla - that's so frustrating for you. I watched (after recording it) and was sorry that it was a tough match for Bouchard, but so fantastic that she was in the finals. Lastpointe, that would be unfortunate and I hope the focus isn't on her 'missing the prize'.
 
Apparently, her focus is already on the next Grand Slam. After all, she's made the semis in the first two and the finals in the third, winning a tournament in between. That leaves the fourth Grand Slam (the US Open) and a number of lesser tournaments, including our own Rogers Cup, still to go. Fact is, at 20 she's got easily a decade or so of tennis to go (Maria Sharapova is still going strong at 27 and Serena Williams is 33) and so has some time. She's now likely one of the best Canadian singles players ever just based on her record so far.

On the doubles front, BTW, Vasek Posipisil of Vancouver and his American partner won the men's doubles. Doubles doesn't get the attention that singles does and we do have some history of success in doubles (thanks mostly to Daniel Nestor) so it isn't as groundbreaking as what Eugenie and Milos did but it's still something to celebrate!
 
The post-Wimbledon changes to the rankings are in. Eugenie rose from 13th to 7th in the women while Milos rose from 9th to 6th among the men. Pospisil in doubles rose from 94th to 33rd. Eugenie is now the highest ranked Canadian woman in the history of the WTA (previous was Carling Bassett-Seguso back in the eighties).

The men's final was, as expected, a hard fought showdown between two former champions. Djokovic won, but Federer took him to a full 5 sets with 2 tie-breakers.
 
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