WEBlog -- Wouter's Eclectic Blog

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

Good news and bad news

... in the world of Belgian Tennis.

I learned yesterday that Justine Henin, ex-number 1 tennis player and still one of the great talents amongst women's tennis, is forced to stop her come-back attempt due to an elbow injury which she had been dealing with since the last Wimbledon.

I don't want to guess what's going through her mind at this point in time, but it must be terrible. She'd been working so hard for tennis for all her life, but took a break from the sport because she realized that she needed to give her life apart from the sport a serious boost. And when she'd done that and realized that she still loves tennis and wants to do a come-back, this happens—before she'd even been able to accomplish even one of her goals that she'd set for her come-back.

Terrible.

Justine, on the off chance that you read this: you have my greatest possible sympathies.

The slightly better news also involves an injury; but this time it's not a Belgian player, but it involves Venus Williams. Now I'm not one to gloat at sportspeople's problems, and I do wish Venus all the best and a speedy recovery; but since her injury means she won't be able to make it for the Fed Cup tie against Belgium, slightly over a week from now, the result is that Belgium is now favourite for winning this tie. Of course, the team can't claim having won until the tie is over, but hey.

Too bad I can't be there. But there's this other thing that I'm involved with, which just happens to be in the same weekend. Oh well.

Thu, 30 Sep 2010

Playing tennis

Just to give you an idea of how much I can procrastinate:

16 years after I first said I would start doing so, I have finally bit the bullet, and started taking Tennis classes.

Of course my physical condition, after more than 10 years of not doing any sport in a structured manner, is terrible; and as a result, my muscles are complaining to me almost every day now. I'm sure that's something which will diminish over time, as I shape up. At any rate, I'm enjoying it, and it seems like I'm not doing too bad. We'll see.

In slightly-related news, I finally stopped procrastinating on my latest NM. Sorry 'bout that.

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Mon, 26 Apr 2010

Yanina Wickmayer, heroine of the Belgian fed cup team

Last weekend, I went to the Grenslandhallen in Hasselt, to see Belgium compete against Estonia in a Fed Cup tie of the World Group playoffs. The winner of this tie would gain a seat in the top-tier World Group next year, which opens the possibility of winning this competition.

The Belgian team was the strongest possible one, with all four best Belgian female tennis players—Yanina Wickmayer, Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin, and Kirsten Flipkens. On paper, the team should not have had any problems beating the Estonian team.

Unfortunately, Justine fractured her pinky finger during practice on wednesday; and while it did not make it impossible for her to play, it did reduce her fitness somewhat, which meant that on Saturday, Kim and Yanina had to defend the Belgian colors. They did and won, but then Kim injured some muscle in her foot, which made it hard for her to walk on Sunday, let alone play.

With only Justine, Yanina, and Kirsten available, coach Appelmans chose to put Justine on the field. Though she made a valiant effort, she unfortunately did not manage to beat an unleashed Kaia Kanepi, who—it must be said—played a terrific match. As such, it fell on Yanina to bring home the tie in the fourth singles rubber against Maret Ani. Being a bit nervous in the start of the first set, she made some unnecessary errors; but after a few games, she came through and started to play much better. Unfortunately, by that time the score was already at 5-1. Yanina won her first service game of the match to bring it to 5-2, but it wasn't enough, and Ani won the first set somewhat easily.

She couldn't put anything on the table against a storming Wickmayer, however, and after two more sets, the outcome of the match—and, by extension, the tie—was clear: a win for Belgium.

I can't help but note that Wickmayer has been a great player for the Belgian fed cup team these past few years, however. Since her first Fed Cup participation in 2007, she holds what is, given her ranking at the time, a rather impressive 9-4 win-loss record in Fed Cup. If it wasn't for Wickmayer, the Belgian team would not be where it is now. It was Wickmayer who won her three matches against Canada, one as part of a doubles team, to prevent demotion from world group II to the Europe/Africa zone back in 2009, with a 3-2 score. It was Wickmayer who won the crucial third rubber against higher-ranked Radwanska in February to beat Poland, with the latter even holding the home field advantage. And it's now been Wickmayer who won two of the three rubbers against Estonia that were needed to win the tie.

So Congrats, Yanina!

Sat, 27 Mar 2010

Annoyed by Marc Wickmayer

In just under a month, Belgium will face Estonia in a Fed Cup World Group Playoff tie. The winning team will participate in the world group next year, which, in theory, opens the possibility of winning. So this is an important encounter. When team captain Sabine Appelmans announced the Belgian selection, it was described by the Belgian press as the 'dream team'—Clijsters, Henin, Wickmayer and Flipkens, aka the four best Belgian female Tennis professionals. That, combined with the possibility of a World Group promotion, seems to excite much of the country, to the extent that 10000 tickets have been sold in no time. Yes, I'll be there too.

But one man seems unhappy. Marc Wickmayer, father of Yanina, will say to everyone who wants to hear it, that 'Appelmans needs to choose'; that he's 'tired of the hypocrisy', and so on. His arguments: Clijsters and Henin have not been part of the Fed Cup selection in two years, and his daughter should not be the fourth wheel on the wagon after having been much of the reason why Belgium is playing these playoffs.

Sigh.

Let's check some facts, shall we?

There are four singles rubbers. There are four players. Appelmans does not have to let any player play more than one singles rubber.
Wickmayer is currently still the highest-ranked Belgian tennis pro, at number 14. Clijsters (17) and Henin (33) may have been ranked 1st before their respective comebacks, they are not now; and both still seem to be not entirely in their rhythm yet—especially so Henin. Appelmans would be stupid to bet the entire encounter on them.
Last but not least, let's not forget that the opposition may not be easy. Kaia Kanepi, Estonia's top player, may be ranked 100 now; less than a year ago, however, she was at her career-high of 18. Due to several injuries, a viral ilness, and some bad luck, she has not won much anymore since last may, but she may be a tough nut to crack.

Curiously, Yanina herself does not share her father's opinion. She's been quoted several times as being excited to have Clijstes and Henin on the team, since 'the team is much better with them'. Indeed. Her relationship with her father, is often described as being 'very close'; apparently that doesn't mean they are of the same opinion on everything. Maybe it is time for the two of them to have a little chat on the whole Fed Cup thing, before this gets out of hand. I'd hate for Appelmans to have to make the wrong choices to appease people...

Fri, 22 Jan 2010

Clijsters out?

Whoa.

Kim Clijsters, Belgium's number 1 female tennis player of the moment, just got booted out of the Australian Open by Nadia Petrova. Not what I'd expected—especially not with this kind of score; 6-0 6-1. To call this "unexpected" would be a severe understatement.

Seriously.

That leaves Belgium's hope with Justine Henin or Yanina Wickmayer. I say "or", because they'll next meet eachother in Melbourne. Sounds like an interesting match, indeed.