Before I go in order of each day, I have to discuss a couple of things.<\/p>\n
![\"Marion](\"http:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3582010900000578-3651907-image-m-2_1466497407703-e1467731970995.jpg\")
<\/a>Marion Bartoli.<\/p><\/div>\n
First of all, I keep reading about the weight loss of retired former champion, Marion Bartoli, who is a commentator there for the BBC. At first, I was writing this to defend her. After all, she was close to being downright fat when she was playing, and under the thumb of her nutty father, who doubled as her coach. So, now that she\u2019s a professional sportscaster, and no longer a player, it appears she\u2019s gotten her looks act together a bit. Well, at least she\u2019s lost weight and now washes her hair! But, upon closer look at the pix of her nowadays, and having been anorexic myself for a few years back in the day, I realize that she has taken it too far. So, half good for her to have lost weight, but girl\u2014go eat! A lot!<\/p>\n
Also, I was sad that one of my favorite players, Victoria Azarenka, had to withdraw, before it even began, due to an injury. She\u2019s been missed.<\/p>\n
[One more note: When I mention the broadcasters, it\u2019s always the team on ESPN.]<\/p>\n
MONDAY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n –In the first half hour, the commentators were already bothering me.\u00a0 Almost all of them!\u00a0 In what other sport do they call each other cute-sy names that end in \u201cy?\u201d\u00a0 (Like \u201cChrissy,\u201d \u201cPammy,\u201d and \u201cCliffy,\u201d that last one being an older, knighted gent! Oysh.) You don\u2019t hear Reggie Miller call Chris Weber \u201cChrissy!\u201d (Thank the lord!)<\/p>\n –It\u2019s also weird that many of the commentators are also active coaches!\u00a0 How is that allowed?\u00a0 To use basketball again, you don\u2019t see Steve Kerr telling Steph Curry what to do, and then going over to the broadcast booth to comment on how Steph is doing!<\/p>\n –Just a few years ago, some of these idiots were trying to anoint Rafa Nadal as the greatest of all time, because they thought he\u2019d pass Roger Federer\u2019s accomplishments.\u00a0 And now, he\u2019s not even in Wimbledon this year, because of yet another injury. I have a strong feeling his time has passed. But now, they\u2019re doing it about Novak Djokovic.\u00a0 I do<\/em> give him tons of credit for how he\u2019s put himself in this position, especially after his iffy first few years, with his asthma episodes and plethora of ball bounces. But, especially with his early exit from this one, (which I\u2019ll get to in a few minutes,) I think they need to cool their Novak jets.<\/p>\n The controversial dress, as worn by Donna Vecic. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n –I loved Donna Vedic\u2019s dress!\u00a0 It\u2019s adorbs on her.\u00a0 It was just cute, and isn\u2019t trying too hard, like so many of these outfits do.\u00a0 Nor is it dumpy, like, sadly, a lot of them are, too.\u00a0 (I later saw quite a few of this summer breezy-looking dress, on many of the players.) [Note: I found-out the day after writing this that everyone else is up in arms about this very dress! They think it looks too much like a nightgown. And, I\u2019ve heard that Nike had to make it longer because it kept blowing up.]<\/p>\n –I think ESPN needs me<\/em> to join the broadcasts for the real color commentary, like who’s seeing who, who looks crazy, (hint: Venus William\u2019 hair,) and who needs to stand up straight and hold her stomach in!!! (So many of them, on that last one.)<\/p>\n –I love that Stan Wawrinka watched his girlfriend, Donna Vecic, play, when he had his own first round match to think about!\u00a0 (But I can\u2019t believe that she\u2019s only 19! That means they\u2019ve [most likely] been together since she was 17!\u00a0 He\u2019s twelve years older than she, which can be construed a bit weird.]<\/p>\n –The women\u2019s side is a tad odd this year with Victoria Azarenka having to drop out the other day, just before the tourney began, due to recent injury, and Maria Sharapova being suspended (for the next two years!,) due to taking a banned substance.<\/p>\n –Milos Raonic looks a little less like an old man in 1940 this year.<\/p>\n –They rarely show his matches, but I relish any chance to see Jeremy Chardy\u2019s gorgeous face, if only for even one second. (Which is exactly how long they showed him…in two rounds!)<\/p>\n –But the major story of the day, (if not the tournament,) was Marcus Willis, who even has a movie-perfect name! He\u2019s a cute English guy who\u2019s ranked #775 in the world, (which, if you don\u2019t know sports, trust me, is very low.) He was about to quit playing tennis a little bit ago, and move to the States to teach the game. Then he met a girl (with whom he still is,) who convinced him to give the pro tour one more go. He lost a ton of weight, and got serious about the sport.<\/p>\n To play this tournament, he had to first get into pre-qualifying, which he did when someone else had to drop out, and another guy didn\u2019t file his papers on time. Then Marcus won all three of those matches, and won his three qualifying matches. Then he won his Round One match today, and for that, he gets to play…Roger Federer! On Centre Court! In England! What a story!!! (More on it on Wednesday, when they play.)<\/p>\n TUESDAY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n –Upon hearing the semi-grunts of Svetlana Kuznetsova, I had a major realization that day, which was this: how much quieter it is without Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka not there this year! I love Vika, but her shrieks are really hard to listen to.<\/p>\n –Caroline Wozniaki has never been a good sport, (despite the announcers always trying to say how liked she is, and, as they mention constantly, she\u2019s friends with Serena Williams, but that\u2019s probably because no one else is,) and she proved that bad<\/em> sportsmanship once again by rushing off the court after she was defeated in the first round.\u00a0 The Wimbledon organizers ask the players to walk off together<\/em>, to demonstrate good<\/em> sportsmanship, but I guess Caroline never got that memo.<\/p>\n –In a big segment the entire group of ESPN analysts did on the state of tennis, they showed the weirdness of the CEO of the Indian Wells tournament, Raymond Moore, actually saying these words about female tennis players during it: \u201cIn my next life, when I come back, I want to be someone in the WTA because, they ride on the coattails of the men.\u00a0 They don’t make any decisions, and they\u2019re lucky. They\u2019re very, very lucky. If I was a lady player, I’d go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born because they have carried this sport. They really have.”<\/p>\n That was bad enough, but as a response, Serena Williams said something almost as rude:\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think that is a very accurate statement.\u00a0 If I could tell you every day how many people say they don\u2019t watch tennis unless they\u2019re watching myself or my sister.\u201d\u00a0 That sounds like a Donald Trump statement, in the lauding of herself!\u00a0 Listen, Serena, why didn\u2019t you say \u201c…unless they\u2019re watching the women\u2019s game<\/em>,\u201d and not make it about just your family?!\u00a0 That was a really narcissistic response!<\/p>\n Coco Vandeweghe, ignoring her opponent’s terrible tumble. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n –I hate to say it, but Coco Vandeweghe appears to be a douchebag.\u00a0 Her opponent in the first round, Kateryna Bondarenko, had a horrible fall, and Coco didn\u2019t even ask the girl if she was okay!\u00a0 I\u2019ve never seen that before.\u00a0 And then, when Coco got her penultimate point of the match, she fervently signaled to the crowd to cheer for her.\u00a0 I\u2019m proud of the assemblage that, when she won, they barely applauded at all.\u00a0 But when Kateryna walked off, they cheered loudly for her<\/em>. You go, crowd!<\/p>\n WEDNESDAY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n –A new young girl, Kateryna\u00a0Kozlova, is so pretty.\u00a0 As an appreciator of beauty, I\u2019m glad to finally see a really good-looking girl in the sport again.\u00a0 I hope she moves up the ranks so she can be seen again.<\/p>\n –Big props to Adrian Mannarino, who lost to Djokovic in the second round, (on his birthday, no less!,) for doing the right thing.\u00a0 He waited around to walk off with Novak, as Wimbledon protocol requires that players do.\u00a0 And a big Happy Birthday to him.\u00a0 I hope he was able to celebrate, despite the loss.<\/p>\n Marcus Willis, alongside his idol, Roger Federer. There has never been anyone happier to play the best player in the world, on Centre Court, to boot! He’s even wearing clothing and headband from Roger’s clothing line!<\/p><\/div>\n –The second round match between Roger Federer and feel-good-story-of-the-year, Marcus Willis, was the single most entertaining match I\u2019ve ever seen.\u00a0 Roger did great to deal with it, and even enjoy it to a point.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never seen a player smile when he walked out onto the court to begin the match, but Marcus just could not help himself.\u00a0 I loved it.\u00a0 Roger was great to him.\u00a0 And I loved that he wore a Roger Federer shirt!<\/p>\n –The above-mentioned controversial \u201cnightie\u201d dress is still great to me, but Genie Bouchard is the only one who kept it short, and it does<\/em> look bad on her\u2014she made it look like a baby doll nightie, rather than a cute tennis dress.\u00a0 She\u2019s the only one I don\u2019t like it on, (and not just because I don\u2019t like her<\/em>.)<\/p>\n THURSDAY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n –Finally, a commentator, (Chris Evert,) by accident admitted that the crowd does not root for a Williams sister!\u00a0 Hallelujah.\u00a0 She sternly said that \u201cit would be nice to see the fans get behind Venus\u201d because of her advanced age and accomplishments, especially since this is her nineteenth Wimbledon, which even I, a Williams naysayer, have to admit is amazing.<\/p>\n –David Ferrer is always such a gracious loser.\u00a0 He appears to be such a good guy.<\/p>\n –I just realized why Milos Raonic doesn\u2019t look so much like an old man anymore!\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t hunch over as much as he used to, and he stopped tamping his hair down with greasy product!\u00a0 He must read my e-zine.\u00a0 Or tweets!!!\u00a0 So, good for him.<\/p>\n –Big congrats to entertaining active player, Fabio Fognini, and his new bride, the lovely Flavia Penetta, who retired from the sport right after she own the US Open last year. I hope that now they\u2019ll have lots of charming little tennis playing children.<\/p>\n –As I tweeted, big props to Jason Goodall \u202afor correcting his fellow analyst, LZ Granderson, who went on a long diatribe about what he thought<\/em> was Andy Murray\u2019s take on his own career. LZ got it totally wrong! Jason never said what he was talking about were Andy\u2019s<\/em> thoughts; he said it\u2019s how the British public<\/em> viewed his career. I\u2019ve rarely seen a commentator correct another one, but it\u2019s great that Jason did. Now, if only he would teach Chris McKendry to pronounce words properly! (You\u2019ll see what I mean in the third paragraph below.)<\/p>\n –Good for the #2 seed Garbine Muguruza, to wait for her qualifier opponent, Jana Cepelova, who just crushingly defeated her\u2026in the second round!!!, in under an hour!!!, to leave the court together, which is what you\u2019re supposed<\/em> to do.<\/p>\n –I was glad to see only very light applause for Canadian player Eugenie Bouchard.\u00a0 That validated my feelings about her.<\/p>\n –Johana Konta is also a polite one who waited for her opponent after she lost.\u00a0 It\u2019s a shame that I have to point-out the good<\/em> ones, because they\u2019re not the norm.\u00a0 It should be the rude<\/em> ones who are the anomalies.<\/p>\n –Okay, I\u2019ve tried to ignore it this time, but I just can\u2019t stand ESPN host Chris McKendry adding an \u201cl\u201d to the end of all words ending in \u201cw.\u201d\u00a0 She says \u201cdrawl\u201d for \u201cdraw,\u201d \u201csaw\u201d for \u201csaw,\u201d etc.\u00a0 And it\u2019s soooo annoying!\u00a0 Why can\u2019t someone tell her how to pronounce those words already???!!!\u00a0 She sounds like a moron!!!<\/p>\n FRIDAY<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n –They announcers all need to chat less, especially during points!<\/p>\n –Stan Wawrinka was the classiest in defeat of everyone.\u00a0 He suffered a crushing defeat to unseeded former top player Juan Del Potro, yet he handed him warm wishes at the end, and waited for him to celebrate and get ready to walk off.\u00a0 It\u2019s so sad that he had to play Juan so early, to begin with.\u00a0 (Juan is a former Top Ten player, even having won a Major before, but he\u2019s been out for a long time, because of several wrist surgeries. So, he was not seeded at this tourney, even though he really is still a top guy, which means no other top player should have met him this early.)<\/p>\n –Pam Shriver is so disgustingly jingoistic.\u00a0 I can barely even listen to her.\u00a0 She basically acts like if the Williams sisters do well, it\u2019s because they\u2019re \u201camazing.\u201d\u00a0 And if they get beaten, it\u2019s because they\u2019re older, tired, and don\u2019t feel well.<\/p>\n Maria Sakkari, one of the girls with the best ponytails. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n –Venus played two cute young girls in a row, both with the best ponytails.<\/p>\n –Nick Kyrgios has the worst posture.\u00a0 He has to correct that now, while he\u2019s young.<\/p>\n –I love Dustin Brown! They needed to have shown him more, especially the match between Dustin and Nick Kyrgios. They kept promo-ing it, and then showed about only three points of the whole four-setter!<\/p>\n –Serena Williams is such a bad sport when she\u2019s not winning.\u00a0 She practically cries!\u00a0 But when she won this one, she said, \u201cI know that mentally, no one can break me.\u201d\u00a0 Yeah, right.\u00a0 Mary Jo Fernandez, with a look of disdain on her face,\u00a0said, \u201cThat was a serious comment by Serena.\u201d Then she even admitted, \u201cShe got a little lucky in the third set.\u201d\u00a0 Finally!\u00a0 Someone on the set told a truth about a Williams sister!!!<\/p>\n –This really got my goat. After she lost a set, Serena Williams threw her racket backwards, and hit a camera guy, but was not penalized.\u00a0 She\u2019ll be fined, but, had she hit an official or a lines person, she would have defaulted the match. So, it\u2019s okay with the tournament that she hit a working photog???\u00a0 Here\u2019s news for them\u2014that guy is a person, too, so they should have at least come out and discussed it a bit.\u00a0 (The next day, when pushed to comment on it, her idiot coach said, \u201cI don\u2019t think she thought about, like, there is someone behind.\u00a0 You know, you\u2019re in the moment.\u201d\u00a0 That makes it okay???\u00a0 Maybe people who kill people in the heat of passion should use that as their defense from now on.\u00a0 Sheesh.)<\/p>\n –And Chris Fowler should be ashamed of himself.\u00a0 He chuckled over the fact that Serena\u2019s coach was trying to coach her from the stands, which is illegal in tennis!\u00a0 The coach is also an analyst with them now, so I guess that makes it okay, when they would rag on anyone else<\/em> doing it!\u00a0 She should have been penalized at least a point for it. [Note: Svetlana Kuznetsova was penalized for talking to her coach a few days later, even though she was just basically yelling at him, like a lot of players do on the courts. But Serena was actually getting coached<\/em>! And, of course, with no penalty.]<\/p>\n –And that coach on the set, Patrick Mouratoglou, along with Chris Evert, barely even lauded Serena\u2019s opponent, Christina McHale for her amazing performance!\u00a0 And she\u2019s an American!!!<\/p>\n –On the other hand, I\u2019m proud of the Centre Court crowd. The crowd wasn\u2019t cheering for Serena at all; the were really applauding her defeated opponent.<\/p>\n SATURDAY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n –Finally, LZ Grandson did not stick-up for Serena!!!\u00a0 Yay!\u00a0 In a discussion about her throwing her racket the day before, he admitted that fans don\u2019t really like her, and said that\u2019s reflected on social media.\u00a0 He said, \u201cI know you can\u2019t trust social media as the end-all and be-all, but, it is a good indicator about how people are receiving the emotions that they see Serena portray on the court.\u201d Good for him. You have to know how true that all is when a perennial Serena-defender says it!<\/p>\n –Idiot Chris McKendry introduced a small video piece about Serena by saying that Chris Evert and Serena have a \u201cvery unique friendship,\u201d and that \u201cChrissy is about to tell us\u201d about it.\u00a0 And then it was just Evert voicing the piece that told us that \u201cwe may never know who she is.\u201d\u00a0 Period.\u00a0 Nothing about if Chris even likes<\/em> Serena!\u00a0 Nothing about what she feels about her at all!\u00a0 What baloney that was.<\/p>\n –I like Mary Jo, but why does she have to pronounce \u201cMuguruza\u201d with a Spanish accent?\u00a0 None of them pronounce Russian<\/em> names with a Russian<\/em> accent, so why just this one?\u00a0 It\u2019s annoying. (It\u2019s what Los Angeles newscasters with Latino last names do when they introduce themselves. It\u2019s just nutty.)<\/p>\n The fans were still clamoring for Novak Djokovic’s autograph, (on the left,) even though Sam Querry, (on the right,) had just defeated him in perhaps the greatest upset ever! Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n –The biggest shock of them all is that #1 man, Novak Djokovic, lost to American Sam Querry\u2014in the third round! This one is waaay too long to encapsulate for you here, so, if you don\u2019t know what happened, please look it up. It\u2019s an unbelievable story.<\/p>\n But Novak was ultra-classy in defeat.\u00a0 He was warm at the net,\u00a0waited for Sam to walk off together, and even signed autographs on the way out. And he gave a good, honest press conference, lauding Sam the whole time, and not using his possible poor health as an excuse. Good for him.<\/p>\n SUNDAY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n –They had play today for only the fourth time in Wimbledon’s one-hundred-thirty-year history! They never play on the middle Sunday, to rest not only the players and workers, but the grass!!! OMG! I never knew that before. And also, to make it easier for the villagers who live there to go to church. But all the rain delays during the week made it necessary. It didn\u2019t feel as exciting as I thought it would, though But it was<\/em> pretty cool.<\/p>\n Sloan Stephens embracing Svetlana Kuznetsova, right after Sveta had just beaten her. It’s great to see sportsmanship like that! Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n –Maybe they needed middle Sunday play to bring out the best in people.\u00a0 I had never liked American Sloane Stephens, (except for when she beat Serena in a Major a few years back,) but now I do.\u00a0 She lost a heartbreaker, which she had a match point in, to Svetlana Kuznetsova, but greeted her rival at the net with a big hug.<\/p>\n Then, right after Sveta took her victory bow, she pointed the crowd to Sloane, to give her a big cheer!\u00a0 Then, Sloane waited for Sveta, to walk off together, as is the protocol, but few follow it.\u00a0 As they exited, Sveta gave Sloane her lone Wimbledon towel, which every player wants many of, for family and friends.\u00a0 I guess Sveta realized she\u2019ll get one more in her next match, which Sloane won\u2019t have the opportunity for now.\u00a0 The whole ending few minutes were wonderful, and here\u2019s a surprise\u2014brought me to tears! (Duh.)<\/p>\n MONDAY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Coco Vandeweghe, on the left, being rude once again. She gave her defeater the coolest handshake perhaps in history! (Quite a contrast from the photo right above.) And this picture doesn’t even do it justice. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014I really do hate to rag on her again, but when Serena was asked what she thinks about Djokovic\u2019s defeat, she\u2019s\u00a0quoted as saying, \u201cHe and I have both made extreme history.\u00a0 He\u2019s won four in a row.\u201d\u00a0 Why did she have to, once again, make it about herself?!\u00a0 This was solely about Novak.\u00a0 Every player was asked, and not one of the others inserted a boast about themselves into their responses.\u00a0 Are you beginning to see why I\u2019m not a fan of hers?<\/p>\n \u2014Misaki Doi has the shiniest hair in the tournament, by far.\u00a0 (But she is<\/em> Japanese, so, duh.)<\/p>\n \u2014As I stated above, Coco Vandeweghe is one of the worst sports in the game.\u00a0 She\u2019s so rude to her opponents, whether winning or losing, but she\u2019s a downright bi-atch when she loses.\u00a0 She barely shook the hand of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the girl who beat her in the Round of 16, even though the girl was nice, and hardly even celebrated her win on court.\u00a0 I can\u2019t imagine a situation where I would ever root for Coco, even if she played against Serena! That\u2019s saying something, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n Dominika Cibulkova, and her stomach. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014I wonder if Dominika Cibulkova is pregnant.\u00a0 She is<\/em> getting married next week-end, (which is strange timing, if you hope to still be playing in the latter rounds of the tournament.) \u00a0[Note: Now that she\u2019s in the quarterfinals, after playing the match of the year, against Aga Radwanska, she changed her wedding date. Good move. Even if she doesn\u2019t win this tourney, she has to be exhausted after yesterday.]<\/p>\n I love that Dominika plays with beautifully polished nails, (hint to Madison Keys and some of the rest of the ladies,) and her huge rock of a diamond ring.\u00a0 Very attractive.<\/p>\n And what a match!\u00a0 The best one of the tourney so far.<\/p>\n –Every tennis player should learn a lesson about sportmanship from Aga Radwanska. After that best match ever, she not only gave her opponent a lovely, heartfelt hug, she went across the net to do so! What a gracious girl she is. She made me proud that she\u2019s always been one of my favorites.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>