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Wednesday, June 22, 2005

A New Star in the Making?

No, No, No, I’m not joining the bandwagon of sportswriters and talking about the latest sensation Eleni Daniilidou, who just sent Justine Henin-Hardenne packing in the first round of Wimbledon. I’m referring to Angela Haynes, know who she is? I don’t think many would have hardly heard of her, well I didn’t until yesterday and she didn’t even get past the first round of the Wimbledon, where she lost to Serena Williams in a tough three setter.

This tie really caught my eye yesterday. I must admit it was a real pleasure watching these two go at it in the first set. I had never seen that kind of hitting on grass especially in women’s tennis. The way Angela Haynes matched stroke to stroke and at times even better Serena was very commendable. Serena broke serve twice and Haynes came right back with back to back breaks. Some of her passing shots and service returns were exquisite. Every time she was in trouble, she served right into the body of Serena, cramping her for room. I had never seen Serena run around the court like the way she did in the first set. In simple terms she was getting beat in her own game. The game finally went into the tie-break; we could see a rise in the level of tennis and intensity from both the players. It was a narrowly fought tie-break, with fluctuating mini-breaks and it was 12-12, when a couple of unforced errors due to frustration on the part of Serena saw Angela Haynes win the first set.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t watch the rest of the game, but Serena finally did win the game 6-7(12-14), 6-4, 6-4. But, the first set will remain on my mind for a while to come. It is also interesting to note that Angela Haynes was coached by her father in Irvine, California ala Serena. One can only imagine where she would go with her talent and the future of this 20 year old sure does look bright after her performance in her first ever Wimbledon.

More information can be found at:
http://www.wtatour.com/players/playerprofiles/playerbio.asp?PlayerID=310617

3 comments:

Gops said...

No comments on Sania? I think she is awesome! IMHO, she's the first Indian woman sportsperson (after PT, ofcourse) who can match any westerner in sheer power!

Gops said...

Dude,

Many belated happy returns of the day!

Gops.
(Will call you sometime - had to go out today)

kattricker said...

Lo Prad... ninna ping pong career hengide India nalli?