Wimbledon Awards: Ms. Opportunity, Ms. Consistency, Ms. Brave Heart and more

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Women’s Tennis Blog’s contributor Omair is back after his lengthy exam period to present our WTA stars with the awards they deserved based on their performance at Wimbledon 2013. Last year his article was entitled “Wimbledon 2012 WTA awards: Grass Empress, Finesse Queen, Gutsy Performer, Brave Heart, Biggest Disappointment”, but this year’s Wimbledon was crazy and much different, so let’s see the awards Omair would like to give to our beloved players.

How is greatness achieved? By dreaming and working hard to turn the dream into reality and fulfill your destiny.

Marion Bartoli and Sabine Lisicki may not live up to your definition of greatness, but they were destined to make the Grand Slam finale. Playing for the prestigious trophy is the ultimate dream a tennis player can dream and Lisicki and Bartoli lived that dream – for Bartoli it was her second appearance in a Grand Slam final, the first one coming on the same Wimbledon lawns in 2007, against a great grasscourt player, Venus Williams.

Wimbledon 2013 was full of surprises and upsets, but this is what you play the game for. It all started with the horrible tumble that Victoria Azarenka took in her opening match and injured herself. She lived long enough to move to the second round but had to withdraw due to the injury sustained in the first round. Maria Sharapova seemed destined to float through the draw, but Michelle Larcher De Brito had other plans and knocked out the 2004 Wimbledon champion in straight sets in the second round. Serena Williams‘ 34-match winning streak came to an end at the hands of Lisicki in the fourth round.

Let us see which player got which title:

THE MS. OPPORTUNITY AWARD – MARION BARTOLI

First Wimbledon champion who did not beat a Top 10 player to win the title. I am not saying this to take anything away from her, of course she could only beat the player across the net.

THE KILLER OF ROLAND GARROS CHAMPIONS AWARD – SABINE LISICKI

Liscki has now beaten the reigning Roland Garros champion for the third straight year at Wimbledon: Li Na in 2011, Maria Sharapova in 2012 and Serena Williams in 2013.

THE MS. CONSISTENCY AWARD – AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA

The only player to make the quarterfinals of all the three Grand Slams in 2013.

THE BRAVE HEART AWARD – KIRSTEN FLIPKENS

Playing her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, she did not let the loss of the first set, the occasion and the nerves get the better of her. Here is to the hoping that we see some more of her.

THE WELCOME BACK AWARD – KAIA KANEPI and FLAVIA PENNETTA

Penetta and Kanepi are coming off injury lay-offs. It was good to see both of them in the second week.

THE GRAPES ARE SOUR AWARD – LI NA and PETRA KVITOVA

Here was a perfect opportunity for the ever unpredictable Grand Slam champions, the biggest WTA headcases, to move on and take advantage of the opportunity, however, both failed to do well. Li choked in the first set against Radwanska when she had set points and was serving for the set which had she won, she would have won in straight sets. Kvitova on the other hand has daemons of her own and went out in three sets to Ms. Braveheart, Flipkens.

THE FUTURE TOP 10 PLAYERS AWARD – SLOANE STEPHENS, MONICA PUIG and LAURA ROBSON

Stepehens has now made the second week of all the three majors this year, the unseeded Puig made the third round of Roland Garros and the fourth round here losing to Stephens in three sets. Robson’s Wimbledon came to an end at the hands of Kaia Kanepi in the fourth round.

THE WIMBLEDON’S LOVE CHILD AWARD – TSVETANA PIRONKOVA

Given how Pironkova comes to life on grass, the title is appropriate. She took Radwanska to three sets in her fourth-round loss.

THE FORGETFUL PERFORMANCES AWARD – MARIA SHARAPOVA and SARA ERRANI

Errani won a total of five games in the first-round loss at the hands of Monica Puig.

This Wimbledon was full of surprises and it was a nice breather and a good thing to see some new names in the later stages of the draw and it was good to see a new Grand Slam champion.

I hope you guys enjoyed the article. I have been extremely busy lately, and have been unable to find time to jot something down. Hope to find some more time in coming days to stay connected with you people. What do you think about the awards I gave to the players? Any other name you would loved to have seen here? Feel free to comment. (photos: © Neal Trousdale, Tennis Buzz)

4 COMMENTS

  1. Omair, it’s good to see you back and I enjoy your articles.

    I think Sabine deserved the title more than Bartoli who had quite an easy draw, but she choked badly in the final. But again it’s not Marion’s fault that she didn’t play anyone in the top 10.

    I think your awards went to right players, but I would have given Serena some award which would’ve been something like Ms. Overwhelming Favorite who lost or something 😀

  2. Tenniz-fan, I agree that Serena shouldn’t have been left out, after all this Wimbledon marked her first loss in 35 matches, she’s No.1, was defending her title, lost quite early, etc.

  3. Tenniz-fan, thanks for the compliment. Yeah, I agree with you, there should have been an ward for Williams, I missed her out 🙁

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