July 07, 2007

Two years ago : Venus Williams became the lowest-ranked player to win the Wimbledon championship in thie history of the tournament. Today she did it again, beating 18th seed Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-1 to claim her fourth Venus Rosewater Dish after entering the tournament seeded 23rd and ranked 31st.

posted by lil_brown_bat to tennis at 04:28 PM - 8 comments

Nice job Venus. It seems like American players have become a bit of a punchline lately. We needed someone to step up and play like that.

posted by tahoemoj at 04:41 PM on July 07, 2007

For once I'm not trying to start a fight or being a pedant for the sake of it, I'm just curious and can't seem to find the answer online... the lowest-ranked player to win the Wimbledon championship in thie history of the tournament In the history of the women's tournament or the whole shooting match? I know Becker was unseeded when he won, but was he ranked higher than 31? I loved that Venus won today. Bartoli, gracious as she was in defeat and as well as she spoke afterwards, is one ugly player to watch. I loved the Gasquet vs Federer semi-final also - it didn't live up to all I hoped it might, but Gasquet gave a very good account of himself and Federer still looked like he was humouring him most of the time. So now you all know what I think, you may continue about your business. Ha! (drinking? moi?)

posted by JJ at 05:54 PM on July 07, 2007

I quite liked Bartoli myself, she came across well in the interviews, although yes, her playing style is decidedly odd. Still I hope to see more of it, nice to see the crowd interaction as well.

posted by Fence at 07:46 AM on July 08, 2007

In the history of the women's tournament or the whole shooting match? All the sources I read said "in Wimbledon history" or words to that effect; I didn't find any references to the women's tournament. Re: Bartoli, count me in as another who hopes she'll be around more. BJ King didn't exactly win pretty either, but she was something to watch. Now on to the hardcourts! Yahee!

posted by lil_brown_bat at 04:48 PM on July 08, 2007

Just for the sake of clearing up JJ's question, (rather than trying to take something away from a very impressive Venus), Venus' previous win was for the lowest ranked female in history when she won it ranked 16. Bartoli is ranked 19 so had she won, she would have become the lowest ranked winner on the ladies side. A quick punt about on Google shows that Goran Ivanisevic is the lowest ranked winner ever, sitting at 125 when he won in 2001. Venus however is the lowest seed to win the title as she was seeded 23. Ivanisevic was unseeded.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 12:49 PM on July 09, 2007

Thank you, Professor Bismarck. Much appreciated.

posted by JJ at 03:42 AM on July 10, 2007

I'm loving this new tweed jacket.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 06:03 AM on July 10, 2007

It's the elbow patches that make it perfect. And the special pocket for your still-smoldering pipe.

posted by JJ at 08:54 AM on July 10, 2007

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