Five Facts About The Wimbledon Women’s Final - UBITENNIS
Connect with us

Focus

Five Facts About The Wimbledon Women’s Final

Published

on

Venus Williams (zimbio.com)

Venus Williams and Garbine Muguruza will lock horns on Saturday afternoon in the final of the Wimbledon Championships. It will be the fifth meeting between the two players, but their first in a grand slam tournament. With a lot at stake for both players, here are five facts about their upcoming clash.

 

1) The winner will claim their first title of 2017

Whoever clinches the Wimbledon trophy will claim their first title of the season. During their careers, Williams has won a total of 49 titles compared to Muguruza’s tally of 3. Furthermore, she has also already played a grand slam final this year, losing to sister Serena at the Australian Open.

On the other hand, Muguruza has played and won more matches on the tour this season than the American (29-26). She is also the most recent grand slam champion out of them both. Muguruza claimed her first major title at the 2016 French Open. Meanwhile, Williams’ last success at this level was nine years ago at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships.

Overall, Williams has played 323 grand slam main draw matches compared to her opponent’s 65. Currently the American has a winning average of 80% (257-66) and Muguruza is at 74% (48-17).

2) Both are ranked outside the top-10

In the WTA rankings both women are ranked outside the top-10 with Muguruza at 15th and Williams at 11th. This means for only the fifth time since the induction of the WTA ranking system in 1975 a non top-10 player will lift the title. On two previous occasions Williams has won the title as a lower ranked player. In 2005 (ranked 16th) and 2007 (ranked 31st).

Wimbledon champions ranked outside the top-10 (since 1975)
2007 – Venus Williams USA (31)
2005 – Venus Williams USA (16)
2004 – Maria Sharapova RUS (15)
2013 – Marion Bartoli (FRA (15)
2017 – ???

Whoever wins the title will re-enter the world’s top-5. Williams could rise to fourth in the world, her highest position since October 2010. Meanwhile, Muguruza could rise to fifth after dropping out the top-five in May.

3) Williams’ Age record

37-year-old Williams is already the oldest player to contest a women’s final since Martina Navratilova in 1994. Should she win, the American would be the oldest grand slam champion in the Open era, breaking sister Serena’s record at this year’s Australian Open (34 years and 287 days).

Williams would still not be the oldest women’s champion in Wimbledon history. The record is currently held by 1908 champion Charlotte Sterry of great Britain, who lifted the title at 37 years and 282 days. Williams’ age is currently 37 years and 28 days.

During this year’s Wimbledon championships, Williams defeated three players who were born after she made her Wimbledon debut in 1997. Jelena Ostapenko, Ana Konjuh and Naomi Osaka.

4) Muguruza’s bid to join an elite club

Bidding to become the first Spanish female winner at SW19 since Conchita Martinez in 1994, Muguruza could also become one of the few Multiple grand slam champions on the tour. If she achieves this, the 23-year-old would become only the eighth active player to do so.

In the Open Era only one Spanish female has won multiple major titles. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario won three French Open titles as well as one at the US Open during her career.

Active players with Slam titles
Serena Williams – 23
Venus Williams – 7
Maria Sharapova – 5
Victoria Azarenka – 2
Angelique Kerber – 2
Svetlana Kuznetsova – 2
Petra Kvitova – 2

5) The Spain Vs. America rivalry

For only the fifth time in the Open Era a grand slam women’s final will see players from America and Spain clash. Muguruza has participated in two of the previous clashes. Losing to Serena Williams at Wimbledon in 2015 before getting her revenge the following year in Roland Garros.

Overall Muguruza is aiming to win Spain’s 7th grand slam title in women’s tennis since 1968. Meanwhile, Williams is seeking the 86th for America.

Previous USA – Spain clashes
Wimbledon 1994 (Conchita Martínez defeated Martina Navratilova)
Roland Garros 1998 (Arantxa Sánchez Vicario defeated Monica Seles)
Wimbledon 2015 (Serena Williams defeated Muguruza)
2016 Roland Garros (Muguruza defeated S.Williams)

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Focus

India’s Sumit Nagal Receives Sponsorship Boost After Revelling Financial Struggles

Published

on

Image via https://twitter.com/nagalsumit/

A leading food and drink company has pledged to support India’s highest-ranked men’s player who was unable to train at his usual facility in Germany earlier this year due to a lack of money. 

 

Earlier this week world No.159 Sumit Nagal made a public plea for financial support to help him continue his career as a tennis player. In recent years he has been based at the Nansel Tennis Academy in Germany but was unable to train there during the first three months of the 2023 season due to a lack of funds. During this period he relied on his friends, including former player Somdev Devvarman, to help maintain his fitness. 

“If I look at my bank balance, I have what I had at the beginning of the year. It is 900 euros. I did get a bit of help. Mr Prashant Sutar is helping me with MAHA Tennis Foundation and I also get monthly (salary) from IOCL but I don’t have any big sponsor,” Nagal told the Press Trust of India.
“I am investing whatever I am making. The yearly cost where I travel with one coach is costing me around Rs 8 million to Rs 10 million (90,000-113,000 euros) and that is just with one travelling coach (no physio). Whatever I have made I have already invested,” he added.

Nagal, who is 26 years old, has reached the semi-finals of better at five tournaments on the lower-level Challenger Tour so far this season. His only Grand Slam result was at the US Open where he lost in the first round of qualifying to Taro Daniel. It was at the US Open where he took a set off Roger Federer before losing in 2019. 

Despite being the only player from his country to be ranked in the top 400, Nagal is currently not part of the Target Olympics Podium Scheme. An initiative set up by the Indian government to provide support to their top athletes.

After learning about Nagal’s ongoing struggles on the Tour, a leading company has decided to support the tennis player by signing a three-year deal with him. Gatorade specializes in sports drinks and is manufactured by PepsiCo. Under the deal, Nagal will receive support with his recovery and nutrition from experts at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI).  

“I am deeply moved and grateful to join hands with Gatorade. This association comes to me at a pivotal time, and I am thankful my hard work and passion is getting recognized and appreciated. With Gatorade by my side, I am sure I will reach new heights and give it my all both on and off the court,” the Indo-Asian News Service quoted Nagal as saying on Thursday. 

Speaking about the new partnership, Ankit Agarwal from PepsiCo India has hailed the collaboration. Agarwal is the company’s Associate Director of Energy & Hydration. 

“Sumit is a role model for the new-gen athletes of India with his career being a true example of hard work and sweat that makes talent shine,” he said.
“As a brand that is dedicated to supporting athletes in removing barriers to sporting success, we are delighted to welcome Sumit to the Gatorade squad.”

Nagal has been ranked as high as No.122 in the world. So far in his career, he has won four Challenger titles with two of those occurring this year in Italy and Finland. 

Continue Reading

Focus

(VIDEO): Malaga Line-Up Set As Davis Cup Most Unpredictable Tournament In History

UbiTennis founder Ubaldo Scanagatta explains why any of the eight teams in Malaga could win November’s Davis Cup Finals

Published

on

By

(@DavisCup - Twitter)

The Davis Cup quarter-final line-up is set after an incredible Group Stage over Bologna, Split, Manchester and Valencia.

 

Now eight teams remain including Novak Djokovic’s Serbia, Great Britain and Australia.

However surprise teams such as the Netherlands, Finland and the Czech Republic will also appear in the quarter-finals.

Ten-time champions Great Britain will face Serbia with the winners taking on the winner of the quarter-final between Italy and the Netherlands.

In the other half of the draw Canada will be heavy favourites against Finland while the Czech Republic face Australia.

The final eight tournament will take place in Malaga and will take place between the 21st and the 26th of November.

However this year’s Davis Cup could be the most unpredictable version in the tournament’s history with there being no Spain or USA.

It really could be anyone’ tournament with Tennis’ most prestigious team competition up for grabs in November.

In this video UbiTennis founder Ubaldo Scanagatta explains why this year’s Davis Cup finals could be the most unpredictable edition of all-time and why any of the teams could win the title.

Continue Reading

Focus

Simona Halep Claims Doing Ban Is ‘Based On Scenarios’ Without Proof

Published

on

SIMONA HALEP OF ROMANIA - PHOTO: MATEO VILLALBA / MMO

Former world No.1 Simona Halep has questioned the fairness of her anti-doping hearing after being suspended from the sport for four years. 

 

The two-time Grand Slam champion is suspended from tour events until 2026 after an independent tribunal concluded that the Romanian broke rules set out in Tennis’ anti-doping program. In a 126-page report by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), investigators accepted that the collagen supplement taken by Halep – called Keto MCT – was contaminated with Roxadustat “on the balance of probability.” However, they stated that there must have been another source of Roxadustat based on the level detected in her sample taken during the 2022 US Open. 

Furthermore, three experts in the area said they have ‘a high degree of confidence‘ that there was not an ‘innocent explanation’ for the abnormalities detected in Halep’s Athlete’s Biological Passport (ABP). They reported that ‘likely doping’ occurred based on an analysis of 51 valid samples of Halep’s blood and rejected her explanation for the irregularity. The tennis star cited blood loss during surgery and spells when she was inactive as her defence. 

Despite the comprehensive ruling, Halep has insisted that she is innocent and never intentionally took any banned substances. During an interview with Front Office Sports on Monday, the 31-year-old claimed that the ITIA’s four-year ban handed to her was based on ‘scenarios’ instead of any proof. 

“I was confident after the hearing because there were so many things that made no sense and that are not fair,” she said.
“When I received the decision, I was in complete shock. I could not believe that they suspended me for four years when we found the contamination and my blood was totally normal. They didn’t find anything bad in my blood. It’s crazy that they made this decision with everything [her legal team presented]. They judged me on scenarios. There is no proof. It’s just insane.”

The ITIA originally requested a six-year ban for Halep due to what they described as ‘repetitive and sophisticated’ doping practices. She is accused of using blood doping to improve her performance during Wimbledon and the US Open last year. However, the report found it was not ‘completely satisfied’ that Halep has been doping since March 2022 despite there being ‘strong grounds for suspicion.’

As for the substance Roxadustat, Halep says she would have never deliberately taken the drug as it would ‘work against her.’ She says that the drug would have worsened a thyroid issue which she has been dealing with for several years. Front Office Sports referred to a European Medicines Agency study which finds a possible link between the drug and decreased thyroid function. 

“There was no point for me to take this,” Halep said. “It’d work against me. It wouldn’t help me.”

The study couldn’t establish how common this side effect is due to the amount of data available at the time. 

In the wake of Halep’s ban, some have publicly expressed their views on the matter. One of the most notable to do so was Serena Williams who wrote on social media ‘8 is a better number” in a jibe at her former opponent. The reference was to the 2019 Wimbledon final when seven-time champion Williams lost in straight sets to Halep. 

“I think everyone has the right to judge me because the tribunal decided that I have the fault here,” Halep commented. “Someone told me today that those players who are hating on me because I beat them.”

Halep is set to appeal against her ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). 

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending