Winners and losers

August 1st, 2010 • lena v. always brings the lolz, vika azarenka

Each passing year, I believe more and more that some players have it and some don’t. What’s it? It is what makes some turn into champions and others not. ‘How can you not believe it? It’s right there’, you might say. But the thing is, I have a problem believing talented players such as Elena Dementieva and Andy Murray might not have what it takes, or not have enough, to win a major. Surely they’re both superior players than Francesca Schiavone or Juan Carlos Ferrero — to name a few. But maybe they aren’t, after all, those two are both Roland Garros champions.

Not that Istanbul is the 5th Slam or anything, but, today, Elena Vesnina played her third WTA final there.  Today was also her birthday — she turned 24. One third of those years were spent on the pro tour. I’m a fan but I’m surely not deranged enough to expect Lena V. to win a major. (Not that I wouldn’t go around buying people drinks if that happened though.) If you have ever seen her play, you know she has a good game. Last year, she reached the #22 position in the rankings and she definitely has top 15 potential. I don’t need to go around naming all other players that have won WTA titles that are, technically, worse at tennis than Lena V. But I’m sure you can think of a few.

The bottom line of this (useless) story is that today Lena V. was two games away from her first title. She was leading Pavlyuchenkova a set and 4-0 up. But, she lost, 6-4 in the decider, after over 3 hours and 10 minutes of match. Not wanting to spoil anything, but the story ends with a sobbing Russian. You can guess which one.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Lena V.‘s friend, Victoria Azarenka, also played a final. As you probably already know (from around the web or from my overexcited celebratory tweets), Vika won Stanford. Whatever it is, I’d say Vika has it. The only tough match she had on the tournament was against Bartoli — where she had to come back from a set and a break down. On the semis, she crushed Sam Stosur. On the final, she crushed Maria Sharapova. I don’t know what’s the winning characteristic that it possesses but it’s what makes us believe that, no matter the score, Serena Williams or Rafa Nadal are going to find a way to reach victory.

I don’t think it’s as simple as saying some players can focus and have a lot of fighting spirit while others are chokers. The greatest tennis champion of all time, Roger Federer, has choked quite a few ridiculous leads. The forever a bridesmaid Elena Dementieva has had some spectacular comebacks. It’s something more, I’d say.

And, since we were talking about Andy Murray: he lost today after having a match point on the second set. Don’t worry, though. In Mandy, we trust. Am I right?

(You know, tomorrow I’m going to write an essay called ‘Victoria Azarenka: why she’s the most misunderstood player of our generation and how she’s actually a sweetheart’. Maybe I’ll get a few people that aren’t related to her to read it. Who knows.)

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