Wk.18- A Heartache No One Can Heal

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

I am attending a funeral on Friday. A lifelong friend who died recently after a long battle with cancer [she beat it several times] is being cremated. She did things her own way. She kept smoking until the end because she said the damage had already been done, and anyway the lung cancer was not caused by smoking. She was a unique woman and unless you had met her you would not understand.

Her passing hit me hard because I thought I had more time.

"Media vita in morte sumus" -- "In the midst of life we are in death"

I miss my Sara, our Sara, but she lives on in me and in us.

I live in London and here, in the UK, Elena Baltacha was something of a cult icon. In fact it will be odd to have a Wimbledon where she is not idolized by all. One could not help but like her. Whether or not she won was almost unimportant, but if she won two rounds, there was celebration on the streets. I was at Wimbledon a few years back, 2010 I think, and I managed to get tickets to Court One. There was a beautiful dusk on with the light fading but still bright enough to play by. The English dusk is like no other, it seems. Anyway I was sat high up in the stands and I saw the British hero. The queen of British tennis was there in all her glory. She had been the British number one for countless years, before Robson and Watson were even good at junior level, tirelessly taking up the hardest of mantles, doing a thankless chore. I sat there, high up on Court One, and watched her exchange break after break with Bondarenko. Elena against Alona. It was a surreal experience. The atmosphere was like no other atmosphere I had ever experienced. The handful of Brits were calling out Elena after every point and cheering loudly. I was transfixed by this. She seemed to draw strength from the crowd as she did every Wimbledon, but this time I could see it in person.

As the day got later and later, the crowd dwindled and dwindled. She kept battling on through the darkening light, the last Brit standing as she always was and always would be. She was there defending Wimbledon, her castle, her fortress against the forces of evil. She would fight until there was nothing left. She finally got that last break and won an epic match 6-4 in the third. What small remnant that remained of the crowd cheered as the gladiators shook hands and walked down the tunnel. Elena had once more made the second round, and been once again the last Brit standing as she always had been and always would be. I won't forget my afternoon with Elena, my Elena, your Elena, everyone's Elena.

"When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure. ~ Author Unknown

*WEEK 18 CHAMPIONS*
OEIRAS, PORTUGAL
S: Carlos Berlocq def. Tomas Berdych 0-6/7-5/6-1
D: S.Gonzalez/Lipsky d. Cuevas/Marrero
MUNICH, GERMANY
S: Martin Klizan def. Fabio Fognini 2-6/6-1/6-2
D: J.Murray/Peers d. Fleming/Hutchins


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: BERLOCQ, ARG
...Really, who else would it be? He is something else entirely on the clay. He has been to three finals, in 2012, '13 and '14. All of those are at the 250 level and he won two, beating Verdasco last year in Bastad. He has also done well for Argentina in the Davis Cup, in particular on the clay. This tournament he had what looked like a very tough draw. He beat qualifier Daniel in straight sets and gave Kubot the same treatment in his next match. He had made no semifinals this year and so the pressure was on in the quarterfinal against second seeded Raonic. The young Canuck was on serious form, having risen into the top ten and looking like he can beat anyone as of late. However, the Argentine wasn't overly troubled and he won 7-5/6-4. Next he played Gimeno-Traver, who had dismissed Granollers 6-1/6-2, in the semifinal. The match ended up swinging on a tiebreaker. Granollers won it 8-6 and then eased through the next set. And then he moon-balled and drop-shotted his way to the title. I won't lie, I have used that tactic, too. It is a good one. But for one to use that tactic at Berlocq's level is, well, a little bit of a low way to win. Berdman could not figure it out though and it ended up costing him. Whatever he has done or will ever do, this is the career highlight of Berlocq I will always remember best:

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RISER: KLIZAN, SLO
...There are only two Slovaks in the ATP top hundred. Lacko is at 93, and Klizan just rose 49 spots to 62. He is the new Slovakian number one. Klizan was number 26 last March. Injury cost him dearly, though, and he soon plummeted down the rankings. He lost point here, there and everywhere. Now, though, he's back up, much like a yo-yo. He looks dangerous once more. He looks like the man who took a set off Nadal at the French. He last won a title in St. Petersburg in 2012. He beat Fognini there, too, in straight sets that time. Klizan had to qualify to even have a chance. He was seeded third in the qualies. He dismissed Korolev pretty easily, but he very nearly went out in the next round. He needed a third set breaker to get past Fischer the Austrian. He then sent Berankis packing without breaking a sweat. In his opening round of the tournament, he smashed Sela 6-1/6-2. He nearly went out again in the second round, winning a third set breaker to advance. He was pushed again by Istomin but came back and won 7-6/1-6/6-1. He had a serious amount of momentum and he rode that in a 6-3/6-2 win over Haas in the semifinal. He triumphed over Fognini in the final but needed three sets. He improved to 2-3 against the Italian, though he has won both finals.
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SURPRISE: BERANKIS, LTU
...The Lithuanian had potential. He had a lot of potential. Then injury struck. He tumbled down the rankings and has had to painstakingly grind his way back to relevance. He beat two Germans in straight sets this week to make the qualifying match for the main draw. He lost to Klizan but got a lucky loser entry anyway. I will repeat what I said before in that lucky loser is such an offensive term. I think they should find another word for it. Anyway, he took the spot of Monfils. He beat Melzer in a third set breaker 8-6. He then lost his next match to the inexperienced Struff, another German. It was a surprise he got into the tournament and it was a surprise he won a match.
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FRESH FACE: Jordi Samper Montaña, ESP
...This 24 year old won a couple of matches in the qualies. He beat Mensurado of Portugal and Roca Batalla of Spain to get through to the qualifying playoff. He lost but there are two interesting things about him. The first is that he shares a name with a state, I think Montana is in the middle somewhere but my US geography is poor, and the second is his regular doubles partner on the challenger tour is Gerard Granollers. Guess who Gerard Granollers older brother is.
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VETERAN: HANESCU, ROU
...The one-handed big hitter has been as high as 26. He was consistently top 50 for a number of years. Then he wasn't. Injuries struck. He had a lot of potential, but he was unable to use that to his advantage in the end. He has been to the quarters of the French and he remains dangerous on any surface, particularly clay. He made the semifinals this week and he shows every now and then the abilities he has.
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DOWN: YOUZHNY, RUS
...I do not understand why Youzhny cannot simply win two matches in a row. If you are at that level, the ability to win when playing badly or playing someone far better than yourself is necessary. Berlocq won by hitting moonballs and dropshots. I win by slicing everything when I am playing badly. It is possible, so there is no reason for Youzhny to be this poor for so long. ALSO: Tursunov has to get a mention for losing 0 and 0.
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UPSET: BERLOCQ, ARG
...He knocked out the top two seeds, both in the top ten. That is not bad, especially considering one of them bageled him.
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1. OEIRAS QF - BERLOCQ d.BERDYCH
...0-6/7-5/6-1. The scoreline literally says it all. The Czech was two points from victory when the Argentine was serving at 0-6/4-5. When he led 5-0 and served for it, Berdman broke his serve to go 1-5 down. It was not the start of a comeback. Essentially what happened was Berlocq started to hit huge high looooopy balls and dropshots every second shot. Add to that Berdman's amazing ability to crumble when under any kind of pressure, and the inevitable happened.
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2. MUNICH QF - HAAS d. SEPPI
...6-3/3-6/6-3. Seppi may not be in form, but he plays well on clay, almost always. Haas is still finding form. He did so here in Munich and, despite laying an egg later, played well in his first couple of matches. In the end, the German had a little too much variety.
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3. MUNICH FINAL - ROSOL d. HAASE
...2-6 /6-1/6-2.. Fognini also collapsed. He was utterly dominant in the first set and then he crumbled like Mitt Romney's presidential challenge. Fognini wanted to remind us he can, and will, do whatever he wants. I hope I get to see Fognini/Nadal at some point because that is always fun.
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4. MUNICH 2nd Rd. - KLIZAN d. YOUZHNY
...6-7/6-2/7-6. Klizan deepened the Russian's slump with this epic three set win. He won the last set breaker 7-2. Klizan has finally won another trophy. He did so with verve and panache.
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*WTA MADRID, SPAIN*
=SF=
Serena [1] d. [4] Halep
Sharapova [8] d. [3] Radwanska
=FINAL=
Serena [1] d. [8] Sharapova

...Yep, I am copying Todd. I wanted to pick Sveta but I decided to go with the 'percentage play' and pick the best clay player over the past three seasons to lose in the final against Williams. Pova is 40-3 on clay since 2012. You'll never guess who she lost to those three times.

*ATP MADRID, SPAIN*
=QF=
Nadal [1] d. [12] Dimitrov
Federer [4] d. [7] Murray
Wawrinka [3] d. [8] Raonic
Ferrer [5] d. [13] Fognini
=SF=
Nadal [1] d. [4] Federer
Wawrinka [3] d. [1] Nadal
=FINAL=
Wawrinka [3] d. [1] Nadal

...Remember those days when picking Wawrinka to win anything was bold and risky? Anyway, I think a repeat of last year's final is in the cards, especially with the Djoker withdrawing, though I would have picked it in any case. I apologize for being boring with my picks. Just wait till my outrageous French Open picks!

I just heard about this. I wish her well in all her endeavours.

"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal." ~ From a headstone in Ireland

Thanks all and visit WTABACKSPIN please.

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