Why mention Serena so prominently in your headline and article? The Championship was won handily by Halep! Give HER the credit and the adulation. She is great!
81
Cheers for the first Aromanian to take Wimbledon!
13
As great as she is, it’s disappointing that the first sentence/paragraph/mention here was devoted to Serena, not Simona. Of course younger players will be measured against longtime champions, but they deserve as much attention for their victories
69
Keep plowing away, Ms. Williams. I look forward to your return at the US Open.
9
What a lousy match. Over in less than hour. Serena had twenty-six unforced errors. If you want to see real tennis, tune in the men’s doubles match between the French and Columbians still going on (fourth set after a tie-breaker).
15
Don't understand this kind of reporting, first 5 paragraphs are centered on player who lost, rather than the one who totally outplayed her.
88
Felicitări Simona !!
19
I am not surprised by this result. Halep appeared to be returning to her form at the same time that Williams suffers the inevitable consequences of age. After Williams' two meltdowns at US Opens and her long history of bad sportsmanship before that I am not pulling for her to win another major. And it is worth remembering Graf retired at 30 and definitely had a few majors left in her. Congrats Halep, you earned it with brilliant play.
57
Wow - what a phenomenal athlete Halep is. Maybe Serena is learning humility and graciousness at this point. It would certainly help her legacy if she is.
58
Haley deserved this hands down. She was mind blowing on the court - running from one end to another and returning Serena’s powerful volleys with her own. Congrats to her and Romania! And well played to Serena - the all time great!
29
Given some of her antics and her early career reluctance to credit her opponents, I have not always rooted for Serena, even as it was impossible not to marvel at her game, how much court she could cover, etc. But good God she is 37, just had a baby, and still made the finals at Wimbledon. A pretty remarkable achievement. I won't haul out that dreadful Twain quote, but I wouldn't write her off just yet.
28
Can someone explain to me why women only play two sets in tennis? Serena and Halep played the championship match in 56 minutes. Meanwhile Nadal and Federer played 4 hrs 48 minutes in the semifinals. Women soccer players are on the field as long as men. Same for basketball. I think it would have a positive effect on the women’s game.
33
@G. Carson the truthful answer is part sexist history (women didn't play 5 sets and we're thought to be incapable) and part current logistics. The majors already have a hard enough time fitting in the full schedule of play when men's matches go five sets.
Some players talk about going to best-of-three for the men as well. I hope they don't. While straight-set victories in best-of-five can seem a little bit excessive, most of the best men's matches in history are true epic battles over five sets.
10
@G. Carson
This isn't to undermine the premise of your question, but I think you're confusing the Nadal-Federer 2008 Wimbledon final, which lasted 4 hrs 48 minutes and the Nadal-Federer 2019 Wimbledon semi-final, which lasted 3 hrs 2 minutes.
10
@G. Carson
I agree. The women played best of 3 partly due to sexism about their endurance ( it has been proven women have equal if not better endurance ) probably also because the organizers didn’t care to have longer matches, and because women played longer points in the old era. Now with more powerful women (Serena serves with more velocity than many of the men!) and matches going less than an hour there is no reason (other than TV time) not to go to best of 5. Especially as women are making an equal paycheck.
As for Serena, I don’t think she has returned to her pre-pregnancy level of fitness, so I would guess that 5 setters would be hard on her at this point.
11
Just like Serena, in my competitive career in tennis I only lost to players who played better than they had ever played before. And just like Serena, when I won, it was because I was just better.
22
What a gracious and delightful Wimbledon Champion Simona Halep is !
And congrats to Serena Williams, the oldest Grand Slam women’s singles finalist of the Open era.
Three cheers for championship tennis and Wimbledon pageantry !
65