At seventeen* - Janis Ian

Conversation wif self late last nite:-

Shall i blog or shall i watch tennis?
Well, it has been a while since i blogged...
BUT it's Wimbledon!!!!!
There's so much i wanna blog about...
BUT it's Wimbledon!!!!!
I have to say something about the worst day of me working life here...
BUT it's Wimbledon!!!!!

That went on for a while, wif both the TV downstairs switched on and me laptop upstairs opened at me blog page. In the end, tennis won. After all, it's Wimbledon!!!!!

There's something special about Wimbledon that just canot be put into words - the speed of the game on grass, the traditions behind the championship, the green all around, the memories, London - enuf said!

It's always a thrill to watch the early round matches too - where these young unseeded players with nothing to lose spring a surprise or two. Hingis got a taste of that on day #1. Last nite, it was Sharapova.

Imagine - you are 17, you are playing your first game at Wimbledon against the 2nd seed former Wimbledon Champion at Court 1. That's what Yung-Jan (pic left, obtained from Sony Ericsson WTA Tour site) had to go through yesterday.

After falling quickly to a 0-4 scoreline, everyone thought that it was gonna be a white-wash of this young Asian player. So much so that there was a sense of happiness around Court 1 when Yung-Jan finally got on the score board - a sense which arose out of pity and relief that this poor teenager will be given 2 bagels.

But winning the game gave her a renewed sense of confidence. She proceded to lose the first set 6-1 but ended strongly. Soon, she was actually matching the 2nd seed and when her serve was broken in the 6th game, she came back to win a break of serve herself in the next game, despite being down 6-1, 4-2 with the score at 40-15!!!!

The crowd loved it - we have a game here. Yung-Jan was not gonna fade away quietly. She started to get the hang of Sharapova's power shots, enjoying the game and even began varying her game a little. The commentators were pleasantly surprised and showered the young girl wif praise. When Yung-Jan made the first challenge using the Hawkeye, the crowd gave her a rapturous applause when her challenge was vindicated - that prompted what the commentator said was the best shot of the entire match from Yung-Jan who could not suppress a smile when that happenned.

In the end, Sharapova's experience counted most and Yung-Jan went down 7-5 in the 2nd set.

i had no regrets not blogging as i, just like the crowd at Court 1, was really involved in the game - which was really fun!

Good show, Yung-Jan. At 17, you can only get better!!!

*Her biggest hit, "a bittersweet commentary on adolescent cruelty and teenage angst, as reflected upon from the maturity of adulthood" (as desrcribed in Wiki). It won a Grammy in 1975 for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.