A food blogger friend of mine is currently competing in a cupcake competition hosted by Food24. With the Wimbledon fortnight upon us, she decided to make Wimbledon inspired Strawberries and Cream cupcakes. Since tennis - and by extension Wimbledon – is my forte, she agreed to give me a few pictures of the tennis cupcakes for use on the Schroeds blog.
The tradition of consuming strawberries and cream at Wimbledon is often attributed to King George V. He was an avid tennis fan and started the tradition of royal patronage at Wimbledon as early as the 1910′s. His son who became King George VI participated in the doubles event in the 1926 and was as frequent a visitor as his father. Queen Elizabeth II, the current head of the monarchy paid her most recent visit to the Championships in 2010, while Prince William and his wife Kate’s Monday visit to the tournament garnered intense interest.
Nevertheless according to a 2006 New York Times article, the royals can take no credit for the use of strawberries and cream as a snack between matches, with strawberries being a Wimbledon staple since the inception of the tournament in 1977. Wimbledon takes place at the height of the UK summer, which is typically the period during which strawberries are briefly available. Summer, strawberries and tennis have been a match made in heaven for more than a century now.
It is estimated that that in excess of 28 000 kilograms of strawberries and 7000 litres of cream will be consumed during the Wimbledon fortnight at £2.50 for a punnet consisting of a minimum of ten strawberries and a dollop cream.
If you aren’t lucky enough to be at Wimbledon, perhaps you can attempt to bake your own strawberry cupcakes. The ones pictured below are topped by cream infused with fresh strawberries. For the recipe or if you need some help with cooking dinner, check out the Pink Polka Dot Food Blog, online home to the creator of these stunning cupcakes. She is a recent Twitter convert, follow her here.
Strawberries and cream cupcakes - note the tennis rackets on the cupcake sleeves.Strawberries and cream cupcakesStrawberries and cream cupcakes
Strawberries and cream cupcakes – note the tennis rackets on the cupcake sleeves.
Tennis is perhaps the sole sport in which the women are as highly rated as the men. On-court, equal pay has been a feature for several years. Off-court, Maria Sharapova, speculated to be the highest earning sportswoman in the world, out earns most professional men’s tennis players, with only a select few such as the Federer’s and Nadal’s of the world, ranking ahead of her in the money stakes.
In recent years and amid a lack of dominant players, the women’s game has come under great scrutiny for its revolving door of world number ones and grand slam champions. Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, Serena Williams, Dinara Safina, Caroline Wozniacki and Kim Clijsters have all held the top ranking over the past few years. Of the six, only three have won major titles with Clijsters and Williams being multiple grand slam winners. Ivanovic, who won the French Open title in 2009 in addition to attaining the ranking, has since suffered a major downturn in her career and is now ranked outside of the top 10. Safina and Jankovic have also slumped since being number one, with the only player ranked number one and not holding a grand slam title yet to drop out of the top 10 being the current number one, Caroline Wozniacki.
Tough questions
Wozniacki has been ranked number one for a total of 39 weeks which for interests’ sake is more weeks than Clijsters, Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova have managed to hold the ranking. All this while she is yet to win a grand slam title while the other three have won several. The young Dane is continually asked about the credibility of her reign at the top of the rankings; her early losses at the French Open and Wimbledon have undoubtedly not helped the cause. It is however an unavoidable situation.
The WTA (The governing body of women’s tennis.) compiles the rankings. While the rankings rate the grand slam tournaments as those of greatest importance, and rightly so, it also includes the performances of players at several other tournaments of various levels. Obviously in order to motivate players to participate in tournaments on tour all year – and to not just turn up for grand slams, as the Williams’ sisters and even Clijsters have been guilty of in recent years – it is imperative the WTA hands out ranking points for tournaments below the grand slam level. The continued success of the sport depends on television rights and fans coming out to watch the top women in the world battle it out for titles in every city in the world, not just those lucky enough to play host to one of the majors. As a result the ranking system really can’t be altered to afford the grand slam winners the top ranking too. It must go to the player who most consistently plays the best tennis on tour. Right now, the distinction is Caroline Wozniacki’s; she is therefore the rightful number one player in the world.
Legacy and/or ambassador
Unless she really starts winning the Polish-born Dane is hardly likely to be remembered in the same light as a Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis or countless other dual number ones and grand slam titlists. It seems a tad unfair to expect her to play as few tournaments as the Williams’ and Clijsters, just to grant them an equal opportunity to be number one. While the reasons for their absence from the tour have been valid, it has definitely been detrimental to the sport.
In the interim it has been players like Wozniacki, Ivanovic, Jankovic, Vera Zvonareva, Li Na and Victoria Azarenka that have carried the sport. They have served as ambassadors for the game when their sometimes more illustrious competitors have only showed up for the majors. It is these players that ought to be given credit for the continued success of women’s tennis as a full time career. Sure, winning a grand slam makes for great headlines, but hosting and broadcasting tournaments is where the money comes from – and we all know money makes the world go round. The women’s draw at Wimbledon has consisted of some stellar tennis.
Women’s tennis has become increasingly less appealing with low level of play and numerous upsets becoming the norm. Despite not lacking in upsets, the play of the eventual quarter-and semi-finalists at Wimbledon this year has often overshadowed the men’s tournament with its brilliance. The competitive nature of the encounters between the women has begun to capture the audience’s attention, and could make women’s tennis impressive again.
Semi-Final 1: Maria Sharapova vs. Sabine Lisicki
The draw has been rewarding to players performing at an incredibly high level, as opposed to those who don’t completely suck. Six of the eight quarter-finalists played great tennis in the round of eight, with Dominika Cibulkova’s level dropping off against Sharapova after she beat Julia Goerges and Wozniacki in her two previous matches in stunning display. Sharapova was in devastating form, leading to her attaining favourite status to win the tournament. She plays Sabine Lisicki in the semis after she was the victor over Marion Bartoli, who defeated the defending champion in the fourth round, in the quarter-finals. Lisicki is the first German to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon since Graf.
Both players have excellent grass court pedigree with titles on the surface to the credit of both ladies. Sharapova’s 2004 Wimbledon titles is of course the most prolific of these, but Lisicki’s current 10-match winning streak on the surface is an indicator of how dangerous she could be to Sharapova’s favourite status. Both ladies thoroughly deserve their spots in the semi-finals. The match is likely to be decided by Sharapova’s service. Her ability to land a high percentage of first serves ought to guarantee her progress to the finals at Wimbledon for the first time since her winning run in 2004. If her first serve is less than excellent, Lisicki will look to step in on the second serve and put Sharapova under pressure on her service games. This tactic combined with the German’s ability to go toe-to-toe with Sharapova in the pace of hitting, could see the younger woman walking away with the win.
The winner: Sharapova in three.
Semi-Final 2: Victoria Azarenka vs. Petra Kvitova
Kvitova is back in the semis after her breakthrough performance at Wimbledon last year. Her movement through the draw has gone largely unnoticed with the mainstream press paying her little attention. Tennis insiders and dedicated fans have been tracking her closely with her being tagged a dark horse to win the title prior to the tournament starting. As such, her success at Wimbledon is unlikely to come as too big a surprise. She has been solid in her performances thus far, dropping a set for the first time against the woman who expelled Venus Williams from the draw, Tsvetana Pironkova. Kvitova nevertheless held her nerve to dump hard-hitting Pironkova from the draw, despite her excellent play in periods of their quarter-final match.
Her semi-final opponent is a fellow Eastern-European, Victoria Azarenka. Azarenka finally broke her quarter-final hoodoo by reaching the semi-finals at a grand slam for the first time in five quarter-final appearances. She achieved this by completely overpowering her opponent, Tamira Paszek. It was unfortunate to note that the questions around Azarenka’s mental strength are still valid – she struggled quite a bit to serve out the first set. She is unlikely to get as many opportunities against her Czech opponent in the semis. If she fails to take them she will be unable to reach her first major final at Wimbledon in 2011. Since both ladies have been hitting the ball in incredible fashion, the mental resolve of Azarenka could very well prove to be the deciding factor in the match. If the match goes to a third set, Kvitova ought to be superior.
The winner: Azarenka in straights.
The women’s tennis at this tournament has been of an incredible standard – all four semi-finalists have been hitting the ball in fantastic fashion and clearly deserve to be contesting a Wimbledon semi-final. Hopefully the final three matches of the tournament will be competitive encounters of high quality and entertainment value. Share your picks by commenting below.
Finally I include a clip of an amazing around the post winner hit by Victoria Azarenka in her match against Tamira Paszek.
The men’s draw has progressed mostly as expected with the biggest upsets being attained over three-time former finalist, Andy Roddick, and another former finalist, Robin Soderling. Roddick went out to a spirited performance by the Spaniard who favours grass, Feliciano Lopez, while Soderling was dispatched by the young Aussie gun, Bernard Tomic.
Other than these two matches, affairs have been fairly simple and straightforward with few truly exciting matches or upsets yet to occur. The only other upset victory perhaps worthy of a mention is the Mardy Fish win over defending finalist, Tomas Berdych. As reported in Part 1 of The Top 10: Wimbledon, only four of the 56 matches played in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th round of the men’s draw went to five sets. This has resulted in the tennis being quite bland other than a few brilliant sets here and there in matches involving the top players in the world. Hopefully the players contesting the quarter-finals against the big four of tennis will play at a high enough level to make the matches absorbing affairs. It would be a great coup for tennis fans if the quarter-final matches were of a competitive nature throughout.
Quarter-Final 1: Rafael Nadal vs. Mardy Fish
It seems unlikely that Fish will be able to provide the world number one with a challenge too great to overcome. These two men last played each other three years ago with Fish losing all five matches contested between them. While he is now ranked 20 or so spots higher than he was back then, he is an inferior player to Nadal, and will have to play the match of his life to have an effect on the outcome of this match. Nadal’s form has been steadily improving with him playing some eye-catching tennis in his fourth round match against Juan Martin Del Potro despite injury fears which have since been allayed. It seems the result is to a large extent on Fish’s racket. A great performance from him and Nadal could lose not only the match, but also his number one ranking. This is however the first time in nine attempts that Fish has progressed beyond the 3rd round at Wimbledon. With his grass court pedigree in question, the defending champion has to be heavily favoured to win.
The winner: Rafael Nadal in four.
Quarter-Final 2: Andy Murray vs. Feliciano Lopez
The UK tabloids will undoubtedly lead with speculation about who Judy Murray will support in this match, what with her appreciation of Lopez’s appearance. It is unlikely that the players will be concentrating on anything other than their opponent’s on-court play. Andy Murray will be heavily favoured to win against the 29-year old who is making his third appearance in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon this year; Lopez could at the very least make it difficult for Murray.
Lopez’s excellent serving is likely to continue, this in addition to his serve-and-volley play and the fact that he is a lefty could cause Murray some problems should the Spaniard execute his game plan well. Murray has however made the semi-finals at Wimbledon for two years running, and has been playing some of his best grass court tennis. As such he is likely to win and the match could very likely turn into a rout should he take the first set.
The winner: Andy Murray in three.
Quarter-Final 3: Roger Federer vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
History and rankings heavily favour Federer to win their quarter-final encounter. Federer leads their head-to-head record by 4-to-1, and is ranked 16 spots higher than his opponent. The Frenchman who is famous for wearing his heart on his sleeve is however a great competitor who will certainly walk out on to Centre Court at Wimbledon thinking that he can leave as the winner. His form of late has been of a high level with a final run at Queen’s Club on his record this year. If the Frenchman serves at his best he could no doubt make the match a closely contested one. Despite the Frenchman’s best efforts he could still lose to Federer quite easily if the Swiss man’s form improves slightly on his not bad displays in the earlier rounds.
The winner: Roger Federer in four.
Quarter-Final 4: Novak Djokovic vs. Bernard Tomic
Despite being the player to drop the least amount of games in the Championships thus far (41) Djokovic has been the member of the big four who has looked most frail in his early matches. He struggled to hit the ball cleanly against Marcos Baghdatis and was clearly frustrated at his play, going so far as to slam his racket to the ground in a display of anger reminiscent of his earlier years on the tour. Despite this low level of form, Djokovic has been fairly lucky with regards to the draw, playing Michael Llodra in the fourth round – no disrespect meant to the Frenchman whose serve-volley style I love to watch; he has simply never displayed the class or results of a Gasquet, Del Potro or even Youzhny. Djokovic now faces the world number 158 in Bernard Tomic. While these matches aren’t too much of a challenge for the Serb, they do provide him with an opportunity to find some form; the Serb’s expectations should be as high as those of the other top 4 players come the weekend. Tomic has had a phenomenal run at Wimbledon in which he took out Igor Andreev in five sets and former finalist Robin Soderling. The Australian’s success has been the fairy tale story of the tournament. He has however yet to come up against a player of Djokovic’s class in what is only his second entry into the main draw at Wimbledon. He is a man for the future, while Djokovic’s time is very much now.
The winner: Novak Djokovic in straight sets.
Should these predictions be realized it will be the first time in the open era of tennis that the top four seeds have all reached the semi-finals at two consecutive majors. While this might make the men’s quarter-final day slightly boring, it will certainly provide some excellent drama in the semi-finals and finals respectively. Something I think we have to look forward to.
Vote for your FOUR semi-finalists below. And feel free to share your picks in the comments below.
@radio_RG I'm not in favour of a shot clock, but I am in favour of umpires actually applying the 25s rule on tour and 20s rule at majors. 2 hours ago
@radio_RG I'm the only one of my friends who's a major tennis fan,they claim tennis is boring.If players take forever between points,it is. 2 hours ago
