Li Na has Olympic tennis center rocking
August 15, 2008
Playing before a huge one sided crowd in the Chinese capital Beijing, Li Na could not have asked for more support as she took on the current Wimbledon champ Venus Williams.
The match started with Williams jumping out to an early 3-0 lead. She looked to be overpowering her Chinese opponent. With the crowd on her side Li gradually worked her way back into the match.
A few double faults from Williams helped the cause and before you knew it Li was up a break and had the first set in her sights. The crowd was pumped and the fact Li was playing an American made it even more exciting for them. Li went on to take the first set 7-5. If there was a roof over the whole stadium it would have been lifted by the Chinese cheering.
In the second set it was Li who got the first break as she went out to a 3-1 lead. Williams quickly hit back and then it was neck and neck until at 6-5 when Li got the crucial break to wrap up the match.
7-5, 7-5 to Li and a great victory for the home town favourite.
Federer out of Olympic singles tournament
August 15, 2008
After a long rain delay Roger Federer took on James Blake in the Olympic tennis singles. Federer made too many unforced errors. This combined with good play from Blake at crucial times saw the Swiss no. 1 seed exit the tournament.
James Blake won the match 6-4, 7-6(2). The unforced error count for Federer was 56. This is way too high in two sets of tennis.
Watching from courtside it seemed that Federer was having trouble getting into his game. His shotmaking did not appear silky smooth as I have witnessed in the past.
Overall Blake was just too good. When Federer looked like making a comeback after getting into the tiebreak Blake came up with the big plays and won convincingly.
The crowd made up mostly of Chinese with a sprinkling of foreigners were cheering for the Swiss player. There was the odd cheer for Blake from US people in the crowd.
In the other quarterfinal match that followed Rafael Nadal defeated Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-0, 6-4.
In other matches on the outside courts at the Olympic tennis green Serbia’s Novak Djokovic defeated Gael Monfils of France 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 and Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu also from France 6-4, 6-4.
Check back here later for some photos from my night at the tennis.
Off to my first event - Beijing Olympic tennis
August 14, 2008
Today I am finally going to my first ticketed event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I am taking my daughter to the Olympic tennis tournament this afternoon. I can’t wait.
She was probably more excited yesterday than she will be today as we got her a full set of Olympic mascots. She played with them for hours.
I was just checking the schedule for this afternoon and we are in for a treat. In quarterfinals action Roger Federer will be playing James Blake in the first match on centre court. This is followed by Venus Williams against the Li Na. And if that is not enough we will get to see Rafael Nadal take on Jurgen Melzer.
If the centre court action is not good enough we can wonder out to show court 1 and watch Serena Williams play Elena Dementieva followed by Paul-Henri Mathieu versus Fernando Gonzalez. After that match the Australian Open winner, Novak Djokovic will play exciting French player Gael Monfils.
I don’t think I could have asked for it any better if I could pick the exact matches I wanted to see at the quarterfinal stage in the Olympic tennis tournament.
Does the smog favor some athletes?
August 6, 2008
Earlier today I was reading an article about Australian tennis player Sam Stosur. She was saying that Beijing will be the most brutal tennis tournament in terms of the weather.
The Australian Open is hot but without the humidity. Here in Beijing you get the heat with humid conditions thrown in. Stosur said she was training and the smog haze probably kept it cooler as you did not have to contend with the extra sting from direct sunlight.
For this reason it may actually help some players when they are out in the hot Beijing weather. I can talk from personal experience that when the skies are clear and the sun is beating down it feels a lot more oppressive than when the smog filters the sunshine.
Any athlete here for the Beijing Olympics that is competing outside is going to find it tough. I can see plenty of heat related withdrawals happening in the tennis tournament. If players have not prepared for hot humid conditions they are going to struggle.
Yesterday I was watching the Australian hockey team training under the hot Beijing sun. I remember reading an article about the team in the past where they said the pollution is not the worry in Beijing it is the heat. As part of the preparation the team has been working with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
The AIS have come up with a small rice sized thermometer that the players actually swallow. The thermometer reading is then read from a scanner against the stomach of the player. This reading gives an accurate core body temperature reading. If the players are getting too hot corrective action can be taken before it is too late.
On the local Beijing news last night they were showing the beach volleyball venue in Chaoyang Park. There is nowhere to hide on the sand from the fierce playing conditions, it can be a bit like a furnace at times. They showed some fine mist sprinklers that will be used to try to help the players keep cool. I would imagine socks might be worn to protect the players feet.
I know from my playing days on the beach volleyball tour that the conditions here in Beijing are what most players hate. There are a few exceptions as some players love hot humid conditions but they are crazy if you ask me. I remember playing at Hamilton Island in Australia during summer and the heat and humidity hit you hard.
It will be an interesting two weeks. It is tough enough being a spectator. There will be long waits in security checkpoint queues and plenty of walking to get to the venues. I know Sydney was a lot more pleasant from both an athletes perspective and that of a spectator.
What do you think about the conditions in Beijing? Leave a comment below.
