I wasn’t planning to write about this game, even though it impressed me and it’s the biggest victory in Romanian tennis. But my Internet is off right now, it will take a while to restore and between writing this article and playing some silly games, writing wins.

I had already sent a quick tumblr/tweet and that was going to be it. I also recently noticed that an older article I wrote about Simona Halep having lost to Serena William has resurfaced in top again, and that’s such ancient history now. If Simona keeps staying “in the zone” the way she has in this match (and more or less, the entire tournament), there’s no way she’ll lose again.

Like I’ve said before, I’m neither a tennis aficionado, nor am I a “nationalist”, to celebrate all of my co-nationals/paysans/compadres victories as if they are mine or as if I had anything to do with them, but I am drawn to Simona’s game, because of her amazingly flawless performance, which makes all the obvious lifetime of training, sacrifices and deprivations seem “talent” or “easy”, and most of all, her strong “mental delivery”.

And what a game this was to watch! It reminded me of playing the FPS game Doom many years ago: there were all these monsters that don’t move much throwing balls of fire at you and you have to move around quickly and hit back with your own perhaps less damaging bullets but more intelligently. And when they do move around, you still have to move faster, or you’re dead.

I wasn’t there when David versus Goliath happened (arguably, nobody was), but watching Simona running around and returning impossible balls to this monstre sacré was probably as close as I’ll ever get to it. It sounds as if her beloved former coach Darren was there supporting her. Anyway, you can find more visual examples in boxing (more specifically, Freddy el Gigante vs Bogdan Nastase), Orson Welles, pk, foxbetv, Htv, TED Gladwell, Christian.

Perhaps her focus and flawless delivery, or, if you will, the absence of drama and tantrums is why some don’t like her: she’s almost superhuman (or on some kind of “undetectable doping”), while retaining her friendliness and openness and for many, perfection is boring. This is so unfair yet real.

And just as I’ve said before, it’s great to watch this friendship she’s got with Serena continue and withstand the adversity in the court. I associate tennis with British culture, much like debating and being polite / keeping appearances. If we accept this association, it follows that Wimbledon is the one Grand Slam to win, the pinnacle of one’s form. And having seen this phenomenal demonstration of mental strength, I know that Simona will stay there for a long time.

I’m also glad that Nadal triumphed over the little prick who targeted him in this ugly incident. It is an overall win of sportsmanship, especially in the longest singles final there, Djokovic (winner) vs Federer. Listen to the winner (espn) and loser talk after, to see how seamlessly they switch from the antagonistic mindset that’s necessary for the game to the friendly manner required by the media appearances.

I wish I had such feelings of gratitude and pride for her win for Genie Bouchard, about whom I wrote on #handshakegate, but given what I’ve seen on Twitter, that’s not going to happen soon.

LE: There’s been a big celebration with Ion Tiriac & Simona reviewing the game (interesting insights): part 1 and 2 and an interview with the coach who tells us she doesn’t do media interviews because of the haters. Some criticized Tiriac for “inserting” himself into Simona’s win, but insofar as she doesn’t do media appearances (which obviously hurts her sponsorship potential, but I totally get it), that was a good thing. Also, Navratilova comments the game for WTA and more on the difficulties Serena faced coming back from pregnancy.

Sources / More info: wiki-wimbledon, yt-search