I watched these days Simona Halep having to retire due to an injury, Bianca triumphing over Genie Bouchard and though I certainly rooted for Bianca, I do regret somewhat both Serena’s and Genie’s respective losses.

Bianca is an amazing player and though I feel a bit robbed of the very short final, I was still able to watch enough to tell that she really stood a chance even if Serena had played her best game.

But I’m worried about Serena. Was there really back spasms or was it more the mostly unmet need to be cheered by the crowd – which, predictably, was all for Bianca? Has motherhood taken the winning edge completely off Serena’s personality? Was there always self-doubt a part of her that didn’t get to express itself much because she was winning so fast and so hard? Only time will tell, but I’d like to see Serena be her previously unbreakable self.

As for Bianca, she was born in Mississauga, took tennis in Pitesti, then returned to Canada. And her second name is Vanessa [understand me?]. She does, and so do we.

Bianca won against Genie and made the latter look pretty bad (tst-bouchard). I wish Genie could manage to maintain a high-level game for longer, kick ass as much as Bianca and foggedabout her troll army, but sadly, it’s not happening.

I guess part of the reason I’m not so happy to see Serena “retire” is that Simona was forced by injury to do pretty much the same. And quite frankly, I wasn’t all that interested in seeing a repeat of Halep vs Williams.

Serena is a formidable player who bulldozed through any resistance and forcefully gained the admiration of the crowd. I suspect that deep down she wants to be loved and appreciated as much as it seems that her lesser competitors are without always being the best. That’s her Achilles’ heel more so than “back spasms” and it can be speculated by her less scrupulous opponents – I’m hoping that’s not what happened at Rogers Cup.

Likewise, Genie Bouchard is a Winner who seems to be a bit confused and “finding her way” or distracted by “life”. I can’t wait for her to sort out whichever issues are holding her back and raise back to the top, where she so naturally belongs!

Sources / More info: tst-serena, nyt-andreescu, bi-serena, cbc-bianca, tst-bouchard, rc-halep