Who is the Greatest of All Time?
Fed has 16 slams and has played all three surfaces as well as any single player ever. If it weren't for Rafa, Roger would have won three or four more French Opens. Ahhh yes, Rafa. Who owns a .66 win percentage over Roger. And only six fewer slams. Is he the best? He still has four or five years to get more major trophies. And now where do we place Djoker?
Borg quit when he was twenty-four. Could've won a handful more, and he almost never played Australia. Pete dominated grass like no one else, when the courts were faster. And on hardcourts, when he was on, was simply electric. He hit the ball with more sheer force than anyone (Though Rafa's buggy whip is a sight to behold).
Laver won all four in a year. TWICE. And he spent a good chunk of his prime playing professional events which, at the time, did not include the Slam events. How many more could he have won? Four? Six? TEN? A MILLION??????!!?!?!?
How about Andre? Had to play Pete all the time and walked onto the court with the weight of the damn world on his shoulders. Still won eight Slams. And is the last player to revolutionize the game with his approach to returning. Wilander won 7 slams, made 4 more finals, and played simultaneous with Lendl, Edberg, Becker, McEnroe and Connors. He's not number one but is he better than Rafa? Oh, did I say Lendl? He won eight slams and made the finals in NINETEEN! Runner-up eleven times!!! Never got a Wimby plate, but was like clockwork to make the semis for almost the entire 1980's. And Edberg. For God's sake the guy was spectacular for nearly a decade, won six slams, beat Becker on grass twice, and beat Sampras in a night final in New York. How does he rate? What about pre-Slam era? Ken Rosewall was ranked in the top-20 for twenty-five consecutive years!
All of these considerations and variables would take a great deal of time to formulate into some kind of coherent calculus. So I'll simply offer my relatively amateurish assessment of overall greatness in a boring list. At least it will mean something to me.
1. Roger Federer
2. Pete Sampras
3. Rafael Nadal
4. Bjorn Borg
5. Rod Laver
6. Ivan Lendl
7. John McEnroe
8. Andre Agassi
9. Mats Wilander
10. Jimmy Connors
We'll go further 11-20:
Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, Djokovic, Ashe, Vilas, Newcombe, Nastase Pre-Slam: Emerson Budge, Tilden, Rosewall.
Monday, September 19, 2011
TUYWPI: Joker is King
I didn't update after the Semis or Finals of the US Open. Probably because I was in shock after Fed lost. I was so sure he was going to roll to his seventeenth slam. And then Nole did this:
Uncanny. He won. Beat Federer in five. Went on to whoop Rafa. Even as his back was seizing up. He ate Nadal's serve alive. He put angles on the ball that I've never seen. He recorded arguably the best season since Laver won all four. Two consecutive years with players winning three of four.
Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, all playing at the same time. It makes me wonder what my top ten all-time would look like?
Uncanny. He won. Beat Federer in five. Went on to whoop Rafa. Even as his back was seizing up. He ate Nadal's serve alive. He put angles on the ball that I've never seen. He recorded arguably the best season since Laver won all four. Two consecutive years with players winning three of four.
Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, all playing at the same time. It makes me wonder what my top ten all-time would look like?
Friday, September 09, 2011
TUYWPI: Gotta get down on Friday
TUYWPI: Roddick out of the Open after Rafa absolutely dismantled him. Nadal has obviously spent the last 8 weeks working on returning serves with the ball machine set at 150 MPH. I think when everyone started calling Djoker the best returner in the game after Wimbledon, Rafa took it personally.
While I'm sad that Andy is out, I still smile whenever I watch that brash son of a gun. Even if he never makes another final, I will always cherish the 2009 Wimbledon. The finals between he and Federer was the greatest match I've ever seen. And I watched all of Nadal/Federer 2008. And Federer/Nadal 2007. And Becker/Edberg 1990, which had more brute strength on display than any tennis match before or after. I've seen McEnroe beat Borg on replays several times. I vividly recall staying up to watch Jimmy Connors at the US Open against Agassi, then seeing him against Krickstien. I watched Sampras beat Rafter and then climb into the stands and I cried a little bit. Maybe a lot.
But I don't care what Jon Wertheim says, Roddick v. Roger III was the greatest match ever. Watch Roddick afterwards, weeping, spent, and I defy you not to love the guy. Watch Roger walk through the gates of history. 15 Slams. Listen to Andy afterwards, ""Sorry Pete, I tried to hold him off." Roddick wanted to be great, he had the talent, and eventually found the drive. But he ran into two of the four greatest players of all-time. Sometimes luck trumps everything. Sometimes it's just about when you were born. Hats off to the kid who never took his hat off.
Ladies? Can't forget the ladies! Serena is still a gosh-darned runaway train. But Wozniacki looked TOUGH. Outlasted and out hit Schiavone and then proverbially punched Petkovic in the mouth. The match was over before Petkovic was warmed up. I was wrong, Wozzy, and I apologize. BIG Tennis day tomorrow.
(Some football teams will play on Sunday.)
While I'm sad that Andy is out, I still smile whenever I watch that brash son of a gun. Even if he never makes another final, I will always cherish the 2009 Wimbledon. The finals between he and Federer was the greatest match I've ever seen. And I watched all of Nadal/Federer 2008. And Federer/Nadal 2007. And Becker/Edberg 1990, which had more brute strength on display than any tennis match before or after. I've seen McEnroe beat Borg on replays several times. I vividly recall staying up to watch Jimmy Connors at the US Open against Agassi, then seeing him against Krickstien. I watched Sampras beat Rafter and then climb into the stands and I cried a little bit. Maybe a lot.
But I don't care what Jon Wertheim says, Roddick v. Roger III was the greatest match ever. Watch Roddick afterwards, weeping, spent, and I defy you not to love the guy. Watch Roger walk through the gates of history. 15 Slams. Listen to Andy afterwards, ""Sorry Pete, I tried to hold him off." Roddick wanted to be great, he had the talent, and eventually found the drive. But he ran into two of the four greatest players of all-time. Sometimes luck trumps everything. Sometimes it's just about when you were born. Hats off to the kid who never took his hat off.
Ladies? Can't forget the ladies! Serena is still a gosh-darned runaway train. But Wozniacki looked TOUGH. Outlasted and out hit Schiavone and then proverbially punched Petkovic in the mouth. The match was over before Petkovic was warmed up. I was wrong, Wozzy, and I apologize. BIG Tennis day tomorrow.
(Some football teams will play on Sunday.)
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
TUYWPI: Water, water everywhere...
I'll let Rafa tell you about how the players felt going out to play on a damp hardcourt for twenty minutes:
If you've ever gone out and tried to hit in the rain and the wet, it's umpleasant. The ball gets soggy. The court smells funny and your racquet feels like a greased doorknob. If you've ever actually tried to play when the court was not properly dry, it gets frightening fast. Taking off from a stop when the court is damp feels like you could faceplant at any moment. A split-step on wet skimcoat is so scary that it makes my groin hurt just thinking about it.
Now imagine you're one of the most gifted athletes on the planet; your body is a finely tuned machine. Your muscles coil and flex and stretch within an inch of breaking every time you play. You're used to playing on lots of different surfaces that make varying demands on your body, but once adjusted to the surface you can move confidently on clay, grass, carpet, empty Serbian swimming pools. Wherever there is a net.
But now, after playing the last eight weeks on dry hard courts, the USTA and U.S. Open organizers tell you to take the court, even though it is still raining and the courts were only dried with blowers and squeegees for forty-five minutes. Personally, I would freak the F out. But then, I'm a pretty big wuss. These guys, who are the most supremely confident tennis players in the world, did not feel safe. And they were still asked to play.
Imagine what if Rafa were to blow out his knee on wet concrete? What if Roddick were to tweak his, heretofore, iron-clad shoulder because on his serve, his left foot didn't plant correctly? WHAT IF SOMEBODY DIED? Okay, so maybe that couldn't happen. But still, adding extra physical jeopardy to a sport where careers are notoriously short? Not cool. Not cool at all.
Don't do this, USTA. Don't do this ever again.
Rafa down 0-3 to Gilles Muller.
Murray and Young on serve 1-2.
Roddick up a break on Ferrer 2-1, serving.
Fingers crossed for better weather tomorrow.
If you've ever gone out and tried to hit in the rain and the wet, it's umpleasant. The ball gets soggy. The court smells funny and your racquet feels like a greased doorknob. If you've ever actually tried to play when the court was not properly dry, it gets frightening fast. Taking off from a stop when the court is damp feels like you could faceplant at any moment. A split-step on wet skimcoat is so scary that it makes my groin hurt just thinking about it.
Now imagine you're one of the most gifted athletes on the planet; your body is a finely tuned machine. Your muscles coil and flex and stretch within an inch of breaking every time you play. You're used to playing on lots of different surfaces that make varying demands on your body, but once adjusted to the surface you can move confidently on clay, grass, carpet, empty Serbian swimming pools. Wherever there is a net.
But now, after playing the last eight weeks on dry hard courts, the USTA and U.S. Open organizers tell you to take the court, even though it is still raining and the courts were only dried with blowers and squeegees for forty-five minutes. Personally, I would freak the F out. But then, I'm a pretty big wuss. These guys, who are the most supremely confident tennis players in the world, did not feel safe. And they were still asked to play.
Imagine what if Rafa were to blow out his knee on wet concrete? What if Roddick were to tweak his, heretofore, iron-clad shoulder because on his serve, his left foot didn't plant correctly? WHAT IF SOMEBODY DIED? Okay, so maybe that couldn't happen. But still, adding extra physical jeopardy to a sport where careers are notoriously short? Not cool. Not cool at all.
Don't do this, USTA. Don't do this ever again.
Rafa down 0-3 to Gilles Muller.
Murray and Young on serve 1-2.
Roddick up a break on Ferrer 2-1, serving.
Fingers crossed for better weather tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
TUYWPI: Girls, Women, and Richard Williams
I had grand ideas for this post. To get to the essence of the argument, which is Serena and Venus could have been even greater, statistically if Richard Williams had been even more obstinate about holding them out of full-time professional schedules, I had to pour over the last four decades of women's results. The statistics and history threatened to overwhelm. So here is a very shoddy first draft, one which I won't revisit or revise any time soon. Even in tennis, life is a marathon, not a sprint.
Watching Flavia Penetta make a run to the Quarterfinals at the 2011 US Open, made me think of Jennifer Capriati, Martina Hingis, Stefi Graf, Chris Evert, Hana Mandlikova, Tracey Austin, Andrea Jaeger, Kim Clijsters, Lindsay Davenport, Martina Navratilova, and Venus and Serena. Which inevitably led to that sly fox, Richard Williams, who almost fathered the greatest women's tennis player of all-time.
Flavia is twenty-nine years-old, which, just ten years ago, was ancient in tennis years. But things have obviously changed, since the best player in the women's draw this year is about to turn thirty (Happy almost Birthday Serena!). Penetta was highly rated as a junior and was projected to be a likely Grand-Slam winner after she turned pro in 2000, at the age of 18. She has not cashed in on those projections, but she has defeated some entrenched tennis expectations. In the past four seasons, Penetta has stayed relevant, more so even, despite the fact that she's pushing thirty. She's more well-rounded, fitter, stronger and match tough that when she was young prospect. And she's not the only woman to flourish as she has gotten older. Her countrywoman Francesca Schiavone has done the same, becoming a Grand-Slam winner after the age of 28. Li Na won the French, her first, at 29.
But for a number of reasons, my generation grew up thinking that tennis players, women and men, but women in particular, became primed for the professional ranks at age 15 and were spent by the age of 22. I didn't include Agassi, Becker, and Sampras in the list above, but they too were huge influences on this perception that youth was the main thing served on the tennis court.
A quick look at tennis history, though a relatively small sample in terms of total years, shows that the earlier one tries to play with the big girls, the true "women" of the WTA, the greater the pitfalls and the greater the likelihood that your career will be shorter than Amanda Coezer (she's very small).
Hana Mandlikova, while not the first or only girl to enter the women's ranks was one of the first to win a grand slam after turning pro before she was able to drive. She retired at 28 and hadn't been a factor in majors since she was 25. Both Martina N. and Chrissy turned pro after their 18th birthday. And while they both played thousands of hours of competitive tennis before becoming officially "professional," neither of them put the "Pro" mantle on their shoulders before the age of majority. Martina and Chrissy won majors into their 30's. Martina won doubles Slams as a 40 year-old. Margaret Court was a pro at 18, Billie Jean waited until she was 24. Mandlikova, Austin, Jaeger, and Graf were the big names that began the trend towards younger and younger professional status. Jaeger went pro at 14 and was done with a shoulder injury at age 19. Graf went pro at age 13, though Steffi's dad had the benefit of Jaeger's example, and held Steffi back in terms of number of tournaments she played in before age 18. She went on to win more Slams than any woman, and perhaps could have won more, retiring the same year she won her final French Open. She was 30 at the time. Maybe a few more years just being an amateur lets Steffi have two or three more years winning Slams.
Jennifer Capriati serves as perhaps the final example that there is an invisible threshold between childhood and womenhood in professional tennis. A threshold that does not prevent girls from finding flashes of success in the ranks of women, but one that stops them cold from achieving a full and consistent career as a tennis playing woman. Capriati went pro at thirteen and won a Gold medal a year later. Not long after that, she was running away from home, snorting rails of speed in skeevy motels with guys who aren't welcome in most trailer parks. The fall comes quickly in tennis and Capriati, like Agassi, Jaeger and Hingis to follow, crashed hard. Amazingly, Jennifer was able to recover and mature and become a three time Slam winner. Jaeger never made a comeback, though Hingis did make a marginal return and Agassi found great success in his later years. He fought through back pain that would've crippled most of us. But the question is whether all of these players would've been better off if they'd been held back a little bit, if they'd been given room to be kids until they were chomping at the bit to play with the grown-ups? What if they didn't turn pro until they were unquestionably ready?
Richard Williams in what was, at the time, a very defiant stance held back Venus from Grand Slams until she was 17. Though she had turned pro as a 14 year-old, which was very much the trend at the time, he kept her tournament schedule severely limited. He wanted her to focus on school and training, and wanted to avoid some of the racial conflicts and controversy that were bound to arise until she was more mature.
Venus was immediately a force when she began competing in majors, making it to the finals of the US Open in her first time playing in the tournament. She lost to Hingis, but was clearly the rising star everyone had anticipated.
Serena began playing majors at an even younger age than Venus, even though Richard had held back Serena and limited her tournaments, also.
The USTA and numerous critics and analysts were sure that the girls needed to be competing at the highest level as soon as they could carry the big bags. Richard Williams was criticized for not have the girls play a full junior season of tournaments, of which there are nearly as many as there are Pro events. He wanted them to blossom into their careers.
In the end, he was both right and wrong. The girls did need time. Though they were physically and mentally prepared to compete at the age of 15, they were not yet ready for the career of tennis. Capriati was proof that physical capability does not mean that one should move faster than the psyche can process. But the statistics and the historical arcs of Venus and Serena's careers show us that Richard should have bucked the system for one more year and allowed the girls to become women before they took the court at Roland-Garros and the All-England Club. Both Serena and Venus, even with all their hardware, have still battled injury and apathy. They held the Doubles Grand Slam, all four trophys in one year. Serena won the Consecu-Slam. But Venus had nearly three years in her prime that were sapped by injury. Serena went on walkabout for a few seasons after 2003 and she's been injured often and has frequently showed evidence of suspect fitness training.
And yet, they are still playing. Venus has just been diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder that has affected her stamina and overall wellness, but she vows she'll try to return. Serena has been a pro for twelve seasons, but shows no signs that she can't play for five more years. If both of them had put off their professional status for another year, they might not have had those lulls, those nagging injuries that seem to happen to girls who have tried to beat women.
Serena, the most intimidating and all around talented player since Graf, number six on the all-time Grand Slam list, could have been even better. She might have won twenty majors, maybe more. One year more waiting to play with the big babes, as Mary Carillo calls them, and she might have been the greatest.
Watching Flavia Penetta make a run to the Quarterfinals at the 2011 US Open, made me think of Jennifer Capriati, Martina Hingis, Stefi Graf, Chris Evert, Hana Mandlikova, Tracey Austin, Andrea Jaeger, Kim Clijsters, Lindsay Davenport, Martina Navratilova, and Venus and Serena. Which inevitably led to that sly fox, Richard Williams, who almost fathered the greatest women's tennis player of all-time.
Flavia is twenty-nine years-old, which, just ten years ago, was ancient in tennis years. But things have obviously changed, since the best player in the women's draw this year is about to turn thirty (Happy almost Birthday Serena!). Penetta was highly rated as a junior and was projected to be a likely Grand-Slam winner after she turned pro in 2000, at the age of 18. She has not cashed in on those projections, but she has defeated some entrenched tennis expectations. In the past four seasons, Penetta has stayed relevant, more so even, despite the fact that she's pushing thirty. She's more well-rounded, fitter, stronger and match tough that when she was young prospect. And she's not the only woman to flourish as she has gotten older. Her countrywoman Francesca Schiavone has done the same, becoming a Grand-Slam winner after the age of 28. Li Na won the French, her first, at 29.
But for a number of reasons, my generation grew up thinking that tennis players, women and men, but women in particular, became primed for the professional ranks at age 15 and were spent by the age of 22. I didn't include Agassi, Becker, and Sampras in the list above, but they too were huge influences on this perception that youth was the main thing served on the tennis court.
A quick look at tennis history, though a relatively small sample in terms of total years, shows that the earlier one tries to play with the big girls, the true "women" of the WTA, the greater the pitfalls and the greater the likelihood that your career will be shorter than Amanda Coezer (she's very small).
Hana Mandlikova, while not the first or only girl to enter the women's ranks was one of the first to win a grand slam after turning pro before she was able to drive. She retired at 28 and hadn't been a factor in majors since she was 25. Both Martina N. and Chrissy turned pro after their 18th birthday. And while they both played thousands of hours of competitive tennis before becoming officially "professional," neither of them put the "Pro" mantle on their shoulders before the age of majority. Martina and Chrissy won majors into their 30's. Martina won doubles Slams as a 40 year-old. Margaret Court was a pro at 18, Billie Jean waited until she was 24. Mandlikova, Austin, Jaeger, and Graf were the big names that began the trend towards younger and younger professional status. Jaeger went pro at 14 and was done with a shoulder injury at age 19. Graf went pro at age 13, though Steffi's dad had the benefit of Jaeger's example, and held Steffi back in terms of number of tournaments she played in before age 18. She went on to win more Slams than any woman, and perhaps could have won more, retiring the same year she won her final French Open. She was 30 at the time. Maybe a few more years just being an amateur lets Steffi have two or three more years winning Slams.
Jennifer Capriati serves as perhaps the final example that there is an invisible threshold between childhood and womenhood in professional tennis. A threshold that does not prevent girls from finding flashes of success in the ranks of women, but one that stops them cold from achieving a full and consistent career as a tennis playing woman. Capriati went pro at thirteen and won a Gold medal a year later. Not long after that, she was running away from home, snorting rails of speed in skeevy motels with guys who aren't welcome in most trailer parks. The fall comes quickly in tennis and Capriati, like Agassi, Jaeger and Hingis to follow, crashed hard. Amazingly, Jennifer was able to recover and mature and become a three time Slam winner. Jaeger never made a comeback, though Hingis did make a marginal return and Agassi found great success in his later years. He fought through back pain that would've crippled most of us. But the question is whether all of these players would've been better off if they'd been held back a little bit, if they'd been given room to be kids until they were chomping at the bit to play with the grown-ups? What if they didn't turn pro until they were unquestionably ready?
Richard Williams in what was, at the time, a very defiant stance held back Venus from Grand Slams until she was 17. Though she had turned pro as a 14 year-old, which was very much the trend at the time, he kept her tournament schedule severely limited. He wanted her to focus on school and training, and wanted to avoid some of the racial conflicts and controversy that were bound to arise until she was more mature.
Venus was immediately a force when she began competing in majors, making it to the finals of the US Open in her first time playing in the tournament. She lost to Hingis, but was clearly the rising star everyone had anticipated.
Serena began playing majors at an even younger age than Venus, even though Richard had held back Serena and limited her tournaments, also.
The USTA and numerous critics and analysts were sure that the girls needed to be competing at the highest level as soon as they could carry the big bags. Richard Williams was criticized for not have the girls play a full junior season of tournaments, of which there are nearly as many as there are Pro events. He wanted them to blossom into their careers.
In the end, he was both right and wrong. The girls did need time. Though they were physically and mentally prepared to compete at the age of 15, they were not yet ready for the career of tennis. Capriati was proof that physical capability does not mean that one should move faster than the psyche can process. But the statistics and the historical arcs of Venus and Serena's careers show us that Richard should have bucked the system for one more year and allowed the girls to become women before they took the court at Roland-Garros and the All-England Club. Both Serena and Venus, even with all their hardware, have still battled injury and apathy. They held the Doubles Grand Slam, all four trophys in one year. Serena won the Consecu-Slam. But Venus had nearly three years in her prime that were sapped by injury. Serena went on walkabout for a few seasons after 2003 and she's been injured often and has frequently showed evidence of suspect fitness training.
And yet, they are still playing. Venus has just been diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder that has affected her stamina and overall wellness, but she vows she'll try to return. Serena has been a pro for twelve seasons, but shows no signs that she can't play for five more years. If both of them had put off their professional status for another year, they might not have had those lulls, those nagging injuries that seem to happen to girls who have tried to beat women.
Serena, the most intimidating and all around talented player since Graf, number six on the all-time Grand Slam list, could have been even better. She might have won twenty majors, maybe more. One year more waiting to play with the big babes, as Mary Carillo calls them, and she might have been the greatest.
Monday, September 05, 2011
TUYWPI: Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!!!
I've got another update I'll post later but I'll throw out the most salient points from today's action (Thanks to the lovely Carrie Reiberg for allowing me a couple hours of solo tennis watching):
Men's -
Rafa got hisself all twisted up in knots!
The Andys made quick work of their opponents on their way to the Fourth Round, and both looked impressive enough that they could make runs to the Quarters and Semis. Andy Murray came back after a few sloppy performances and put the hurt on Feliciano Lopez. Murray might have still been smarting from his mother's embarrassing tweets during Wimbledon. His game is well-rounded and he shouldn't have too much trouble with Donald Young, unless Donald can start uncorking his serve at something above 115-120 mph. The only way Murray loses is if his first serve gets away from him and he plays too deep on returns, allowing Young to get runs at the net, where Donald has been superb.
Roddick had a relatively easy go against Julien Benneteau. Three sets and his serve was the whooping stick he needed it to be. He'll be tested against David Ferrer, who despite a stress fracture in his left hand, already took out Gael Monfils. Roddick's head-to-head with Ferrer looks to be 2-3 on hardcourts, so he's the underdog for sure. But if he's feeling well, the serve is hot, and his slice backhand is staying deep and low, then Andy wins and gets to face a Nadal who's already cramping and blistered despite getting a walkover from Mahut and only needing three sets against Nalbandian. Could get interesting.
Roddick, Isner, Young, and Fish. Four American men left in the round of sixteen? Not bad fellas.
Women's -
Flavia Pennetta looked like a stunned fighter who just kept blocking and blocking until a little window opened up and she could throw the uppercut. She was retching on the sideline between points, late in the second set. Her face looked gaunt and splotchy from losing so much water. If her match against Peng had gone three sets, she would have lost. But she took the second set breaker and is headed to the Quarters with a very winnable match against Kerber in front of her.
Vera Zvonareva took out my sleeper pick Sabine Lisicki, in a technically superb match. Z-Von's serve is strong enough to test Serena and her groundstrokes are absolutely punishing if you don't hit deep enough on her. She can also stay on the court for days without getting tired. She barely looked like she was sweating on points that had Lisicki sucking wind. She is the only threat to Serena right now. Wozniacki is just a paper tiger. Z-Von's got claws.
I expect Serena to roll over Ivanovic, unless she gets injured or Ivanovic all of a sudden remembers that she's 6'1" and can hit the fuzz off the ball. But we all know that's not going to happen. And while Schiavone or Pavlyuchenkova could make Serena run around the court a bit, neither of them can hit with her on hardcourts. Andrea Petkovic should win her match and I predict she will upset Wozniacki on her way to meeting Serena in the Semis.
As I said, I've got another Editorial TUYWPI in the hopper. We'll see if I get it done.
Men's -
Rafa got hisself all twisted up in knots!
The Andys made quick work of their opponents on their way to the Fourth Round, and both looked impressive enough that they could make runs to the Quarters and Semis. Andy Murray came back after a few sloppy performances and put the hurt on Feliciano Lopez. Murray might have still been smarting from his mother's embarrassing tweets during Wimbledon. His game is well-rounded and he shouldn't have too much trouble with Donald Young, unless Donald can start uncorking his serve at something above 115-120 mph. The only way Murray loses is if his first serve gets away from him and he plays too deep on returns, allowing Young to get runs at the net, where Donald has been superb.
Roddick had a relatively easy go against Julien Benneteau. Three sets and his serve was the whooping stick he needed it to be. He'll be tested against David Ferrer, who despite a stress fracture in his left hand, already took out Gael Monfils. Roddick's head-to-head with Ferrer looks to be 2-3 on hardcourts, so he's the underdog for sure. But if he's feeling well, the serve is hot, and his slice backhand is staying deep and low, then Andy wins and gets to face a Nadal who's already cramping and blistered despite getting a walkover from Mahut and only needing three sets against Nalbandian. Could get interesting.
Roddick, Isner, Young, and Fish. Four American men left in the round of sixteen? Not bad fellas.
Women's -
Flavia Pennetta looked like a stunned fighter who just kept blocking and blocking until a little window opened up and she could throw the uppercut. She was retching on the sideline between points, late in the second set. Her face looked gaunt and splotchy from losing so much water. If her match against Peng had gone three sets, she would have lost. But she took the second set breaker and is headed to the Quarters with a very winnable match against Kerber in front of her.
Vera Zvonareva took out my sleeper pick Sabine Lisicki, in a technically superb match. Z-Von's serve is strong enough to test Serena and her groundstrokes are absolutely punishing if you don't hit deep enough on her. She can also stay on the court for days without getting tired. She barely looked like she was sweating on points that had Lisicki sucking wind. She is the only threat to Serena right now. Wozniacki is just a paper tiger. Z-Von's got claws.
I expect Serena to roll over Ivanovic, unless she gets injured or Ivanovic all of a sudden remembers that she's 6'1" and can hit the fuzz off the ball. But we all know that's not going to happen. And while Schiavone or Pavlyuchenkova could make Serena run around the court a bit, neither of them can hit with her on hardcourts. Andrea Petkovic should win her match and I predict she will upset Wozniacki on her way to meeting Serena in the Semis.
As I said, I've got another Editorial TUYWPI in the hopper. We'll see if I get it done.
Saturday, September 03, 2011
TUYWPIOMGWTFBBQ!!
So I'm moving the Tennis Updates You Will Probably Ignore (TUYWPI) over here to the blog, thus making them far easier to ignore. WAYYY too many people were actually reading them on Facebook, making the 'ignore' part invalid. I won't stand for that. So here is today's update:
TUYWPI: Serena looks only a shade off her 2002-3 form. And that is scary. back then, she was 22 and had every tested veteran in the world gunning for her and she still won four consecutive majors. Her serving in 2011 is consistent and unrelenting. Her movement is back and she will absolutely crush anything that isn't deep and hard. (TWSS) Everybody else is playing to be runner-up.
Men's -
Federer seemed to remember he was Federer after Cilic took a set off him. I would bet that he makes the Semis. And as always, if you truly want to have a transcendent analysis of Federer in his prime, I refer you to the one and only DFW, here.
Roddick beating Jack Sock was a fun moment in time. The next time they play, once Jack has had a year of hitting at ATP speed, the young man from Nebraska is going to beat Mr. Roddick. If I'm wrong I'll look foolish, but I predict Mr. Sock is going to win more major tournaments than Mr. Roddick. Luck for him, Jack will come of age as Roger, Novak, and Rafa are all in the autumn and winter of their careers. Andy? No such luck. That's okay, he's been lucky elsewhere in life.
Final note: If Brad Gilbert keeps calling her "Boom-Boom" Lisicki, I am going to blush. Sabine is pretty. And very, very good.
TUYWPI: Serena looks only a shade off her 2002-3 form. And that is scary. back then, she was 22 and had every tested veteran in the world gunning for her and she still won four consecutive majors. Her serving in 2011 is consistent and unrelenting. Her movement is back and she will absolutely crush anything that isn't deep and hard. (TWSS) Everybody else is playing to be runner-up.
Men's -
Federer seemed to remember he was Federer after Cilic took a set off him. I would bet that he makes the Semis. And as always, if you truly want to have a transcendent analysis of Federer in his prime, I refer you to the one and only DFW, here.
Roddick beating Jack Sock was a fun moment in time. The next time they play, once Jack has had a year of hitting at ATP speed, the young man from Nebraska is going to beat Mr. Roddick. If I'm wrong I'll look foolish, but I predict Mr. Sock is going to win more major tournaments than Mr. Roddick. Luck for him, Jack will come of age as Roger, Novak, and Rafa are all in the autumn and winter of their careers. Andy? No such luck. That's okay, he's been lucky elsewhere in life.
Final note: If Brad Gilbert keeps calling her "Boom-Boom" Lisicki, I am going to blush. Sabine is pretty. And very, very good.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)