Even Dozen

This is why experience still counts for something.

By all accounts, and just like in the Roddick match, Roger Federer could’ve been down two sets to love just as easily as up.

Novak Djokovic had five set points in the first set, two in the second. If he had kept his composure, he could have at least entered the third set at one set apiece.

Simply put, Roger kept his cool, Novak didn’t. He couldn’t handle the pressure of playing in his first grand slam final.

But he’s still young, has years left, and though this should be a devastating loss for him, his light-hearted and humor-filled personality will carry him through to better performances, I’m sure. I like the guy. He’s a great personality to have on tour, and he has the game to back up the impressions he makes of other players. I could see too that the crowd loves him.

But back to King Roger. It’s almost a sure thing that he’s going to beat Pete Sampras’s record of 14 slams.  He’s only 26, and if he plays till 30 he’s got four years to win at least three more. Barring injury, it’s a sure thing. If he wins the French Open anytime before he retires, he’s got to be considered the greatest, or if not, at least mentioned second to Rod Laver. If he doesn’t, well, he’ll still be second to Laver, having overtaken Sampras by then.

But I like the fact that Djokovic has shown some mettle. It’s long been mostly the Roger-Rafa show, with some supporting player coming in and taking the headlines every so often (Roddick here, Blake there, Davydenko sometimes).  The media has long been touting the young guns (Berdych, Gasquet, Monfils, now Young, Isner, etc.), none of whom have shown any consistency, and, in some cases (see Monfils, Young), have been downright disappointing.

Will Novak be another supporting player? I hope not. A Roger-Rafa-Novak triumvirate would bring back memories of Connors-Borg-Mcenroe.

If they can last long enough. I’m concerned for Rafa’s longevity, but that’s the subject matter for another post.

Even the Kitchen Sink

Poor Andy Roddick. He played a helluva match, threw everything he had , didn’t lack for effort or heart, followed the strategy given him by coach Jimmy Connors (and it was the right strategy too!), and he still comes up short against Roger “Darth” Federer at the 2007 U.S. Open.

Roddick served well, hit his groundstrokes with power, and came to the net to force Federer to beat him, and still…

Roddick playing at his best cannot beat Federer playing at his best. The Swiss is simply the better player. In fact, Roddick playing at his best might not even be a sure thing against Federer at his worst.

Again, Roddick’s limited abilities at the net were his undoing. If he had better natural volleying skills, he would have a much better chance of beating Federer. But his net play is so ungainly you know he’s more comfortable at the baseline, where Roger can feast on him.

Roddick gave it his best, and that’s all you could ask of any player. Federer’s just too good.

Poor Sportsmanship in the WTA

I’ve always found the Williams family ungracious in defeat or in victory, and Serena and her father, Richard, have shown that same attitude again in the ongoing 2007 US Open. Serena lost 7-6, 6-1 to Henin in a quarterfinal match that she didn’t seem to be motivated to play. And yet, in the post-match interview she calls Henin’s winners “lucky”, giving nothing to her opponent, as if to state that she lost only because of her play and not because Henin outplayed her. Richard explains away her daughter’s loss by saying “She’s hiding her injuries very well”, implying that Serena lost because she was hurt. Add to this Venus and Serena’s early history of pulling out of matches where they feel they can’t win, or withdrawing because of some unproven injury, and it’s not surprising that they have as many detractors as fans. I haven’t read Venus’ post-match interview after disposing of Jelena Jankovic in three sets, but I’m hoping she showed more graciousness in victory than her younger sister did in defeat.
Which is not to say that Henin, the woman who beat Serena, is no angel. She’s done her share of gamesmanship. Her “raised hand” at Serena at Roland Garros comes to mind. Her withdrawing against Amelie Mauresmo at last year’s Australian Open, and thus failing to give Mauresmo the proper victory as tournament champion. No, we know Henin has a bit of a “win-at-all-costs” mentality.

And then there’s Maria Sharapova’s endless and needless grunting, which puts her opponents off while the ball is in play. Monica Seles used to do that, but Sharapova has taken the volume up to another level. She’s eye-candy, sure, but she plays like she’s having painful sex at the same time.

Martina Hingis is older, wiser, and better behaved now. But she’s also not the dominant player she once was, so we don’t see how much better she carries herself nowadays. But when she was younger, she was pretty arrogant too. The time she went to Steffi Graf’s side of the court to dispute a line call at the French Open is still remembered by a lot of fans.

On the positive side, all this gamesmanship adds colour, drama, and controversy to the WTA. It’s just irritating sometimes, and it would make for a nice contrast if some WTA player with a better attitude would start winning and give us fans a look at what proper sportsmanship is.

Ready, play!

I had a blog somewhere before, just writing about the life in general, and realized that the most passionate posts I made were about tennis.

So I created this new blog where I can write about tennis, my favorite sport. But that won’t stop me from writing about other sports, or other topics, but yeah, this is mostly going to be about tennis.

Ready, play!