Wimbledon 2012, subtitle - Roger is a genius

Roger Federer winning his seventh Wimbledon singles title.
I'm reminded of the recent holiday in the U.S., the 4th of July.It tends to involve a considerable amount of fireworks.Most displays end with a glorious crescendo.All the fireworks before are fine, but now let us show you what we can really do.Light up the sky with a thousand colorful stars.
People look up and gasp, ohhh,ahhh.Beautiful.
That's what it felt like seeing Federer winning his seventh Wimbledon title.He let loose with a lovely barrage of brilliance.
It does make me think of  Sampras at his last U.S Open.Navratilova winning her ninth.I hope this isn't Roger's last major.He may well feel re energized,and confident,and win more.I very much hope so.But after the dry spell, it feels great to see him holding the trophy once again.

Andy Murray; all credit.That was a mature effort.I don't think he beat himself.The fact that he can bear the awful pressure as well as he can is an accomplishment in itself.Tennis players do have to win it the hard way.I hope he can some day.

Rafael Nadal losing to Lukas Rosol; well, that was a bad day at the office.Rosol was in the classic zone.Sad to be the high ranking player on the wrong end of another player's greatest day on court.
If Rafa was tired,it's understandable after Roland Garros.And his knees were probably bothering him.But give Rosol his credit.He closed the deal instead of choking.

Congrats to an Englishman( !! ) Jonathan Marray and Danish partner Frederik Nielsen for winning the Doubles.

A few notes;
I'm still not sure I like the roof being closed just for the lights.Wimbledon night matches? I can do without them.

Gilles Simon; STFU.Your ideological sexism is embarrassing the sport.

Rufus the Hawk; How much of an idiot do you have to be to think it's good idea to steal a hawk?
"Look, there's a hawk in a cage", "Let's take him!". Why? Are you going to take him home to play with the  kids? ( Look out kid, he'll tear your eyes out! )
Sell him on the hawk black market? ( Hey,want to buy a hot hawk ? ) Brag to your friends? ( Wow dude, you stole a hawk! You really are an idiot! )
Thank goodness, he was returned without harm.

Serena Williams.
If she makes it through the first week, she's favored to win the tournament.Up hill the first week ( nice try ladies ), rolling down the hill the second.
Stranger than fiction, Serena.
I didn't watch the final.I'm ok with that.Post threatening the lineswoman, I'm through.Seen more than enough.

Roger Federer is like Masterpiece Theater.Serena Williams is like a "reality" show.

Credit to Agnieszka Radwanska.Well done making it to the final.And with an upper respiratory problem too.

Disappointed that Petra Kvitova lost to Serena.Would have loved to have seen her in the final again.
Maybe next year.

Lisa Raymond.Still adding to the titles.Mixed Doubles Champion with Mike Bryan.Nice.

The coverage;
I think ESPN did a fine job in their first year of covering the full tournament.It's a significant relief to say goodbye to NBC's horrible tape delays, and time shifting.NBC,and their local affiliate, made an aggravating mess out of the second week for way to long.
Tennis Channel did a wonderful job with their expanded coverage.Loved seeing Mary Carillo added to the team.

Wimbledon is tiring,but the most amazing show in tennis.

French Open Roland Garros 2012 Men

                                Rafael Nadal.Champion.

And by men,I mean Rafa.The man.
7.Wow.7
You know how much sports fans love to debate things? Well Nadal just comprehensively destroyed the debate about who is the greatest clay court player ever. It's over.Hardly an ember left to poke.
He muscled his way through the man who was trying to win a consecutive Grand Slam.I know Djokovic is disappointed by not being able to get that done.But absolutely no shame in having it end like this.
Does he win the eighth next year? Probably.

Australian Open 2012

Novak Djokovic during a changeover




I noticed during the enthusiastic tweeting going on during the Men's final; the players and writers watching the match kept using the word INSANE.In caps.
Maybe slightly short of that crazy superlative, but not by much.
I can't think of too many players who have so comprehensively changed their reputation in the highest ranks of tennis so much in about a years time.
Novak Djokovic has now cemented a Hall of Fame career.He's not the scrawny guy who wheezes his way to another disappointment.He's the magnificent marathoner who captures one of the epic finals of recent tennis history.
Improved diet, and fitness? Yes, I guess.But somehow it just seems like it was time for him to give his best.Things have fallen into place for him.This is the golden chapter of his career.

Nadal.Class act.Heart of a Lion.And he's going to beat Djokovic again.
Watching that match against Federer, I couldn't help but think how much he must have wished it was the Final instead of the Semi.That's the match up he understands completely.That's the back of his hand.I knew he had Roger again after turning the momentum his way.It was just a "here we go again" for Federer.
And of course how many people have thought of the Rock,Paper,Scissors analogy?

The Woman's final was a loud, and dull affair.
The Battle of the Screaming Me Me's.
Not really surprising to see Viktoria Azarenka come through and win a major.She had as good a chance as anybody.Credit to her for claiming it.

Australian Open notes.

Andy Roddick - Fun Mohawk, lousy results.Oh well.

I wonder if we're nearing critical mass on the screaming issue?
The WTA leadership has been anything but leading on this issue.But it seems they may make an effort with the Juniors.Not the money making stars of course.Goodness forbid.

Sharapova in a press conference on the noise; " No one important told me to stop."
Fans aren't important enough.Message received.

I did hear a little of the old whine about equal prize money.It's a done deal.Why bother bringing it up?
No one would deny the men are the superior entertainment product right now.They are in a golden time.They are putting on classic shows in the Grand Slam finals.
But the majors are not stepping backwards.
I think it would benefit the Women to play Five set matches in the Semi's,and Finals.
Why not consider it? I don't question their capacity for stamina.

The time zone difference never ceases to mess up my sleep schedule for a week after the tournament.I kept trying to get to bed relatively early,and then waking up in the am.
If I had of known before I got drawn into becoming a tennis fan that there is no off season,and it's played around the clock, I may have thought better of it.
Oh well,another done deal.

Happy notes.
Loved seeing Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Vera Zvonareva winning the doubles.I just give them credit for playing the doubles!

The Bryan Brothers losing the final was a disappointment, but getting home on time for the birth of Bob's daughter was sweet timing.

Roland Garros 2011 / French Open 2011

I'm so tried after a major I just want to crash.So I wrote this about a week after the tournament.Just my impressions.

That had to hurt for Djokovic.Going in no losses on the year,and then the wheels kind of fell off/got kicked off by Federer.One match though.
I'm a Fedhead so I loved seeing him end the streak and get into the final.
Strong effort.Great tennis but..

Nadal is still the king of clay.He's just the best.Federer needed,no NEEDED,that first set.Way ahead.Didn't get it.End of story.
Nadal bites another trophy.

The women.Now here's where it gets a little painful.I realized watching the tournament how much I've grown to enjoy Schiavone.I really wanted her to win.As the the tournament went on,I started to believe she could.I thought she could take the final.And then Li wins it.

I knew what was going to happen.called it on my twitter(Like that matters).The media were fawning over China.Why? Are we supposed to feel sympathy for China? Really?
Two points.
An individual won this title.She deserves the credit.Not a country.
China "good for tennis".
It's not all about money folks.Tennis is a western sport.Born and bred.
I'm trying to think of a sport that is substantially dominated by China that is popular in the west? None come to mind.
If a player from China loves tennis,and wants to be a part of it,of course she/he is welcome.
But for the ultimate welfare of the sport,Tennis needs American,French,UK(please!),and European players,with some Aussies thrown in for good measure.There's your tennis tradition.
I'm not trying to be nasty.Just telling the truth.And what's the point of writing a blog in the first place if you're never going to have an opinion and just stifle yourself?
Li is not a problem.And she's clearly no flunky for the Chinese sports authorities.It's the media,and the head of the WTA I don't see eye to eye with on this.

I admit I wasn't cheering for Li.But taking it on it's own,she's a nice,funny young woman.good for her and all that.

A few more notes.
-Sad to see Clijsters hurting.Women's tennis desperately needs her.She has a personality brighter than a parade.
-Kuznetsova.usually in the category of "I like you, but I'll never under stand you'
she could have won this whole thing.If she had a burning pride.It seems she did not get that installed at the factory.
-The French box holders.What the hell is wrong with you people!? I know the food is good,but get through with lunch already and put your but in a seat court side.
Why do you want to improve the site.Do you need more seats not to sit in.
-American tennis.Whither thou?
Just whithering.

I didn't mean to sound so cranky.But getting up at 4a.m. for two weeks will do that to you.Really.The wretched schedule makes me miserable.

I hope Wimbledon is more fun.It almost always is.Just something profoundly refreshing about the green grass after the ruddy dirt.

I will leave on my positives;
Federer making it to the finals.
Nadal just making tennis look great,and being such a decent guy.
Schiavone being as entertaining as usual,and fighting her way to the finals for a second straight year.

Djokovic Wins Miami

Future!? The future may be now.The computer rankings don't reflect the recent dominance of Novak Djokovic,But he's been besting everybody.
Djokovic is having a scorching start to the year.It's amazing to think that last year Nadal had one of the great years in tennis,and now Djokovic is doing this.The plot changes fast sometimes.
Of course the year is young.Clay could change the balance.We'll see how it goes.When Djokovic has his current streak snapped will it ding his confidence?

On the women's side, Victoria Azarenka defeated Maria Sharapova in the final of the Earplug Open.

Novak Djokovic - Future Number 1?

Novak Djokovic comprehensively whipped the field at the recent Indian Wells tournament.He was the man to beat going in,and nobody could. I wasn't surprised he defeated Roger Federer.This makes it three in row now.Federer had a shot at it.winning the second set,but he fell short in the third. I was more impressed by his out battling Rafa Nadal in the final.Rafa is a hard beat down.

Djokovic won the 2008 Australian Open,and the Masters late in the year.No major victories in 09-10.I was starting to see him as a version of the Hana Mandlikova story.Martina Navratilova,and Chris Evert were dominating women's tennis in the eighties.Hana chased them,and managed to win four majors.She was a brilliant player,but rather flaky.Trying to get past Navratilova,and Evert was like getting caught between Scylla and Charybdis.She would often have to beat both to win a tournament .She couldn't accomplish that daunting feat often.

It looked like Novak was falling back.It seemed like Murray would emerge as the solid number three.King in waiting,just a matter of time.But it's Novak who has overcome his weaknesses,and breathing problems,and shown the courage to provide the real threat to the two man show.
Clay court season?That's another matter. Rafa will do his best to grind him into the dirt.

The Champs Nadal and Clijsters

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Clijsters,and daughter;Jada

Nadal;Champion 2010



Clijsters fought for for it and earned it.Gutty,and well deserved.That woman could almost outrun her own shadow.What chance did Stosur,or Venus have against that.Not enough.

Venus lost the US Open trophy in the Second set tiebreak vs Kim in the Semis.Two double faults.She blinked.She lost.Kim closed it out.Venus would have beaten Zvonoreva.I could be wrong about that.But I'm not.

Poor Vera popping strings,fraying nerves.But what a great year for her.solid victory over Wozniacki.



Kim Clijsters is going into the Hall of Fame.This just cements it.I do hope she can add a few wins at the other majors.She can.



Nadal.

People who think he is a greater player than Federer are bad at math.

But he doesn't deserve to be graded on a curve.He is a great.

I have a rare feeling of surety watching him when he's playing at his best.That no one can out muscle him,and wrest the match out of his hands.

Rafa Rolls to a second Wimbledon title.

It must have been nice to win in the daylight.He could see what he was biting this time.
After Federer went out,most were saying his path to the title was expected.John McEnroe predicted he would win it from the start.But he had a few close ones.And there is the old saying;there is many a slip between cup and lip.
He got the job done.Played his brand of muscular tennis,and looked very much like the number one player in the world.
He isn't the artist Federer is.But he is unquestionably one of the best of the open era.He's humble,down to earth and deserves everything he gets.I do respect him deeply.
As a fan of Federer;maybe I have sometimes thought of him as the foil.He's richly more than that.
I've never understood the idiotic tone of the extremist fans of either.Roger,and Rafa respect,and like each other.Some people try to invest to much into differences of taste.Easy enough to do of course.
But everyone interested in tennis should be very glad to have them both.If Roger can't manage to reassert himself;the game will be in fine hands.

It's really remarkable what's happened the last three years.Nadal winning the French,and Wimbledon.Then Federer doing it.Then Nadal doing it again.
That's supposed to be a very rare accomplishment.Right guys?
Great players are born to rewrite the rules,and records.

I really liked the somersault.

Nadal Wins his Fifth at Roland Garros

I would call that a thorough job.A comfortable straight set victory over the man who upset him last year must have felt great.
I really didn't get any feeling of Rafa wanting revenge as such though.Which just proves again what a classy young man he is.He was looking at the big picture.

The Borg era was before my time as a fan.I never got to see him play at his peak.I have seen taped matches replayed of course.But that just can't give you the full feeling about a player.You lose a sense of context.And I've never seen anything from the French except highlights.
So I don't know if Rafa is greater than Borg.Looking at the fact that Borg kept repeatedly winning at Roland Garros,and then Wimbledon, I have to think that Borg is still historically ahead of Nadal.But I think it's almost certain that Nadal will break Borg's record at RG in the next few years.
But can he get Chris Evert's ?
Good luck

Robin Soderling is really growing as a player.But as I said,There is a difference between being an upsetter,and being a champion.One of these days he may be a champion.
But it can't be a easy to be put out of the finals two years in a row.Roger,and Rafa have another gear when they are in shape to win that he can't hit yet.

btw-I refuse to call him Sod for a knickname.Please,that's not good.It's dirt,or a reference to a horrible old Hebrew myth.
Can't we call him Rockin Robin?
That's a really fun little song.Popular with guitar teachers.