not impossible because it happened

As spoken by Tomas Berdych the Wimbledon Men’s Singles Finalist. Berdych got to that lofty position by doing what was called by BBC Commentator Sue Barker as, “The Impossible”. He defeated Roger Federer in the quarterfinals. He then went on to defeat Novak Djokovic in the semi finals. I suppose the “impossible” was in reference to his defeat of Federer. Well considering how scratchy Roger’s play was during to the tournament, facing defeat early wasn’t that much of a surprise. Many thought when they saw the draw that Berdych had a chance. If not him, then Roddick ( oh wait, he went out early too), or Novak would have done the job. More than a few tennis writer’s hadn’t even bothered to pick Federer to win because of his erratic play throughout the Spring.

Maybe the “impossible” moniker should be given to John Isner and Nicholas Mahut who played the longest match in tennis history during the 1st round. It took 11 hours and 168 games before  John Isner earned the victory. For a few hours, attention was taken away from the World Cup and all eyes were focused on Court 18.  Each man looked utterly spent but unwilling to give up. After the match, both competitors (and the ref), were given their just props, along with some goodies to take home. Isner got a guest spot on Letterman and Mahut got to give up his shoe and racket to the Tennis Hall of Fame Museum in Newport. 70-68 in the 5th set? A tennis record never imagined ? Impossible, but it happened.

What else happened was that Justine Henin fell out of contention to win the title she covets the most. Meh. Personally I never thought is was a good idea to come back to competition in order to win a particular title. And since Wimbledon has become the rest haven for the Williams sisters, Henin winning the title might be impossible. Just saying.

But anyways,

Congrats to the Champs: Rafael Nadal (Men’s) Serena Williams (Women’s) Vania King (1/2 of Ladies Doubles).

the tale of two champions

So the Wimbledon is over and the men’s champion has been crowned. The guy who pretty much had his way paved in gold for him when last year’s champion had to withdraw because of injury. He was only truly tested once and that during today’s final, when a man who had lost to the champ 19 times in 21 matches played for 5 sets with the belief that maybe, just maybe he could be the one to derail history. Alas, it was not to be.

Credit Andy Roddick for giving everything that he had. During the fortnight, he played some of the best tennis of his professional career. He stunned the other golden boy, Andy Murray in the semifinals and apart from being the feel good story of the tournament, most tennis fans knew that the 19-2 head to head would play a major part in the men’s final. All it took was one break in the 5th set, and the record was broken and the number 15 monogrammed jacket  made its Center Court debut.

In the world of sports, milestones are rarely given asterisks. If someone breaks a record, very little attention is paid to how it was accomplished. Years from now, I doubt that people will mention Robin Soderling and Andy Roddick when they talk about the 15 Major titles. The most they can expect is to be the subject of a question in the latest edition of “Trivial Pursuit”. It might even be considered unfair that the feat was achieved without the benefit of a victory over one’s great nemesis but hell, a lot of things in this world are unfair. Some fans would argue that it was unfair that Roger Federer had been denied the chance to seal the deal in previous years because of Rafael Nadal. They possibly see it as a type of justice that Federer was able to fulfill his dream of greatness while his archrival was laid up in Mallorca.

That just don’t cut the mustard with me. See, as appreciative as I am of Federer’s game I could never warm to him on a personal level. I blame the press mainly for this because early in his career, his supposed greatness was shoved down everyone’s throat.  Once he matured and started winning he naturally started to believe his own hype. His casual dismissiveness of any perceived threats and haughty nature helped increase my dislike. Along with Nike and a worshipful tennis press, his perfection was packaged, promoted, and hyped to nauseating levels. It was like, “See how great he is? You HAVE to love him! You just HAVE to!”

Well not exactly. I’ll tell you something you might already know: I flove Serena Williams. The main reason is because there is something undeniably human about her. I know that Federer wants to win just as much as Serena does, but with Serena you can tell that she is willing to do anything to win, even if makes her look awkward, or unattractive, or less than graceful. Even with her flights of mental fancy or her less than PC sound bites, Serena is always Serena. She’s doesn’t need a clothing company to tout her greatness. She’s not interested in being universally loved and adored. She just uses her racket and her will to get by and she lets the rest take care of itself.

I guess that’s why I was so happy yesterday to see her win against her greatest rival; her sister Venus. The post match celebration included a hug at the net, a touching speech, and a wish that she would help her sister win the doubles championship. No hype, no hoopla-just delight in a job well done. It reminds me of the end of another monumental match. Back in 1988, I saw Steffi Graf win the calendar Grad Slam at Flushing Meadows. It was a feat that has yet to be repeated and yet there were no fireworks launched. Steffi didn’t have a special bag or outfit for the occasion. There was  just a simple announcement and a round of well deserved applause. Owing to the fact that her opponent; her greatest rival Gabriela Sabatini was distraught, Graf’s speech was simple and gracious.  Oh, how I wish things were still like that.

But anyhoo, I’ll say congratulations to Federer. It was his time to shine and I will waste no more time throwing shade his way. Only because I know that somewhere in Porto Cristo, there’s a man who is still around who has the ability to thwart Federer and to make some history of his own.

Congrats again, Serena.

Get well soon, Rafa. You are missed more than you know.

the gazelle and the lioness

On the grass, she bounds effortlessly from corner to corner like a gazelle. Her long legs gallop to the net so that she can smack the errant ball that dared to invade her space. She leaps,  stretches, pounces, and crouches all within that 39 x 26 foot grass box. Her mastery of it has led her to 5 titles and she’s well on her way to winning yet another.

It’s easy and it’s hard to explain Venus Williams’ dominance on grass. One could say that grass rewards her for her naturally aggressive game. Her serve has more pop. Her groundstrokes have more length. Those are the tangibles. But what can account for the swagger, the laser like focus, and the sheer intimidation that radiates from her in waves? It’s as if she feels like she can do no wrong when she steps out on the Center Court at Wimbledon, and there have been very few to prove her wrong.

Today she humiliated the #1 player during the semifinals with the score of 6-0, 6-1. Dinara Safina’s hair didn’t even have time to dry before she was ushered off the court; no doubt dazed and confused as to what happened to her. She was given a serious lesson in Big Babe Championship Tennis. Brushed aside and dismissed like some young upstart without a clue. There was no room for pity at the beautiful sight of Venus doing what she does best on the surface that she loves the most.

She’ll next meet her sister in a repeat of last year’s Ladies final matchup. Serena’s match with Elena Dementieva was all that a tennis fan like me wanted to see and it’s what the tennis establishment needed to see: two top players giving their very all until the last point. There was a ton of respect between the two but absolutely no fear. Especially from the lioness herself, Serena. Sure she was off balance at times, and she muffed a shot or two or three..okay four. But as always, when it counted she used her clutch serve to bail her out from break point hell and match points. She snarled and stalked and clawed the turf as if it were her own property.

Today’s Elena D. was nothing like the player Serena met during the Australian Open semifinals. Serena mercilessly  swept her aside and went on to win the title. This Elena was a hard serving, laser returning, groundstroking menace. She was Extreme Makeover Elena Edition. She gave Serena all she could handle and then some.

But, in the end after almost 3 hours she came up short. Another piece of prey for the lioness. Now, Serena sets her sights on hunting the gazelle. Now when the sisters play, victory is decided on will and the audacity to take chances. They are even in head to head matches and now the stakes involve major titles and a historical milestone. I can’t wait to see who will be the victor on Saturday: The Gazelle or The Lioness.

sex in the center court

According to an article in the UK’s Daily Mail today, Officials at the All England Club confirmed that they factored “babeness” in scheduling women’s matches on Center Court at Wimbledon. Those who follow tennis closely have been hip to this sort of behavior for some time. Look how much Maria Sharapova has earned for her off court activities as compared to Amelie Mauresmo. Attractive female tennis players have often been photographed in bikinis, skimpy skirts, and sheer shirts for men’s magazines. The on court outfits some of them wear can easily be mistaken for Frederick’s Of Hollywood Lingerie.

Interestingly enough, when former men’s tour player Michael Stich pointedly remarked that the Women’s Tennis Association was, “selling sex”. He was roundly criticized. Well now with the admission of the TPTB of the AELTC, it seems that Mr. Stich simply wasn’t talking out of his rear end. The rationale according to these lunkheads was that the television audience would be more interested in seeing good looking girls play on Center Court. To me, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to put two low ranked vixens on a show court in order to bring more attention to women’s tennis, which at this point is fighting tooth and nail against irrelevancy. I figure, if you’re in the top 3 and/or you’ve won Wimbledon before, you should always play on Center Court because it’s like you EARNED it instead of just looking hot in a pair of tennis panties. The call for equal pay just doesn’t hold up when the 59th ranked player in the world is conducting a clinic on error prone tennis on what’s dubbed the “Cathedral of Tennis”.

It’s disrespect pure and simple. If the WTA was worth anything, they would make a statement calling out the AELTC for this. Notice I said, “IF”. So far, I’ve heard nada from the ruling heads. They’re probably too busy putting together the, “Hot Babes of the WTA” 2010 calender.

article link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1196155/Babe-set-match-How-looks-count-talent-Wimbledon-decides-girls-play-Centre-Court.html