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Feet of Clay: King Roger

Monday, July 06th, 2009 | Author:
Borg, Sampras, Federer, Laver: For my money, Roger tops them all

Borg, Sampras, Federer, Laver: For my money, Roger tops them all

Roger Federer is King. In another classic match where Andy Roddick’s serve wasn’t broken until the 30th (yes, 30th) game of the fifth set, Federer reclaimed his Wimbledon crown and surpassed Pete Sampras as the all-time leader in Majors won. Sampras even showed up for the occasion, his first time at Wimbledon in the eight years since his retirement. Even then, he only showed up halfway through the first set and seemed uncomfortable answering questions after the match (perhaps this has something to do with the interviewer, John McEnroe, who rightly called Pete out throughout his career for not placing enough importance on the Davis Cup). Still, it was a nice gesture to show up.

And then there’s Sampras’ heir apparent to USA Tennis, Andy Roddick, who won a lot of respect in the past week. His match against Andy Murray in the semis was his best ever, only to top that performance yesterday against Federer. He was even gracious in defeat, which surprised me.

Grace, however, is not Serena Williams’ strong suit. The Wimbledon champ whined that she’s not ranked number one despite winning three majors this year. Sure Serena, you won those tournaments, but you you need to win consistently to be ranked number one,  not just show up when everyone’s watching. Here’s a rare case of an athlete who ONLY performs well in the clutch – the antithesis of A-Rod if you will, yet neither are endearing. A-Rod chokes, and Serena can’t bring herself to perform unless the bright lights are shining.

Despite the absence of Rafael Nadal, I found Wimbledon to be thoroughly enjoyable this year, and look forward to see if Andy Roddick can continue to evolve and become that 3rd player in the Federer-Nadal stratosphere. The US Open is next up in September, its hard courts a surface onwhich Roddick should thrive.

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Feet of Clay: Wimbledon Feeling Kinda Empty

Monday, June 22nd, 2009 | Author:
Loving the new look sported during warmups

Loving the new look sported during warmups

No one likes pulling out, much less a fierce competitor like Rafael Nadal (my female readers probably just felt a tinge of excitement there). When Rafa confirmed that he was not competing at Wimbledon, there was a whooshing sound emanating from the All-England Club as the air was sucked out of this year’s tournament.

Although I am a Roger Federer man (sorry Nadal, but I’ve never been crazy about men wearing capris), the loss of his main foil and really the only guy that can push him relegates the tourney to the back pages of the sports section. Oh sure, I’ll take a lot of pleasure from the inevitable downfall of Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovich, and I will hopefully get to enjoy the drama of the Williams sisters further coming to terms (or not!) with their diminishing skills, but the rematch we all wanted to see – Nadal and Federer in the Final – has been robbed from us.

Taking the long view, however, maybe it’s better this way. Two years removed from the GMEP (Greatest Match Ever Played) with both competitors firing on all cylinders, might be even better than if it had happened again this year, lest we get de-sensitized to greatness. This way, Federer gets a great opportunity to reclaim his Wimbledon crown, his detractors will get to say he was only able to do it because Nadal was missing, and we’ve got ourselves a classic Wimbledon matchup in 2010. Throw in a 2010 French Open where Federer defeats Nadal and it becomes an even greater grudge match.

Federer rounded into form in his first Wimbledon match this morning beating Yen-hsun Lee 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 (you could just see the rust peel off the Swiss master as the match progressed). He has a very easy draw to the Final, and the easy money is on him crushing everything on his way to his sixth Wimbledon title. The only other plausible storyline would be Andy Murray making a run on his home court.

But really, there are only two male tennis stars of any import right now – Federer and Nadal. They play at a level that is untouchable by mere mortals. The rest of field are like extras on the set of Braveheart – really only there to fill out the screen.

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Feet of Clay: Greatest Ever

Monday, June 08th, 2009 | Author:
The Greatest

The Greatest

Roger Federer, in my opinion, is the greatest tennis player this planet has ever produced (disclaimer: I have not yet checked out the tennis talent on Mercury or Jupiter). I’m the type of person who makes a conscious effort not to make that claim too quick and in all honesty, I’m still a little reluctant to make it because no one but tennis scholars can really be expected to make that claim an educated one. I never got to watch Rod Laver or Arthur Ashe, just barely got to watch Bjorn Borg and I don’t have a readily available archive of tennis matches to watch and compare.

From what I’ve seen, and I’ve been a tennis fan from a very early time in my childhood, Roger Federer is the best I’ve seen. He is not only a talented champion, but a gracious one. He says all the right things, but it’s not the usual athlete PR bullshit we usually get – he is genuine and possesses gravitas. When he cried after being denied his sixth-straight Wimbledon at the hands of his nemesis Rafael Nadal last year, you could not help but feel his pain.

Federer has just claimed his first French Open, the most difficult Grand Slam event to win. In doing so, he silences the misguided claims that Pete Sampras was the best ever. Pistol Pete never won at Roland-Garros and, quite frankly, was never close to being “The Greatest”. Sampras’ game was all about a booming serve which he could keep inside the lines with stunning frequency. His cheerleaders point to his excellent serve-and-volley game, but rushing the net and burying the return down your opponent’s throat after reducing him to a desperate stab at your serve doesn’t impress nor inspire me. He was American, which is the only reason he’s in this conversation.

By winning the French Open, Federer becomes only the sixth man to complete the tennis Grand Slam (Wimbledon, Australian, French and U.S. Opens). He ties Pete Sampras for most Majors (14). He was involved in arguably the best tennis match ever contested. Even Sampras concedes he’s the best ever, joined in the chorus by John McEnroe and other legends of the game.

As Mary Carillo said yesterday, it’s possible Rafael Nadal could be even better. Nadal, however, is starting to show the wear and tear that prevents very talented people to ascend to the title “Greatest Ever” (think Mario Lemieux).

For my money, Federer will hold that title for a long, long time.

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