Tennis Anyone?
This past weekend the tennis world wrapped up its single most popular fortnight. The 119th Championships at Wimbledon were won by past champions but that does not mean that there wasn’t a rebirth of tennis this weekend. Now in America, we mostly care about what American’s are doing in individual sports like tennis, golf, track, swimming, and other individual sports. However, tennis is the one sport where we can appreciate players from other countries and their outstanding accomplishments.
In the past 4-5 years the popularity of tennis has slipped in America, and part of that can be due to the increased popularity of golf as an individual sport. That plus the lack of American stars especially on the Men’s side have forced tennis to slip into relative obscurity. I was one who fell victim to this indifference even though I grew up playing tennis weekly and enjoying watching the sports especially the Grand Slam events. The memories of Pat Cash winning the 1987 Wimbledon Championship or Jimmy Connors miracle run at the 1990 US Open or the overwhelming power of 2 teenagers from Germany Boris Becker & Steffi Graf.
This most recent championship on the lawns of London seems to have lit a little spark under the tennis world. The first thing that helped was Maria Sharapova winning last year, and though she was born and raised in Russia she has great crossover appeal because she has spent so much time in America and speak English fluently. Her yearlong celebration carried into this year’s tournament, where in the Semi-Finals she ran into the comeback story of Venus Williams. Williams looked like her old dominant self disposing of the defending champ. In the Finals she matched up with an old foe that was also making her own comeback of sorts, another former Wimbledon Champion Lindsay Davenport.
Williams and Davenport did not disappoint, putting on a classic match, showing us all what championship tennis was. Davenport looked in control of the match, in fact getting a match point in the second set, but Williams came roaring back scoring 9 straight points at one time. As in all great sporting events there was a seminal moment, in this match it was the 25 volley rally that resulted in a Williams point. It was an outstanding rally that ended with Davenport hitting a ball into the net and then bending over in disappointment while Williams let out a child like exalted scream. It was one of the great sporting moments that I was watching alone and wishing I had someone to cheer with (much like the 1999 Ryder Cup).
Sunday morning provided us with a much different match in the men’s final, but the excitement was still there. Roger Federer (2 Time defending Champ) faced off against American phenom Andy Roddick. Roddick and Federer have been rivals since their days coming up on the junior circuit. While in juniors their rivalry was much more even, but most recently in the professional ranks it has been dominated by Federer. On grass Federer is a master. He cannot be beaten right now; everything he does is perfect on grass. Tennis is absolutely beautiful to watch when it is being played perfectly and Federer right now is at the very top of the tennis world.
Roddick was playing some of the best tennis of his career, he was playing at a level that was mostly unbeatable, by Federer has taken his game to the highest level. He dominated Roddick at every turn during the final match. It was fun to watch, one guy playing at an exceptional level (Roddick is 32-0 on grass over the past 3 years against everyone not named Roger Federer) and another playing at the highest level. The numbers Federer is putting up are staggering; 9-1 against Roddick, 36 consecutive grass court matches, and he has won his 21 straight times in the finals of a tournament. While Federer is putting together this unbelievable run there are other players looking to knock him off, Andy Roddick, Thomas Johansen, Raphael Nadal, and Lleyton Hewitt. This is much like what Tiger Woods was doing in the early part of this decade and the other golfers raised their games to his level, I think the same will happen with these tennis players.
I am not sure why, but these new players and exciting matches have tennis back on my radar screen. I am waiting with anticipation for those hot summer nights in Queens at the Arthur Ashe tennis center, where special things always seem to happen. Roddick will be back on his favorite surface where he won his only major title, Federer is the defending champ and Lleyton Hewitt won the US Open back in 2001. Tennis may be making it’s way back, and I am on the small band wagon.
In the past 4-5 years the popularity of tennis has slipped in America, and part of that can be due to the increased popularity of golf as an individual sport. That plus the lack of American stars especially on the Men’s side have forced tennis to slip into relative obscurity. I was one who fell victim to this indifference even though I grew up playing tennis weekly and enjoying watching the sports especially the Grand Slam events. The memories of Pat Cash winning the 1987 Wimbledon Championship or Jimmy Connors miracle run at the 1990 US Open or the overwhelming power of 2 teenagers from Germany Boris Becker & Steffi Graf.
This most recent championship on the lawns of London seems to have lit a little spark under the tennis world. The first thing that helped was Maria Sharapova winning last year, and though she was born and raised in Russia she has great crossover appeal because she has spent so much time in America and speak English fluently. Her yearlong celebration carried into this year’s tournament, where in the Semi-Finals she ran into the comeback story of Venus Williams. Williams looked like her old dominant self disposing of the defending champ. In the Finals she matched up with an old foe that was also making her own comeback of sorts, another former Wimbledon Champion Lindsay Davenport.
Williams and Davenport did not disappoint, putting on a classic match, showing us all what championship tennis was. Davenport looked in control of the match, in fact getting a match point in the second set, but Williams came roaring back scoring 9 straight points at one time. As in all great sporting events there was a seminal moment, in this match it was the 25 volley rally that resulted in a Williams point. It was an outstanding rally that ended with Davenport hitting a ball into the net and then bending over in disappointment while Williams let out a child like exalted scream. It was one of the great sporting moments that I was watching alone and wishing I had someone to cheer with (much like the 1999 Ryder Cup).
Sunday morning provided us with a much different match in the men’s final, but the excitement was still there. Roger Federer (2 Time defending Champ) faced off against American phenom Andy Roddick. Roddick and Federer have been rivals since their days coming up on the junior circuit. While in juniors their rivalry was much more even, but most recently in the professional ranks it has been dominated by Federer. On grass Federer is a master. He cannot be beaten right now; everything he does is perfect on grass. Tennis is absolutely beautiful to watch when it is being played perfectly and Federer right now is at the very top of the tennis world.
Roddick was playing some of the best tennis of his career, he was playing at a level that was mostly unbeatable, by Federer has taken his game to the highest level. He dominated Roddick at every turn during the final match. It was fun to watch, one guy playing at an exceptional level (Roddick is 32-0 on grass over the past 3 years against everyone not named Roger Federer) and another playing at the highest level. The numbers Federer is putting up are staggering; 9-1 against Roddick, 36 consecutive grass court matches, and he has won his 21 straight times in the finals of a tournament. While Federer is putting together this unbelievable run there are other players looking to knock him off, Andy Roddick, Thomas Johansen, Raphael Nadal, and Lleyton Hewitt. This is much like what Tiger Woods was doing in the early part of this decade and the other golfers raised their games to his level, I think the same will happen with these tennis players.
I am not sure why, but these new players and exciting matches have tennis back on my radar screen. I am waiting with anticipation for those hot summer nights in Queens at the Arthur Ashe tennis center, where special things always seem to happen. Roddick will be back on his favorite surface where he won his only major title, Federer is the defending champ and Lleyton Hewitt won the US Open back in 2001. Tennis may be making it’s way back, and I am on the small band wagon.
2 Comments:
imperial wizard
did dave odom write this post?
If there was ever a question of your homosexuality, it has been answered today.
Post a Comment
<< Home