Nothing I can say will do justice to the distilled quanta of awesome that is this video.
Can we all, instead, simply agree that it “does what it says on the tin”?
(word, big-up, hat-tip and many, many thanks to @andy_murray)
-- Roger Federer seeded #1 at Wimbledon.
Scandalous I know. Why anyone in their right mind would want to confer a #1 seeding on a guy that’s won 6 of the last 7 titles here and had a complete stranglehold on the #1 ranking during that time is beyond me.
Never underestimate the audacious logic espoused by Neanderthals in sufficiently high numbers.
By the amount of hot air this issue has generated you’d almost think that Fed had received a bye to the final.
For better or worse, Wimby has for many years now, chosen to distinguish itself through use of a seeding formula that rewards grass court prowess.
You can, indeed, argue that seedings for a surface that exposes the utter uniformity of the majority of hard court players and the unique adaptive ability of a select few, should, in some way, reflect that distinction - a distinction I’d be prepared to extend to clay.
You can argue that Venus Williams ought to be seeded #1.
You can even argue that Nikolay Davydenko should be seeded outside of the top 50.
Of course you can choose to bin all of that, and argue, instead, that it’d be perfectly valid for Wimbledon to simply mirror the rankings the way the other Slams do.
And that’d be fine too.
Once you choose to go with the formula, however, continuing to argue in favour of your favourite player on the basis of a H2H begins to make you look petty, paltry and confused.
Verdict: There’s clutching at straws and there’s clutching at toothpicks. Not an outrage.
-- #342 ranked Brit, James Ward went out of the QFs of Eastbourne today
To reach that point he put out both Feli and Scheuttler. Back to back.
You’d think such an audacious feat on home turf would be enough to earn him a wildcard at Wimbledon.
The LTA’s top 250 cut off point (for affording WCs) and an illness at the end of last year that saw him drop out of that range (a position he’d previously held for 18 months) means you’d be wrong.
All of which has put us in the slightly laughable position of not having a single English player in the Wimbledon draw - a historical first, though hardly the kind of history to aspire for.
I understand the LTA are focused on “creating an environment where more British players aren't just in the first round because of a wild card, but on merit…”.
I also understand their position is a little “damned if you do damned if you don’t”.
How often, after all, have we seen them burnt at the stake for a spate of first round losses from “undeserving” Brits that were afforded WCs?
I don’t, however, understand the sheer lack of imagination that sees The-Powers-That-Be doggedly stick to “policy” and artificial cut off points at the expense of a fine BRITISH run of form.
What precise “metric” do you need to tell you that a Brit getting to, say, the third round of Wimbledon would represent a fine thing for British Tennis?
Verdict: Not simply an outrage. A scandal.
-- Thomas Muster. Comeback. 42. No really.
Verdict: Not an outrage. Simply outrageous. And yet I’m keen to see how this plays out.
-- SUI(24) d. ESP(2) 1-0
The equivalent of say Stan Wawrinka knocking out Rafael Nadal.
Verdict: Outrageous. On every imaginable level. And some unimaginable ones too. And yet I believe it would have played out rather differently on clay.
5-0?
Could you not find it within yourselves to concede even a single rubber to the hapless Czechs?
Not even a dead one?
I guess not, if you’re in the business of celebrating with this much fire.
(Getty)
Daveed Ferrer is not normally a player I get terribly excited about.
I admire his work ethic. Am officially in awe of his fitness which is probably only a peg or two under Rafa’s (if that). Loved the story about his coach Javier Piles locking him in a closet in order to light his fire, as well as that fabulous run he had in 07. And I find his resemblance to the Jack of Diamonds both jarring and entertaining.
But that is all.
(Getty)
Lest anyone still be in doubt though, Daveed owns this win, and was far more the ‘man of the moment’ this weekend than Rafaelites might have thunk possible.
1-6 2-6 6-4 6-4 8-6 is an intimidating scoreline.
The like of which you need not know the particulars of to infer that great things happened out there.
That said, it’s also exactly the kind of result Daveed seems uniquely placed to pull off. As is Davydenko.
For Rafa, this marks a long awaited return to winning a match or two again, this time with that familiar, rust coloured grain under his feet.
Not going to venture much more than that. Spiffing as it is, it’s probably safer to wait until January -- when both climate and surface will change -- to speculate on whether or not he’s “back”.
Would someone mind telling me exactly what that is? I've been struggling with it for little over a year.
Not sure Nole is “back” either. And from where precisely?
Did shanky Fed ever actually leave us? Or was he just kept at bay for a couple of months with a cattle prod and the threat of an Ivo-Djoko-Rap, while he bagged himself numbers 14 and 15?
No, pontificating on the inscrutable nature of being “back” is hereby suspended until the immediate aftermath of Oz.
For what it’s worth though, I’ll really stick my neck out and postulate that Rafa won’t have as successful a first few months as he did in 09. How daring is that?
For that, he might need to get back on that slidey, rust-coloured stuff again.
(Photo: Reuters)"I truly enjoy playing for my country but I'll also have to see where I have my priorities for next season," Federer said after victory over Italy.
