Jimmy Connors The Greatest?

By 'Prestige Score,' Connors Is Tops
FEBRUARY 28, 2011

Monday night's tennis exhibition at Madison Square Garden includes four all-time great players: Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl. But the best player ever won't be there.

No, we're not talking about Roger Federer. Or Rod Laver. Or Rafael Nadal. Jimmy Connors, the cantankerous American who played top-level tennis until he was 39 years old, is, according to a new study, the greatest of all time. Lendl finished second. In a major upset, Ilie Nastase finished ninth, in front of Bjorn Borg and Boris Becker.

The study, published this month in the scientific journal PLoS ONE, discards traditional methods, such as weeks at No. 1 and Grand Slam titles. Instead, it analyzes all matches played in men's tennis since the beginning of the open era, in 1968, and awards each player a "prestige score" based on matches, especially victories, against quality opponents.

"What's really important is not to win many matches, but to win matches against other good players," says Filippo Radicchi, a statistical physicist at Northwestern University who authored the study.

Connors won 178 quality matches, more than any other player. By Radicchi's measure, Federer has 39 quality victories. Nadal has just 21. However, Radicchi notes that his method favors retired players, because the historical stature of current pros has yet to be determined. "I'll run this algorithm again in 10 years and see if the ranking is still the same," he says.

See the ranking...

While I don't get into arguments of "best ever", I find this statistical analysis intriguing on many levels.

(Thanks, Moose)

Historic Face Of The Day

Serena Williams holds the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen after defeating her sister Venus Williams at the French Open Tennis Championships on June 8, 2002 at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France.

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The only Black woman in the Open Era and the last American to win Roland Garros.

More Than Just A Big Serve

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Andy Roddick's scraped elbow is visible as he holds his winner's trophy for the championship match of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships tennis tournament Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011, in Memphis, Tenn. Roddick outgutted Milos Raonic 7-6 (7), 6-7 (11), 7-5, and made a diving return on the final shot.

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Will Andy Roddick end 2011 without a title for the first time in 11 years?

That was the question I almost posted as a random thought earlier this week when I finally glanced at the draw of Memphis. Following his unceremonious loss in the fourth round of Melbourne, a loss which the American commentators at ESPN almost seemed happy about, it surely seemed possible. I know there's much tennis to play in 2011, but still.

Something told me to hold my tongue.

For all of my fan-anxious criticism, Andy Roddick is the kind of player that enriches the tapestry of the sport I love. Since Melbourne, the only storyline worth (over)hyping has been the out-of-nowhere fairy tale of the 20-year-old Canadian via Montenegro Milos Raonic who's now the highest ranked Canadian male in tennis history. But the promising young upstart with the huge serve and big forehand lost to the tenacious old veteran with the huge serve and big forehand.

And tenacious he was. Roddick had to rally to defeat a virtual no-name in the first round, overcome the man who defeated him at the US Open last year in the second. In the quarterfinals he needed 7 match points and a dive or two, which drew blood on his right arm, the bruises you see above, to get past his old, tenacious rival Lleyton Hewitt. In the semifinals he broke the serve for the first time in the event of Juan Martin Del Potro, a man he's lost to on US hardcourts all three times they'd played, broke his serve three times. And in his 50th career final, he outgutted the man from Canada via Montenegro he'd never played before, the man the commentators have been hyping as the Next Great Thing (there were times during the encounter where if you didn't see it with your own eyes, you'd have thought Raonic was the only player on the court given all the lip service they gave the big kid) and won a match point for the ages to earn his 30th career title. All the while coughing up his lungs from one of those bad colds going round.

He did it with patience, defense, offense, netplay, backhands down the line, guile, guts, and, yes, big serving.

The match started slowly, mostly all about the serving, but then marched towards its dramatic finish. As both players began to read the other's game, the rallies got longer, the stakes, higher. But no one saw the ending coming. Surely, at 5-6, 30-40 and serving, Raonic, who'd saved all 4 match points he faced on serve in the second set tiebreak, would serve his way out of match point number 5, right?

Raonic struck a great serve out wide, but Roddick got it back with a backhand return. Raonic struck a hard forehand approach down the line that Roddick struck back with a hard backhand down the line. Raonic struck what appeared to be a clean volley winner deep and wide in the open court, but Roddick scrambled to chase it down, didn't look like he'd get there, but dove at the last second with his forehand outstretched and slapped a screaming passing shot winner that Raonic could only watch whiz by. Roddick didn't even seen where the ball landed as he rolled out of the dive. Just like that, the match was over. The commentators had to stop their Raonic hype mid-thought to acknowledge that the match was, indeed, over. About as abrupt an ending as a double fault, but far more fulfilling. Andy looked shocked for minutes after.

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Roddick takes a lot of crap from the pundits and fans alike (I'm talking about you, Carter), especially in the United States. But there he is, 28-years-old, going about his business with the weight of a country on his shoulders, because, well, let's face it: whenever he arrives at a Slam anywhere in the world but Paris, he's the only American male who anyone expects to contend for the title. And it's been that way for the greater part of 11 years now.

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Hats off to a warrior who has now earned a small place in tennis history alongside his great nemesis for winning at least one singles title in each of those years. No way you achieve that unless your game is more than just a big serve. And his heart is even bigger. As an American, as a fan, I'm proud of Andy Roddick. Very proud. There. I said it.

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Historic Face Of The Day

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Yannick Noah of France raises his arms in celebration after defeating Mats Wilander in the Men's Singles final match during the French Open Tennis Championship on June 5, 1983 at the Stade Roland Garros Stadium in Paris, France.

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The only Black man and the last Frenchman to win the French Open.

Historic Face Of The Day

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Stacey Martin of the United States makes a double handed return against Monica Seles during their Women's Singles match at the French Open Tennis Championship on 28th May 1989 at the Stade Roland Garros Stadium in Paris, France.

Will Roland Garros Have New Digs?

by Craig Hickman


AP

Paris in Springtime May Not Include the French Open
by Christopher Clarey

IT sounded outlandish at first, like nothing more than a thinly disguised bargaining chip. But the prospect of moving the French Open to the suburbs has gradually developed into a legitimate option, or if you are Mayor Bertrand Delanoe of Paris, a legitimate threat.

The vote to determine the future of the grand slam tennis tournament is scheduled for Sunday, when 180 delegates from the French tennis federation will attempt to decide whether the Open will remain at its current location on the western edge of Paris or move farther afield in 2015 to one of three other sites: Gonesse, Marne-la-Vallee or Versailles.

A two-thirds majority will be required for selection. If that proves impossible Sunday, the plan is to reconvene within three months and vote again with only a simple majority necessary.

For now, Paris and the existing Roland Garros Stadium still look to be the slight favourites, considering the French emphasis on tradition and centralisation, and the prohibitive cost of building elsewhere from scratch. But Versailles has the requisite snob appeal, with its palace within walking distance of the proposed location on a former military base, and either Gonesse or Marne-la-Vallee would allow the federation to own its site outright instead of settling for a long-term lease.

All three alternatives offer huge increases in acreage and elbow room for a tournament that is the smallest of the four grand slams and whose walkways can often seem as crowded as a subway car at rush hour.

Rafael Nadal, a five-time French Open champion who could surpass Bjorn Borg's record for singles titles, has repeatedly made it clear he is against the tournament moving, emphasising that it would lose some of its soul. But Justine Henin, the retired Belgian who won the women's title four times, takes a more nuanced approach. ''I have a hard time imagining Roland Garros anywhere else, but I think it's definitely true that the site needs to grow,'' she says. ''The players and the spectators suffer because it's too small. They have to find a solution.''

Nostalgia has hardly been much of a trump card in grand slam tennis. The US Open left the West Side Tennis Club for a bigger, more soulless site in Flushing Meadows in 1978. The Australian Open was held in other cities before it settled in Melbourne at Kooyong, only to pull up stakes and move to a new facility in Melbourne's city centre in 1988. Even Wimbledon moved from Worple Road to its current grounds in 1922, and has been on a modernisation kick of late that has led to the destruction of multiple show courts, including the atmospheric No.1 Court.

Read the rest...

If they move, they better build a stadium with lights and have night sessions. (Are you listening, Wimbledon?) It's time to bring all the Slams into the 21st century.

Historic Face Of The Day

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The only black man to win singles titles at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open.

Historic Face Of The Day

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Darlene Hard kisses Althea Gibson after the championship match in 1957 that made Gibson the first African American to win a Wimbledon singles title.

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Althea Gibson is noted not only for her exceptional abilities as a tennis player, but for breaking the color barrier in the 1950s as the first African American to compete in national and international tennis.
Childhood in Harlem

Althea Gibson was born in Silver, South Carolina, on August 25, 1927. She was the first of Daniel and Anna Washington Gibson's five children. Her parents worked on a cotton farm, but when she was three years old the family moved north to the Harlem area of New York City. Gibson caused a lot of problems as a child and often missed school. Her father was very strict with her on these occasions, but he also taught her to box, a skill that he figured would come in handy in the rough neighborhood the Gibson family lived in.
Tennis success

When Gibson was ten years old, she became involved with the Police Athletic League (PAL) movement known as "play streets." PAL was an attempt to help troubled children establish work habits they would need later in life. In 1940 PAL promoted paddle ball (a game similar to handball except that it is played using a wooden racket) competitions in Harlem. After three summers of playing the game Gibson was so good that the Cosmopolitan Tennis Club sponsored her to learn the game of tennis and proper social behavior.

In 1942 Gibson began winning tournaments sponsored by the American Tennis Association (ATA), the African American version of the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA). In 1944 and 1945 Gibson won the ATA National Junior Championships. In 1946 several politically minded African Americans identified Gibson as having the talent to help break down organized racism (unequal treatment based on race) in the United States. Sponsored by Hubert Eaton and Walter Johnson (1887–1946) and inspired by boxer Sugar Ray Robinson (1921–1989), Gibson was soon winning every event on the ATA schedule. In 1949 she entered A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida, on a tennis scholarship and prepared for the difficult task of breaking the color barrier in tournament tennis.
Breaking the color barrier

The USLTA finally allowed Gibson to play in the 1950 Nationals when four-time U.S. singles and doubles (a two-person team) champion Alice Marble (1913–1990) spoke out on her behalf. Gibson lost her first match of the tournament, but the breakthrough had been made. Over the next several years Gibson worked as a physical education teacher at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. She also continued playing tennis and rose up the USLTA rankings (ninth in 1952, seventh in 1953). After a year of touring the world and playing special events for the U.S. State Department, Gibson staged a full-scale assault on the tennis world in 1956. That year she won the French Open in both singles and doubles.

Over the next two years Gibson was the leading women's tennis player in the world. In 1957 and 1958 she won both the Wimbledon and U.S. National singles titles, becoming the first African American to win a Wimbledon singles title. In 1958 she wrote a book about her life called I Always Wanted to Be Somebody. After her 1958 victory at the U.S. Nationals, Gibson retired from tennis and played professional golf. She was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971.

More...

Historic Face Of The Day

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Jim Courier of the United States argues a point with the umpire during his defeat of Andre Agassi 3-6 6-4 2-6 6-1 6-4 in the final to win the Men's Singles title at the French Open Tennis Championship on 9th June 1991 at the Stade Roland Garros Stadium in Paris, France.

Video: Li Na Is Really Funny

See the end of the match and the hilarious on-court interview after rallying to defeat the computer's world No. 1 and become the first Asian player in history to advance to the singles final of a Grand Slam.

Authentic humor. And she doesn't even appear to be trying.

Blood All Over The Place

by Craig Hickman


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Four Times In A Row

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That's how many times each Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick have now defeated their Cincinnati Masters quarterfinals opponents to face-off in the first all-American semifinal at this event since Andre Agassi defeated Andy in a third-set breaker six years ago.

You may recall the year before that Andy and Mardy met up in the finals and played one of the best matches of 2003. Mardy lost in a third-set breaker and fell to the eventual US Open champion without ever even dropping his serve.

Yesterday, he almost did the same. Andy Murray, one of the best returners in the game, so some say, wasn't able to breakthrough in three sets, so when he forced a third-set breaker, I wasn't sure if Mardy would be able to come through. But he fought like a pit bull and pulled out the victory.

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Novak Djokovic simply can't stand the heat and so, once again, Roddick had his way with him. It really wasn't a match at all.

If you listen to the propagandists and even some of the readers of this blog, you'd think Roddick has never been out of the top 10 for even a week since he first arrived there 8 years ago (he has) and that American men's tennis is totally in the toilet.

Consider this. Two Americans beat two European top-four players for the fourth time in the row to get to this place.

I'm going to say that again: Two Americans beat two European top-four players for the fourth time in the row to get to this place.

Carry on.

70-68

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The match that would never end finally did. John Isner notched the victory, but both he and Nicolas Mahut, who was so gutted after t players deserved every accolade received, including the special presentation by the AELTC after the match. Savannah summarizes the extraordinary event with her usual aplomb.

The story wasn't just covered on the front pages of newspapers across the globe, it also received coverage in segments on political shows.

Tennis. Politics. These are a few of my favorite things.

Great day for the sport.

Her Majesty

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Queen Elizabeth II is greeted by tennis world No. 1 Serena Williams and world No. 2 Roger Federer as she attends the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships on Day 4 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 24, 2010 in London, England. It is the first visit by Queen Elizabeth II to the Championships in 33 years.

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This is your Wimbledon 2010 Day 4 Open Thread.

Order of Play for Thursday 24 June 2010

CENTRE - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) vs Andy Murray (GBR) [4]
2. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) [3] vs Kai-Chen Chang (TPE)
3. Robin Haase (NED) vs Rafael Nadal (ESP) [2]

COURT 1 - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Ioana Raluca Olaru (ROU) vs Maria Sharapova (RUS) [16]
2. Robin Soderling (SWE) [6] vs Marcel Granollers (ESP)
3. Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) [13] vs Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)

COURT 2 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR)vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [10]
2. Florent Serra (FRA) vs David Ferrer (ESP) [9]
3. Serena Williams (USA) [1] vs Anna Chakvetadze (RUS)
4. Na Li (CHN) [9] vs Kurumi Nara (JPN)

COURT 12 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Gilles Simon (FRA) [26] vs Illya Marchenko (UKR)
2. Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) vs Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [14]
3. Ivan Dodig (CRO) vs Sam Querrey (USA) [18]
4. Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) vs Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) [19]

COURT 18 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Alberta Brianti (ITA) vs Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [7]
2. Flavia Pennetta (ITA) [10] vs Monica Niculescu (ROU)
Not before 3.30 pm
3. Nicolas Mahut (FRA) vs John Isner (USA) [23] 120 T/F 4/6 6/3 7/6(7) 6/7(3) 59/59
4. Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) and Bobby Reynolds (USA) vs Bob Bryan (USA) and Mike Bryan (USA) [2]

COURT 5 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Martin Fischer (AUT) vs Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) [25]
2. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) [24] vs Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)
3. Philipp Petzschner (GER) [33] vs Lukasz Kubot (POL)
4.

COURT 8 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Edina Gallovits (ROU) vs Kaia Kanepi (EST)
2. Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) [31] vs Romina Sarina Oprandi (ITA)

COURT 14 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Andreas Beck (GER) vs Julien Benneteau (FRA) [32]
2. Roberta Vinci (ITA) vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) [29]
3. Ayumi Morita (JPN) vs Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)


COURT 16 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Andreas Seppi (ITA) vs Tobias Kamke (GER)
2. Klara Zakopalova (CZE) vs Aravane Rezai (FRA) [18]
3. Xavier Malisse (BEL) vs Julian Reister (GER)


COURT 17 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Jie Zheng (CHN) [23] vs Petra Kvitova (CZE)
2. Fabio Fognini (ITA) vs Michael Russell (USA)


COURT 19 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Lukas Lacko (SVK) vs Jeremy Chardy (FRA)
2. Sara Errani (ITA) [32] vs Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP)

59 Games All

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The score board during the Nicolas Mahut and John Isner match on Day Three of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 23, 2010 in London, England. The match became the longest in Grand Slam history.

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The fifth set became the longest "match" in tennis history.

I've never seen such a display of will from two players during a tennis match.

It's beyond historic. It's downright legendary.


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Sister Slam

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Lost a bit in all the singles drama, Serena and Venus Williams captured the Roland Garros doubles title for their fourth straight Slam victory and 12th overall.

They became only the third women's doubles pair to win four major titles in a row. Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver did it in 1983-84, and Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva did it in 1992-93.

Serena called it the Williams' Slam.

All of sport may never see such accomplished siblings again.

Williams Tennis Association (Reprise)

The following was originally published last fall.

It seems appropriate to sing it again this spring.

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So.

Serena and Venus Williams were in the championship caliber group for the second year running, but this time, they both emerged, battered and bruised, to contest the final final of the WTA.

(I don't count that other event. I consider it an exhibition of mediocrity. It has no place whatsoever on the tour's calendar.)

I'm writing this before their doubles effort after "suitable rest" because I expect Spain to take that match. But the sisters will take the court and give the fans a semifinal.

And they will not retire.

Serena's left leg is mummified with Kinesio tape and heavy strapping. As though the injury that kept her from defending her title in Miami and interrupted her preparations for Roland Garros has returned. Venus is without mummification (yet), but her back and her knee are not up to snuff.

Neither sister can serve. Neither can run with any confidence. Changing directions looks painful even on the television screen. And yet here they are in the singles final of the season ending championships. The oldest in the field with bodies slowest to recover. Arguably the two best players on the tour -- still -- they've given their naysayers and the propagandists (far too often one and the same) heartburn. I would imagine a couple are choking on their own bile right about now.

Some of the propagandists give the sisters little to no credit, no benefit of the doubt, no matter what they do. The sarcasm that flooded Twitter and the forums after Serena announced her pullout from Fed Cup was quite catty. Any opportunity to pounce, the propagandists take it, and they don't back down.

They're more like the sisters than they care to admit.

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Caroline Wozniacki has been held up as the grittiest player at this event for her performance against Vera Zvonareva, an alternate who withdrew after her loss with an ankle injury. And what a performance it was. I'm not going to say Wozniacki wasn't cramping. Clearly, she was. The weather in Doha has been tropical, after all. But I have a sneaking suspicion the "Great Dane" is a better actress than a tennis player.

I found it intriguing that a gracious Serena, after winning her semifinal against the Dane by retirement, said that it was good for the WTA to have a "face" like Wozniacki's on the tour.

Very intriguing.

But the WTA ought to consider itself blessed in every way to have such gutsy, courageous, determined, talented, and yes -- beautiful -- champions still competing, still filling seats, still bringing the ratings, after all these years, after all they've endured. Career threatening injuries, a surgery here or there, tragic family loss, lawsuits, a bottomless pit of scorn, some of it earned, most of it not.

Kim Clijsters is back. Justine Henin is on her way. People are salivating. Some say they will "save" the tour. I admitted Clijsters' return just might be exactly what the tour needed and she delivered out of the gate.

But the sisters never retired, despite the cacophony of catcalls that they should, never doubted themselves, never stopped believing.

In sport, stars are not created in broadcast booths or weekly newsletters. They are born of accomplishment. No amount of hype can win a prematurely anointed player a championship title. This is not the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This is tennis.

Instead of trying to rush some other stars onto the stage to replace these lovely leading ladies, the propagandists ought to be propping up the Williams sisters instead of trying to tear them down without relent.

They're not getting any younger. They won't be around forever. They have served the sport well. And what they've done for people off the court, championing women's rights around the globe, opening schools for children in Africa -- to list but a sliver -- has made the world a better place.

Yes, the WTA is blessed, and it's about time somebody said so.

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Remembering How To Win II

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It was champion Rafael Nadal's turn to finally get a victory, any victory, I suppose, but to make history by winning his 6th consecutive Monte-Carlo title over his frustrating and frustrated compatriot to the loss of a single game must have felt awfully good.

Weeping into his towel before the trophy presentation, it must have been a huge relief, too. He has now tied Roger Federer with 16 shields and is likely to break Andre Agassi's record with a title in Rome and Madrid. That is, if he plays them both.

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Meantime, Francesca Schiavone won her third career title at the Barcelona Ladies Open in a lopsided 6-1, 6-1 all-Italian final against Roberta Vinci.

And over on this side of the pond Sam Stosur crushed Vera Zvonareva 6-0, 6-3 to take the Family Circle Cup in Charleston.

Serena Williams Makes History Again

by Mad Professah


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Tennis player Serena Williams arrives at the 18th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Viewing Party in West Hollywood, California March 7, 2010.

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Serena won her 3rd career Laureus World Sports Award in Dubai on Wednesday after she was named Laureus Sportswoman of the Year for 2009, 7 years after she won her first. In 2007, she won the Laureus Comeback Award, bringing her total to three, the most won by a female. Only Roger Federer, who has four, has won more. Federer was up for Sportsman of the Year for 2009 but lost to Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who won his second Laureus Award. Kim Clijsters won the Laureus Comeback Award.

Serena said:

"I am just so delighted to win this Award, but very disappointed I cannot be in Abu Dhabi to say thank you in person. It's my third Laureus Award which is amazing and I would like to say thank you to all the Academy Members who voted for me and to the world's media who nominated me. Last year had its ups and downs, so to get this support is fantastic.

"As a tennis player you look at the amazing names of the Academy Members - like John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Boris Becker and Monica Seles - who have won so many Grand Slams and they know what it takes to do that. There is nothing better in sport than being acknowledged by the people that you looked up to when you were a young player.

"The Laureus Awards have been a constant reflection of my career, winning in 2003 and 2007, and I think I was also nominated four more times. I know only Roger Federer has more Awards, so it would be cool to catch him up.

"I've had a few injury problems over the years, so it's been great to get back to the top and be World No 1 again. It's going to be an interesting year with Justine Henin back, but I'm playing well and it was great to win in Australia, and I still want to win every tournament I play. It's going to be a very exciting 2010."

Congratulations, Serena!

Roger Federer Savors Sweet 16

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"That was sweet," Roger Federer said to Wayne McEwan, tournament referee, shortly after subduing Andy Murray 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(11) in two hours and 41 minutes on Rod Laver arena last night.

With the victory, Raja wins his fourth Australian Open crown and his 16th Slam title, moving his championship accomplishments into a higher stratosphere.

As peytonallen commented:

What else can you say about Federer? He played great. He missed the Grand Slam last year by a few games. With Rafa on walkabout, and Fed already slaying his French demons its [sic] not unrealistic to follow this story. Especially when his rivals continue to fall.

The man is approaching 29 and he's proving to be in superior shape against everyone else on tour. When was the last time this guy sprained an ankle? To be this age in his tennis career and not really miss any time for injuries is remarkable. I used to doubt his boasts that he could go into his mid-30s, but really he looks just as fresh now as he did at 22.

I think its [sic] impossible to pick a greatest player of all-time, only the greatest of his era, or the greatest 'careers.' Fed is having a career no other male player dared dream. He's 2 slams away from tying [Chris] Evert and Martina [Navratilova]. A player on the ATP could have 18 slams. Laughable. If he gets there by the US Open, wouldn't his attention have to turn to the all-time record, men and women's? Which is, what? 22? I'm being lazy and not looking but he's not stopping.

The Fed storyline in the last year has really come out of a comic book alternative universe plot. After looking mentally broken from the first part of the year after the [Rafael] Nadal defeat his biggest rival, a man some were ready to proclaim as the better player goes down with injury and mental fatigue. The result has been Federer's wonderland.

I wonder if whoever is writing this decides its [sic] time to reintroduce the Nadal character into the storyline? I know many of the book's readers think so.

I love it when someone else does my work.

For me, I hoped the match would go five sets, but I always believed it would be over in three. Thus, the "ass on a silver runner-up platter" prediction. The outcome was just never in doubt. Yes, Murray put up a fight to not go down two breaks of serve in the second set. Yes, Murray played some great tennis to get a break midway though the second set, but it took a string of errors from Raja to even get the chance. Yes, the 24-point tiebreak was dramatic, with the outcome of the set in doubt as the score teetered from set point to championship point.

But the outcome of the match was never in doubt. Even if Murray had won the tiebreak, we knew Raja would win the fourth. Even when Murray served for the third set at 5-3, we knew he wouldn't close.


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Why? Because despite all the childish and brotherly mind games the players indulged in before the match, Murray openly admitted that he's not trying to win Slams for himself. Despite my belief that he simply doesn't possess the requisite weaponry to win a Slam, there's simply no way the mindset expressed in this exchange is going to produce a champion.

Q. Is there any extra motivation for you to know that you could be the one to break a long Grand Slam drought for Britain?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, I mean, I'd obviously love to do it. It's not really the only reason, you know, that I want to win a slam. I want to win it, you know, obviously for the people that I work with, for my parents and stuff, who obviously helped me when I was growing up, then doing it for British tennis and British sport would be excellent, as well.

But, you know, the pressure that I feel doesn't come from the people that are around me. They obviously are happy with anything that I do. But, you know, I want to win for them first.

It's one thing to read this exchange, it was quite another to witness it on television. Murray's body language and countenance betrayed a sense of resignation. I suppose living your life for other people and not (yet?) being able to find the desire to live for yourself can produce the demeanor he displayed during this exchange.

If Murray is to prove me wrong and mature to a point where he can actually play for himself, develop some weapons, and win a Slam, he's going to need to extract himself from the mental war he's allowed Raja to draw him into. He's going to need to do what Mats Wilander hoped and not "give a shit about Britian."

As for Raja. Having claimed his first major as a father, I suspect he'll win many more. One of his new stated goals is to hoist a trophy when his twin girls are old enough to appreciate their father's triumph. We have no reason to believe he won't stay healthy long enough to achieve it. And we know if Andre Agassi was still winning major titles into his thirties, Raja will also be motivated to improve upon that by winning more.

For now, it's up to Juan Martín del Potro and Rafael Nadal to stop him.

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