It’s Roger Federer’s world at the moment, and you may or not
be happy to be living in it. But as we know around here, there’s more to
tennis, and there was more to Wimbledon, than just the winners. If anything,
this season has shown us again that one of the gratifications of being a fan of this
sport is the stone cold unpredictability of it. The only thing you know for
sure is that, with 256 players starting a Slam together, there are going to be
stories you didn’t see coming, for better and for worse. Before we forget they
ever happened, I give a few of them their ephemeral due here, and over at ESPN.com.
Venus Williams
Her yearly run to the final is getting to seem almost unremarkable. This
one was notable mainly for her demolition of world No. 1 Dinara Safina in the semis,
the worst mockery of a rankings system I can remember. Then Venus upstaged
herself by defending Safina in her press conference. But watching her watch
Serena hold up the winner’s dish, I wondered whether Venus had done that herself for the last time in 2008. Her reign must end sometime. A
Elena Dementieva
I can’t believe I never realized that she couldn’t hit a
serve to her opponent’s backhand side. Seeing her do it against Serena in the
semis was bizarre. For the first time, Dementieva looked like a full-fledged tennis
player. An unlucky one, too. A-
Tommy Haas
Haas reminded us that a one-handed backhand and a crisp
volley still make for beautiful, electric tennis. If you want to have the
latter, you have to have the former. Suddenly I want to see the cranky German
do it some more. A-
Lleyton Hewitt
His quarterfinal against Roddick was a calm and quiet
classic between “two old married guys,” as the American said. Hewitt took us
back to those bygone and not-much-missed days before Federer and Nadal. It’s not a place
any of us want to live, but I enjoyed the visit. His feistiness and his never-changing lunchpail style should have
more appeal now that he’s officially an elder of the game. A-
Pete Sampras
Nice gesture, suave entrance, blond wife, good jacket, bad
sunglasses. A-
Bjorn Borg
Where, exactly, did he get that skin? A-
Rod Laver
The Rocket isn’t going down without a fight. A-
Melanie Oudin
I liked the patience and intelligence, as well as the fist-pumping gusto—she looks like she's practiced it—of this 17-year-old
during her win over Jankovic. I hope I see it again soon. B+
Sabine Lisicki
Another heavy hitter throws her hat in the ring. If only
she’d closed Dinara out and saved her from facing Venus in the semis. B+
Victoria Azarenka
It’s always eye-opening to see a young sure-shot go
toe to toe with Venus or Serena when it matters. Serena showed
another one just how much work she has to do yet. B
Andy Murray
The Scot has a problem. The defensive, leg-based game that
he devised over the last year is working everywhere but at the majors, where
big-hitting opponents have three sets to find their range. I think he felt the
pressure more than he might have anticipated—he pressed against both Wawrinka
and Roddick. But the real issue is that, despite having superior net skills to
Roddick’s, he hit virtually no volleys during their semifinal. He still has to
find a way to use everything he’s got. B-
Dinara Safina
I feel bad for her, and she should be commended for toughing
out a couple of three-setters when she wasn’t at her best, but the late-Slam
breakdowns are getting hard to watch. Pretty soon I won’t even turn it on when
she’s playing on the final weekend, just to spare myself the vicarious angst.
Like Jankovic, Safina is proof that it’s hard, bordering on impossible, to win
your first major late in life. The evidence is building that, improved physique
or not, she doesn’t have what it takes. B-
Juan Martin del Potro
He took a step back against Hewitt here, but he understood
where he had gone wrong. Next thing to fix: consistency on returns. You get the
feeling he’s working on it now. B-
Novak Djokovic
Another thing that’s getting hard to take is watching
Djokovic grin and embrace the guy who’s just eliminated him from a tournament.
Match to match, it’s hard to tell how motivated the Serb is going to be. C+
Jelena Jankovic
Seeing her up close for the first time since March, I'd say Jankovic looked extremely average all around, even when she was winning. Not much power, not much purpose, a lot of confusion. Maybe this is more than a slump; maybe it's a correction. C
John McEnroe/Ted Robinson
We know Robinson is the Old Faithful of purposeless statistical
filler, but why did I once think that McEnroe was selective in his commentary
and didn’t just say whatever came into his head? Perhaps it was the absence of
Mary Carillo, but Johnny Mac blathered over, under, and around what was otherwise
a highly enjoyable final. C-
Federer Fashion, 2009 Edition
Rog, Rog, don’t you know you’re not supposed to go with gold
during a recession? Two words come to mind regarding the fashion gimmicks: Just. Stop. F
