There is always the potential for magic on the lawns of Wimbledon. Or to be more precise, the dirt of Wimbledon, since the Tennis Unicorns usually only come out to frolic once the grass is nothing but a distant opening-day memory.
It’s not always so, of course. Sometimes there is just a dude crying into his towel because he has a blister, which is about as magical as a trip to the dentist. But generally there’s something about the All-England Club that makes the tennis feel a little more special.
Sure. This year’s men’s final was…well…it was less than compelling. For two sets, Novak Djokovic was basically playing against the Tin Man prior to his oil can treatment. You could almost hear Kevin Anderson’s joints squeaking in protest as he stretched into his service motion. And it’s not like you can blame him: he spent like 720 hours on court between the Roger Federer and John Isner matches. Still, one always holds out hope that we will get a match that rivals the 2008 final, not a match that rivals a first-round showdown in Marrakech.
The good news for tennis fans is everything that was missing in the Wimbledon final was present and accounted for in the Djokovic-Rafael semifinal. That match built to an exciting crescendo over two days and five sets. By the fifth set, the tennis was exquisite: the two men played increasingly risky tennis with increasingly impressive results. They pasted lines with forehands, feathered volleys and drop shots, ran like they could keep running forever.
That Djokovic nearly always seems to come out on top in these thriller matches against Nadal is not lost on me. Something about the Spaniard (to his obvious detriment) brings out Djokovic’s best tennis. The Serb had a rough 18 months, no doubt about it. His form was such that each time he stepped onto the court, one got the feeling that he could lose to anybody on the right (or wrong) day. On the other hand, he also carried with him the potential to re-find his form and to decimate the field once again. In short, he possesses an aura of greatness that dims and brightens, but never fades completely. And boy, did it shine at Wimbledon.
That Nadal nearly always seems to make up one half of the “greatest” matches is also not lost on me. The world No. 1 has something; a special quality that exists in other elite members of our sport, but Nadal…well, he seems to have more of it. He has all the “normal” ingredients: talent, mental toughness, a near-ridiculous work ethic, the drive for constant improvement, his obvious physical giftedness. But he also has something that is slightly harder to pinpoint. Tennis pundits like to call them intangibles. I recognize them as Nadal’s rather bizarre (for lack of a better word) predilection for gritty, almost single-minded optimism combined with his willingness to suffer on court. It makes him (arguably) one of the greatest five-set players of all time.
I have little doubt that Djokovic will continue to give Nadal difficulty. I have little doubt that Nadal will continue to look for solutions. And in the meantime, the tennis world will sit back and enjoy, while we still can, the most prolific rivalry in the Open Era.
On a tangentially related topic, it bears noting that the ATP’s Next Gen players were a hair’s breadth from impotent at the All-England Club. All four semifinalists were in their thirties. Of the eight quarterfinalists, only Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori were in their twenties, and they’re hardly fresh faces at ages 27 and 28. To put into perspective exactly what is happening in the men’s game, consider that in 2008, the Greatest Match of All Time was played by Federer, age 26, and Nadal age 22…and that was their third consecutive year facing each other in the finals.
It would be easy to lay the blame at the feet of the youngsters, to castigate them for their collectively poor slam performances. And that’s a part of it, no doubt about it. But we are also experiencing an era of dominance by a select few players that we have never seen before. Three of the four players with the most Grand Slam titles in the Open Era are from the same generation. Alexander Zverev, Nick Kyrgios, and company are essentially fighting over the slam scraps. Still…it makes one wonder if we will ever see another Nadal-like wunderkind.
Understood Al. I was referring to Joe Smith’s comment which was h0m0phobic to say the least.
hopefully djoker continues to own nadull like he did before his elbow injury. that was an epic ownage of galactic proportions! nothing better when djoker ruffles up nadull’s wig, a beautiful scene to look at lol. and i don’t think nadull can find solutions to counter the djoker’s game, after all he is not the brightest bulb on the tennis tour, especially now that the dark force of the ‘tennis coaching’ tio toni retired (did he?) nadull can only accept his second fiddle faith.
grassgoat says AT 3:35 PM: “the dark force of the ‘tennis coaching’ tio toni”
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Rafa bashers have always constructed imaginary stories about Rafa and his family members. Nothing new.
People often do this. More than half of the world population live in delusion.
check the meds grassgoat (even if you’re a sampras fan).
And get some fresh air.
for fangirls who live in a delusion that the open roof would’ve changed anything read this please:
https://engineeringsport.co.uk/2011/06/27/the-problem-of-the-wimbledon-roof/
there is a common misconception about the ‘indoor’ wimbledon. just an excuse for sore losers. i am surprised that the author of this article (a tennis expert i would assume) doesn’t know basic facts, + djoker won their last open roof match played in 2011. i am really not sure on what ground was given that wafa would’ve won had the match been played under the open roof??
Hmm correct me if im wrong but didnt Nadal win two GS last year and another this year, when Novak was in his slump, as for Wimbledon and the roof, had it been hammering it down i couldve understood the roof, but it was a beautiful day, and they actually had the roof open for the ladies final, not a fan girl, and Novak did deserve to win, but Wimbledon is supposed to be an outdoor tournament ….
‘Taking nothing ( read everything )away from Djokovic win,maybe Nadal would have won if roof hadn’t been on…’
When will this end?
Alison,I see you say Djoko deserved to win,my comment is directed more at some other people.
The scheduling is the real problem.
I can’t get on TDC to make picks! Something wrong with the site? Are you having any trouble Big Al?
Same trouble, but OK now. Just got mine in.
Was secretly looking forward to a wee break from the brackets but it was not to be…as usual I spent far longer on the ATP ones.
No problem Big Al, i dont have a problem with people voicing an opinion, but i get irritated with the assumption that been a Nadal fan means you have no brains or intelligence, hence the fan girl comment, when all people are doing is voicing an opinion ….
Alison,
Preach it! I said the same thing to that troll grassgoat after he came here to trash Rafa fans when he lost to Novak. Why the hell are Rafa fans being blamed now by Big Al for keeping it up? Tell that troll to get lost and stop making sexist, misogynistic comments about Rafa fans!
We are NOT fan girls! Nobody here was discussing the roof until the low life troll started posting his poison again! Get a life!
So Big Al, if you are sick of the roof being brought up then tell the troll to get lost!
Thanks NNY it seems with some people if there isnt an argument there lets create one ….
Theres also a misconception that the only time Rafa can beat Novak is when Novak aint at his best, and the harping back to 2011, tennis is more of a what have you done for me lately sport, its not like Rafa hasnt beaten Novak since, like 3 times in 2012, 3 times in 2013, he beat him last year, and the year before ….
Alison,
Well said! Love it! I am also tired of this nonsense that Rafa can only beat Novak when he’s not at his best! Baloney!
I also agree with you that if there isn’t an argument, then let’s start one. We have all moved on from Wimbledon and the mess with the roof. It madd no sense to have the roof up when the match resumed the next day. It was not logical in any way, shape or form. Regardless of how the match might have ended, it just made no sense to have the roof up, since it was not raining and not dark. End of story.
By the way, it’s great to see you here again! 😀
Also nice to see rc here!
😀
NY, has the roof ever been opened during a match once its been closed? I cant remember. But you’re right, we’ve moved on from this discussion until it was brought up again .
Wimbledon needs to sort their procedure out , otherwise the roof will always be a issue in close matches.
Waves to RC up there 😉
Thanks NNY good to see you all here too especially RC 🙂