TRES FATIGUE
Pop Quiz...What is the compelling story line of this year's French Open? 1,2,3, Go!
Yeah, I got nothing for you too. And maybe that right there is the story
Yeah, I got nothing for you too. And maybe that right there is the story
Of
course, no major torney would be complete without our quarterly
discussion about the demise of American tennis and why, with no
tournament illustrating this better than the French Open. Which isn't
really the most fair barometer to assess the state of the American
game. Our boys don't necessarily grow up playing on the stuff and upon
turning professional, don't exactly run off to South America to
collectively work on their slide. It would
be akin to judging Spanish tennis by their results at Wimbledon and the
American hard court circuits. Either way, the big story here week one
is that a whole lot of Americans look like they will be pulling second
and third round paychecks this clay court major. Which doesn't exactly
thrill me, nor the fact dug out there are an equal number of Americans
and Spanish players in the top 127 in the world right now, and if you
happen to know who all those players are by name, might I suggest
logging off and catch yourself a few rays and a breeze the rest of this
day? If there is another American still standing besides Serena this
time next week, that would be a a big story. And any American with the
potential to go deep in to the second week of a major would be well on
the tennis radar screen by now, yet all indications are those radar
screens are sans blips now and likely for the next few years to come..So
I'm not holding my breath and I suggest
neither should you.
Will
there be a no-name to come out of nowhere to make a run? Not a chance
in the world. How good one has to be to win just a single 3 out of 5
match on red clay against a top 30-40 opponent is remarkable. To have
to beat a couple more guys in that 1-30 range to just make the quarters
or semis is an effort eluding many ten year, consistently top 20 ranked
veteran players who we are very familiar with. To imagine a qualifier,
wild card or usual first round fodder to have a run like that today in
the modern game just ain't gonna happen. Enough has been said and
written about the amazing success of the top 4 of this modern
generation, but the real roadblocks to the top is the amazing
depth and stability of the 5-20 group, for any run at the top of the
rankings or deep run in to the late rounds of a major has to go through
these guys first before you really get to the big 4. You can check your
draw sheets, many a fine tournament run ends early when an upstart comes
head to head with these uber-professionals who dot the second tier of
men's tennis
The
one match we all were hoping for, a repeat of last year's final between
the two best players in the world, Nadal and Djokovic, will not happen.
If form holds true, they will play in the semis , which was almost a
story in that Rolland Garros had the authority to play with the seedings
some, but chose the smart path of letting the rankings decide who plays
who and when, for to start down that path of draw engineering is one
seriously slippery slope you don't want to get on.
Which leads to one of the major stories here at the French that nobody really wants to have to witness, let alone report on; the inevitable demise of Roger Federer. He's getting older, playing less, a little dinged up with an ever fragile back condition, and frankly, he has looked quite bad when his game gets off and completely outclassed by the younger stronger Nadal this season. Even the most ardent Roger-ettes have to admit that the thought of him facing a firing on all cylinders Nadal or Djokovic in the finals does not evoke thoughts of possible celebration but more thoughts of hoping he doesn't get humiliated in the finals, a definite precursor that the end of his illustrious career may be closer than we ever envisioned.
The Joker going for the career Grand Slam storyline has lost its appeal seeing how three others have accomplished this elusive career goal in the past four years and life continued on quite normally. Cementing one's legacy is nice and all, but it's the moments that begin the legacy we can all agree are a bit more compelling.
There is always the inherent sex appeal of young beautiful athletes doing their thing. The ladies will never tire of an up close shot of a Rafa bicep, the men still pray for a Kournikova comeback, but will settle for an Ivanovic return to form. But when these tried and true titillations move on, who will be there to take their place, for that horizon seems just as bleak as the next great American one?
And there seems to be a whole bevy of new media being rolled out this Grand Slam fortnight. The Tennis Channel App is the real deal, as well as a slew of new print and online sites dedicated to professional tennis. And it's hard not to recall the investment adage that by the time you see the bandwagon, it's too late, for the very best of times do look to be behind us now. Like the great Hunter Thompson once said it could very well have been " the kind of peak that never comes again"..for professional tennis was a" very special time and place to be a part of".when even now, less than 5 years out, you can "with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high water mark..that place where the wave finally crested, broke, and rolled back"
And as day 4 concludes, I search the net for content. The best I can find is an Ernests Gulbis interview where he derides the top tennis players for being mortally boring interviews...and that has become the most exciting story of these tired tennis times.
Which leads to one of the major stories here at the French that nobody really wants to have to witness, let alone report on; the inevitable demise of Roger Federer. He's getting older, playing less, a little dinged up with an ever fragile back condition, and frankly, he has looked quite bad when his game gets off and completely outclassed by the younger stronger Nadal this season. Even the most ardent Roger-ettes have to admit that the thought of him facing a firing on all cylinders Nadal or Djokovic in the finals does not evoke thoughts of possible celebration but more thoughts of hoping he doesn't get humiliated in the finals, a definite precursor that the end of his illustrious career may be closer than we ever envisioned.
The Joker going for the career Grand Slam storyline has lost its appeal seeing how three others have accomplished this elusive career goal in the past four years and life continued on quite normally. Cementing one's legacy is nice and all, but it's the moments that begin the legacy we can all agree are a bit more compelling.
There is always the inherent sex appeal of young beautiful athletes doing their thing. The ladies will never tire of an up close shot of a Rafa bicep, the men still pray for a Kournikova comeback, but will settle for an Ivanovic return to form. But when these tried and true titillations move on, who will be there to take their place, for that horizon seems just as bleak as the next great American one?
And there seems to be a whole bevy of new media being rolled out this Grand Slam fortnight. The Tennis Channel App is the real deal, as well as a slew of new print and online sites dedicated to professional tennis. And it's hard not to recall the investment adage that by the time you see the bandwagon, it's too late, for the very best of times do look to be behind us now. Like the great Hunter Thompson once said it could very well have been " the kind of peak that never comes again"..for professional tennis was a" very special time and place to be a part of".when even now, less than 5 years out, you can "with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high water mark..that place where the wave finally crested, broke, and rolled back"
And as day 4 concludes, I search the net for content. The best I can find is an Ernests Gulbis interview where he derides the top tennis players for being mortally boring interviews...and that has become the most exciting story of these tired tennis times.
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