The OtherArena

[jdw]

Not shabby at all. I had been trying to figure out how he got to #1, then looked up the titles of the three since the last Wimbledon:

8 Rogers
4 Novak
4 Rafey

What hid it is the Novak won the US & Aussie, then Rafey won the French while Roger was in the final of *none* of them. It gave the impression that Roger as sucking, but really it was just the Slams where he was running into a brick wall in the semis.

Roger has been "hot" from November to now. None of his wins in those 8 finals was over Rafey or Novak though like at Wimbledon he may have gone through some in the semis.

John

[jdw]

He's also chasing Pete's record of 6 year end #1 rankings. He's sitting at 5 right now.

It's a bit of a catch-22. He has a stretch from now through October where he can top his results. Trick is that in November there are those three wins that he would need retain or avoid giving back too many points to Novak or Rafey.

There's also the Olympics. That has more points than the event that finished up that week in 2011, but also runs right up against the Rogers Cup which is a Masters event, which is more points than the Olympics (which is kind of batshit when you think about it). The folks who go to the Semis in the Olympics might not be able to do the Rogers Cup, which Novak won last year.

It will be an interesting chase to the Year End #1.

[Hadi]

I'm very happy Roger was able to put it all together for two weeks at Wimbledon. He's played well in stretches over the last 3 years, but having to go through Nadal and Djokovic to win Grand Slams is extremely menacing.

With that said, I'm almost certain Federer will win the U.S. Open this year. Quite frankly, he should've won it the last 3 years, as he blew leads to Del Potro, Nadal and Djokovic. He'll be motivated and is healthy.

One thing about being ranked #1 which is kind of absurd in tennis, is that you are continually forced to play the #3 seed in Grand Slam semi-finals. One of the reasons Roger has struggled, like I mentioned previously, in recent years, is that he's had to take on a surging Djokovic in the semis and then would have the prospect of having to face Nadal in the finals of the Grand Slams. To beat Djokovic, he has to play at a very high level (see the 2011 French), but it's asking to much to follow that up by beating a healthy Nadal two days later.

In some ways, Roger would be better served by having Djokovic take over that #1 spot until late August, when the U.S. Open locks in their seeding. Roger as the #2 seed would coast to the Finals, where he'd likely meet a tired Djokovic. Hard courts just aren't a good surface for Rafa as he gets older, so I don't think he's a threat to either Roger or Novak this summer.

It's interesting to think about how many more slams Roger could have left. I thought a few years back he could get to 25, but Djokovic's emergence made that too difficult a number. I still think 20 is attainable. He's got at least another 3 years of high level play left, and he is incredibly fortunate when it comes to injuries. He could probably still be a threat on grass until he's 35 with his shot-making and serve placement.


-Hadi

[guren]

Twenty years ago, Monica Seles was stabbed during a match in Germany, an incident that changed the course of women's tennis history. Chuck Culpepper of the Sports on Earth site argues that Seles is one of the top 3 players of the Open era.

Giving Monica Seles Her Due

[Rian]

Chuck Culpepper, couldn't stand that guy when he wrote for The Oregonian all those years ago.

[jdw]

That's a good piece, Guren. We've talked about that in the past, wondering if Graf was reaching the Borg point in her career due to Monica's dominance... or if she had a Martina gear in both her psyche and in her ability to physically up her game. We were robbed of being able to see that, and Monica was robbed of being able to prove just how great she was. :/

John

[guren]

It's a great "what if" question and was so sad in so many ways. Seles might have become Nadal to Graf's Federer. They would have had some incredible battles over the next several years.

glenn

[guren]

Here's another article - this one written by Bruce Jenkins of SI.

Memories of Monica Seles' stabbing and how it changed a career

[jdw]

Good article by Jenkins.

John

[guren]

Yeah, Jenkins is a nutty neanderthal when it comes to baseball, but I like when he writes about tennis.

glenn

[guren]

Both Martina Navratilova and Mary Jo Fernandez believe that Seles would have challenged Margaret Court's record for Grand Slam wins.

Martina Navratilova: Monica Seles could have broken Margaret Court’s record

glenn

[jdw]

I love the Serena-Sharapova cat fight. Thought Serena was being a total pain in the ass, and loved Maria's comeback.

[guren]

Serena got way too personal in the original interview. And I agree, wicked comeback by Sharapova. I hope they meet in the finals.

Speaking of Wimbledon, that's just a brutal draw for Nadal and Federer. It's a shame that at least one of them will be out in the quarters.

glenn

[guren]

That was fast. Federer's draw improved immensely as Nadal was beaten in the first round by Belgian Steve Darcis. It was the first time Nadal has ever lost in the first round of a grand slam event. I didn't see the match, but apparently Nadal was not moving well and his knee was bothering him again.

[jdw]

Maybe he pushed himself too hard to bag the French.

Glenn - was it you who years ago talked about Nadal's shelf life given past baseline speed demons? In other words, how certain injuries rob them of their speed and eat them up?