Ted Robinson’s Matchpoints

Forty-eight hours later and I’m still in awe over Sunday. A 10-hour plane flight, with time to absorb nearly a dozen London newspapers along with nearly a hundred messages, many from those who would be classified as “casual” fans, has lent to the aura of this match as “the best ever.”

Now I hear today that SI will feature the match on its cover. When Pete Sampras won his record 13th Slam and 7th Wimbledon, we came home to see a muscled and tattooed Jason Giambi on the SI cover. Sampras was appalled. And now we know that tennis fell victim to the BALCO scam.

This was pure.

This was cojones grande, the only way to describe Rafa doing what he could not 12 months earlier, find a way to win the third set from Federer.

This was a champion falling in “brutal gladiatorial combat…but tumbling with valour” in the stirring words of London Daily Mail writer Paul Hayward. And how fine is that description.

In 24 hours back home, there is a talk-show buzz and coffee shop chat about this match that I have not witnessed in many years.

These two made tennis relevant. Now can it sustain what these two have created?

More from the Wimbledon cache:

* The disappointment over early exits by Andy Roddick and James Blake certainly went away. Stories always emerge; be it Andy Murray’s next step towards the top echelon, Marat Safin (up 35 places to 40), Rainer Schuettler (up 55 to 39) and Arnaud Clement (up 73 to 72) all made themselves relevant again, the two-week siege and double wins for the Sisters, Britain’s obsession over 14-year-old junior champ Laura Robson and her marvelously refreshing attitude over new fame, and the continuing presence of so many former champions at the AELTC.

* The roof can’t arrive fast enough. Sunday’s final ended about 10 minutes before a nightmare encounter would have occurred. The Club, understandably, wanted play to continue until 9:30-9:45 p.m.. They, like everyone, wanted a result. The money and disruption for Monday play, perhaps as little as two games, would have been wasteful. Yet, there was a point at which the players would have said, understandably, that a Championship, particularly from a match so superior, couldn’t be decided in darkness. Thankfully, we were spared the moment. A match for the ages had a proper ending in the dusk of Centre Court.

And traditionalists need not weep. Centre Court will still be open. Remember that grass needs light. The roof will only close once it rains, a 12-minute process. Thus, the courts will be still be covered for a short period. The benefit of the roof will be to guarantee play after a short stoppage and thus never again the drama of Sunday night.

* Major consensus in London was that the Williams Sisters success was due in part to the weakness of the WTA Tour. This is a debate for another time but the perception must be countered by the Tour.

* Start perhaps with Aggie Radwanska, the most impressive of the game’s young women. She has a Martina Hingis-like presence on the court that adds conviction to less-than-punishing shots. She simply doesn’t beat herself. Her lack of serve may hinder the hopes of a Wimbledon title, but the women’s game needs a player like Aggie to rise.

After all, this week’s rankings still feature Patty Schnyder, a career fourth-round player with one Slam semi to her credit, at 13 in the world. Lindsay Davenport won one round at Wimbledon and rose to 23. Tough to explain that to the sporting public.

* While we’re on that point, Serena passed Venus on the computer (reason 5,742 why I hate the concept). But my colleague, SI’s Jon Wertheim, poses a terrific question: has Venus’ career eclipsed Serena’s?

* Now we move to the hard courts and wonder whether Donald Young, John Isner (both of whom fell and are close to being out of the top 100) and Sam Querrey can make a move. Can Bethanie Mattek continue her momentum from the spring/summer and make a Robby Ginepri-like charge through the summer?

And can Rafa play well in the States, particularly the Open? Will his knees, the ones that Uncle Toni admits are so tender that the family wants Rafa to play LESS on the hard stuff, allow him to show New York his greatness?

And does Roger, whose performance at Wimbledon showed he is certainly not done, feel a little pressure to win Slams sooner rather than later?

The regard with which Andy Roddick and his US teammates hold Davis Cup was clear this weekend in Winston-Salem.

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How other great players around the world regard it was also seen in the attitude of Richard Gasquet.

Roddick clinched the tie; he is 10-0 in such matches, with a pulverizing straight set win over Paul-Henri Mathieu. The American closer, every bit as strong in that role as Mariano Rivera has been in baseball, never gave the French any hope.

His win pushed the US into the semi-finals, a road tie in Spain. And Andy addressed that tie in a post-match interview heard by the entire arena, “Even though Spain may put down a surface that is not to my strength, I guarantee one thing: I will be there.”

In contrast, we offer Gasquet. Wildly talented and equally erratic in mind, Gasquet came to North Carolina in a slump, and appeared disinterested in playing after experiencing the quick indoor court in practice.

After the Clement-Llodra doubles win Saturday, captain Guy Forget was seen in an animated conversation with Gasquet. A psychic was not needed to understand the purpose of this chat: to play or not to play, that was the question Gasquet had to answer.

Forget said he provided the answer on Friday, that Gasquet did not inspire any confidence from Forget that the player wanted the assignment.

But now France had a live Sunday with Mathieu, dispirited from his 5-set loss to James Blake, and a fatigued Llodra who would be challenged to play well on three consecutive days.

Gasquet practiced Saturday night and again Sunday morning. But it was decided that Mathieu would oppose Roddick and, if France produced an upset, that Gasquet would play the fifth match.

Roddick rendered the fifth match irrelevant. But the real point was the coercion needed to get Gasquet on the court.

It’s been a recurring theme in Gasquet’s life, and we won’t play amateur psychologist but we hope somehow a player with Gasquet’s skills can achieve some strength of mind. But Davis Cup should be an honor, not an obligation or burden.

For that, Roddick, as well as Blake, Mardy Fish and the Bryans, should be praised. They play anywhere, anytime and utter not a complaint.

Andy wrote another chapter in what is becoming his tennis legacy– his Davis Cup brilliance. Utterly confident, he smashed the No. 12 player in the world, winning his 29th Cup match, just one behind Andre Agassi for 2nd on the U.S. list.

Although they all know that clay and Rafael Nadal await them in September, this U.S. team will not need any persuasion to get them on the plane or in their clay-court shoes.