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?

PIck up a Sunday paper in London and the first 7 pages of every sports section are Andy Murray. There is a dissection of his entourage, a team of 7 that replaced the solo coaching of Brad Gilbert. There are columns from his mum and big brother, a doubles player of moderate success.

Being a prominent sporting figure in these parts is lucrative. After all, there is little competition in that arena.

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Winning Wimbledon, though, would make Andy Murray a sporting hero.

And what’s funny is that his game might allow him, and a nation, to dream.

Murray has always had the talent, now he has some sound grass -court experience, and finally, he seems to have grown into his body and out of his immaturity. His Saturday win over Tommy Haas featured high level play on grass, including the short variety that endears Murray to all who truly love the game.
 
What struck me was his body language- it was less mopy, less Gumby-shouldered, less negative. A wise person recently commented that the difference with John McEnroe was that John used anger as fuel. It was often a positive for John while Murray seemed to drag himself down through his behavior.

Now, Murray looks and acts like a man who believes he can someday become a British hero. Perhaps not now, with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in their prime, but someday soon.
 
Nadal followed form with a decisive win over Nicolas Kiefer – after a first set in which the over-30 Kiefer turned bacvk the clock. He struck serves in the mid-130’s, moved adeptly and struck the ball with significant pace. Pushed to a tiebreak, Rafa delivered the goods, then broke Kiefer’s spirit in the next two sets. A potential Nadal-Murray quarter is still a delicious thought
 
I lamented here how frustrating it is to pull for James Blake. Perhaps Richard Gasquet is that man for the French. He bails on Davis Cup, wanting no part of an indoor match with Andy Roddick. He bails on Roland Garros, the tournament where he clearly cannot handle the pressure. But at Wimbledon, he is a different player, again in the round of 16 and a legit threat to disrupt the Nadal-Murray match. Wimbledon is to Gasquet what the US Open is to Blake, their one major to shine.
 
Jelena Jankovic wanders through the first week in anonymity, although her third-round win owned a share of drama. A hyper-extended knee hampered, followed by a tape job that hampered Jankovic enough to cause her to remove it in the third set. She is always injured, always bandaged and always calling trainers on-court. Yet she is still No. 2 in the world and still a darkhorse threat in Week 2.
 
Monday is Williams day. But I hope that Bethanie Mattek seizes the moment to make people talk about her tennis rather than her wardrobe.

We talk about the pressure and wonder what impact it has on elite tennis players. We question those who seem to buckle under pressure and glorify those who rise above.  It’s part of the game as they so eloquently said in the great HBO series, “The Wire.”
 

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Then comes a moment when you see the question answered. You see tears flickering from the eyes of Ana Ivanovic as the new World No. 1 was on the verge of an upset loss Friday. Word filters through the tennis world that Ivanovic came to Wimbledon in a different mood. The sunny disposition and constant smile was gone.

I saw her on Sunday morning in Paris, the day after her champnioship, walking the streets with her support group and she was beaming. No one has seen a beam in London.

Is it the pressure of living up to her newly earned status? Is it the pressure of stardom in her home country? Did Ana suffer from some burnout, perhaps mental more than physical, as did fellow Serb Novak Djokovic? Those tears that Ana flicked away during the final changeover of her loss spoke loudly.
 
Some of the best grass-court tennis of the first week was played late Friday night by Mario Ancic in his four-set win over David Ferrer. Plagued most of 2007 by a viral illness, Ancic appears to be fully healthy and playing with the confidence that has made him a past threat here (semis against Andy Roddick in 2005.) Watching Ancic last night it was easy to believe that he could be the biggest roadblock to a third straight Federer-Nadal final. (It was six years ago- but remember that Ancic was the last man to beat Federer at Wimbledon.)
 
Ivanovic’s loss further cleared the path for a Sisters final. Serena was powerful in her Friday win over Amelie Mauresmo. The 2006 champ played a classic first set, moving well and displaying her fine grass-court skills. Serena needed to serve well , nearly 80%, to win in a tiebreak. Mauresmo collapsed after that and Serena pounced. Her round of 16 is American Bethanie Mattek, a fine show and the furthest advance of her career.
 
It turns out that James Blake doesn’t feel comfortable on grass. James feels less than fully confident in his movement and that is enough, he said, to take a slight edge off his aggressive play. Words like that, even if true, only support the feeling around the world that James is a one-surface player (fast hardcourt.) I cannot think of another top American in recent years who has stated uncertainty about playing on grass.

Thursday was my arrival to the AELTC. Walking the grounds during the early afternoon, I was repeatedly struck by why Wimbledon matters. “The Queue”, yes it has it’s own official name, stretched through a neighboring golf course for nearly a mile, composed of tennis fans willing to wait hours for a grounds pass, simply a means to enter the gates.

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Does it work? As I walked to “Henman Hill”, a grassy slope thta fronts a huge TV screen named for the throngs that gathered to watch Tim Henman’s annual Wimbledon saga, I saw queue tickets laying on the ground. They were winners — people who were rewarded for their wait, likely an overnight stay, with early passes on to the grounds.

There is a new Court 2, the concrete shell complete awaiting the finishing touches for Wimbledon 2009. From its looks, it will rival the Roland Garros “Bullring” as a favorite for those who like intimate settings.

After an hour of cruising courts, watching doubles and amazed by the focus of players who serve and play while spectators chat and stroll just a few feet away, I happened upon Court 3 where James Blake was playing Rainer Schuettler.

Blake was in a struggle, facing a set point to go down 2 sets. He saved the set point, survived the tiebreak and went on to win the third. I left feeling Blake had secured the match.

And that’s when the day took a dark turn.

Within hours, Blake had blown the match, another inexplicable and disheartening for a player so liked and respected yet unable to deliver the goods in the big ones.

Schuettler has been on the fringes of the sport for years. How can a journeyman rally to knock out a top-10 player? Perhaps the answer came from a knowledgeable tennis man, whose identity must be protected, that said to me as we stood together watching Blake, “He has overachieved. He’s just not THAT good.”
 
Within moments came the stunning word of Maria Sharapova’s loss. The British papers, when not obsessing over Andy Murray, drool over Maria thus they are deprived of major strorylines. And the truth is that Sharapova has not seriously threatened to win here since her stunning 2004 title.
 
The coup de grace was Roddick falling to Janko Tipsarevic. The Serb is a fine player, witness his 5-set classic with Federer at Australia in January. But the nagging question for me is why Andy could not break the Serb’s serve in four sets. How can anyone expect Roddick to claim another major or even threaten the Big 3 if he can’t make a dent on another man’s serve?
 
Lots of questions I admit. More answers after I sense the aftermath of Thursday’s wipeout on the grounds Friday.

So much on this Thursday, but the highlight was simultaneous play from Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the first time I can recall that at any major. Rain caused the overlap with the 2 greats occupying the show courts in the late afternoon; both had similar results, although Federer had a small glitch, dropping the first set tiebreak to scrappy Albert Montanes. Too soon to project the final weekend, but Federer is hitting his backhand well and seems healthy with his normal movement. It’s not enough to beat Nadal when Rafa is on, but it is more than enough to keep Federer #2 in the clay court world.

Disappointment for James Blake, who lost a chance to make the second week at RG. With his section wide open, Blake needed a win over a talented teen, Ernests Gulbis of Latvia. A tough draw no doubt, but Blake is still searching for the Slam where he wins a few that he’s not supposed to. James got this match to 1-1, but dropped serve late in the third and never recovered.

Mardy Fish had a chance with a hobbled Lleyton Hewitt playing at 80 percent efficiency (torn hip cartilage). But Mardy, after dropping a tight first set, couldn’t hold a break advantage in the second and went out in straight.

Bobby Reynolds fell in four to the resurgent Nico Lapentti, who made the main draw at 31.

But Robby Ginepri, late in the night, pulled off the stunner, knocking out seeded Igor Andreev in four sets. More details on that match to come tomorrow.

So there are 2 Americans in the third round, Wayne Odesnik draws Novak Djokovic late Friday (around noon ET, 9 AM PT) and today Justin Gimelstob told me of his admiration for Odesnik. This is a rare young player who seeks help, solicits advice and enjoys clay. Wayne is working with Spaniard Felix Mantilla while in Paris and has Francisco Montana, late of Robby Ginepri, at home. But he looks at the French as a challenge, not an obligation. Odds are his stay will end Friday night, but Odesnik has put his name in the mix of American tennis.

Low road comment of this Roland Garros comes from tournament doctor, Dr. Montalvan. Speaking in defense of Richard Gasquet’s withdrawal, Dr. Montalvan said it was “my personal opinion” that Andy Roddick withdrew because clay is not his favorite surface. Why a doctor sees the need to opine is a different story, but Roddick had played the last 7 French Opens and will be in Madrid for September’s Davis Cup semi against Nadal. Roddick’s record on court can be addressed but not his competitiveness.

How open is this men’s draw? One of the following four: Gulbis, Michael Llodra, Simone Bolelli or Lapentti will be a quarterfinalist.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing: the Eurosport commentator said that Nikolay Davydenko’s win over Marat Safin was “huge” for any win over Safin is significant. Davydenko is 4 in the world, and posted a Roddick-Nadal double to win Miami. Safin is 73 in the world. That statement needed a hyperbole check.

The Americans have found the red clay, Andy Roddick and James Blake arriving in Rome this week. Hope is that improved results await at Roland Garros, as the bar can’t be lower after last year’s troubles.

Rafa Nadal uses this time of year as his personal marathon, playing every week on the surface he so loves. But even the superhuman occasionally stumble upon kryptonite. Nadal’s was his decision to play everywhere.

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So, in his third straight week on clay, Rafa was bounced in his first match of the Rome Masters by J. C. Ferrero. After failing to break at 4-4, 0-40 in the first set, Nadal ran out of gas and offered little reply to a strong serving performance from Ferrero.

No alarm should be taken from this result- the days off before Hamburg should benefit Nadal.

Instead, I offer another view of the “King of Clay.” This comes from an American now living in Barcelona, a knowledgeable tennis fan who attended three days of the Godo Seat last week.

If ever Nadal were to take a week off in the clay season, this would have been the time. But how can he miss a tournament in Spain? Our correspondent: “The crowd seemed most excited by Nadal’s presence (due to his international stardom both on court, and on TV and in magazines.)”

Interesting that the crowd displayed strong play for fellow Spaniard David Ferrer, the decided underdog in the final. It also took any edge off a match between two good friends.

Nadal won and the true view of this champion came in the aftermath when few eyes are on him. Luckily, our correspondent was there: “As Nadal was walking off the court, there were a group of kids trying to get autographs. Rafa stopped and signed every autograph he could, then handed his winning racquet to a young girl. The look on her face upon receiving the racquet was an unforgettable moment…she absolutely lit up! It was a great moment, only witnessed by the remaining few in the stadium. He is clearly someone who cares about his fans.”

Strong move by the USTA to enter an agreement with FFT to swap wild cards at the respective majors. There was a playoff in Florida last week won by Madison Brengle and Wayne Odesnik. Their experience in playing main draw at Roland Garros can only help reverse our recent clay results.

An action-packed week for tennis: Roger Federer finally picked a coach and the selection of Jose Higueras signaled Federer’s intent on returning to form on clay (and the results were immediate, as Fed’s first title of 2008 in Estoril came in his first week of working with Higueras), the Davis Cup fallout continued with the French press hammering Richard Gasquet for ducking Andy Roddick last weekend, James Blake went to Houston and reached the final on clay albeit against a lesser field (but I see the Monte Carlo draw and Sam Querrey is the lone American) and, thanks to SI’s peerless Jon Wertheim, I learn that Alexandra Stevenson, 27 and ranked 258, qualified at Charleston and won a match before falling to Jelena Jankovic.

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But the real story of the week was in Charleston. And her name is Serena Williams.

She won the event, her second consecutive. She beat Maria Sharapova decisively which, after smacking Justine Henin in Miami, gives her wins over the top 2 women (computer be damned.)

Serena is fitter than any time since her reign atop the game ended in 2004. She is displaying the toughness that characterized her great years. Dropping a set to Vera Zvonareva in the Charleston final didn’t deter her, just as in the Miami final against Svetlana Kuznetsova or the Charleston match with Sharapova.

That match was a significant statement. Serena’s world changed when Sharapova hit her off Wimbledon Centre Court in the 2004 final. Now Serena has won the last 4 matches against Sharapova and hasn’t lost to her since 2004. Serena’s serve was emphatic as she won 16 of 18 points on her serve in the decisive third set in Charleston.

Serena is now back to 6 in the world. She heads to Europe as a threat to win again and women’s tennis needs this. The Slams will be much more fun with Serena in the mix.

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.

It struck me during the U.S. practice Thursday. And it was displayed in full during the pair of US Friday wins in Winston-Salem.

Andy Roddick and James Blake are in a different mode during Davis Cup. There is a calm about them, partly born, I believe, from the camaraderie they have engineered through five years as teammates.

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They move through this weekend with ease, joking with each other and their respective groups, engaging in pranks, celebrating wins and generally acting as masters of their domain.

And this is without arrogance, simply confidence.

No Federer or Nadal in this environment. Enthusiastic crowds that provide reinforcement. And family and friends packing the stands.

So when the tricky serves of Michael Llodra test Roddick, it is the Davis Cup belief that lifts Andy to a pair of tiebreak wins and a straight set win that could have been much tougher.

When Blake runs into a fiercely competitive Paul-Henri Mathieu, serving unconsciously in the first set, and fighting to erase his bad DCup memories, it is that belief that saves Blake.

Pushed to a fifth set, Blake lapsed into his bad body language mode after Mathieu broke for 2-0. Blake held and then, after a battle, broke back that brought the crowd, perhaps lapsing themselves near the end of a 7-hour day, roaring back to life.

Hearing that support, Blake raised his shoulders and his game, which he needed when Mathieu held 2 match points serving at 5-4. It was the moment when Mathieu’s ability to close would be tested. As well, Blake’s fight and resolve in 5-set battles, an issue reversed at last year’s US Open, would be confirmed.

Amidst growing noise, Blake survived the match points and launched one of his patented runs, winning 13 of 16 points to end Mathieu’s, and perhaps France’s, hopes.

It was Davis Cup in the United States, not sold out (did the scheduling of this on Masters weekend hurt attendance?) but nonetheless intensely supportive. And once again, Andy Roddick and James Blake seem to be at home wherever the U.S. DCup team calls home.

The court is fast. Lightning fast, more so than the speedy surface used by Team USA in Portland last December. 

And it impacted France, as designed. Richard Gasquet does not seem excited to play on the fast court and captain Guy Forget subbed Michael Llodra against Andy Roddick.

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Instead of the anticipated Roddick-James Blake/Gasquet-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga battles, we have Paul-Henri Mathieu-Llodra for France.

If both men bring their serves Friday, Roddick-Llodra will be decided in tiebreaks.

Tough news on Tsonga. If surgery is needed, he likely missed Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

This US team plays its 10th consecutive tie together, remarkable in that the next longest run by any US team is 3.

One of the practice players is David Martin, a lefty brought along to mimic the serve and volley style of Llodra.

Had a chance to talk with Martin after his practice with Roddick (by the way, Martin brought down the house with his Vanilla Ice impression at the official banquet).”

Martin is a 27-year-old Stanford grad who, with partner Scott Lipsky, has raised his doubles rank to a career-best 47.

He represents the earnest doubles player trying to make a living in the game they love through the one necessary means.

While the world’s best men were playing in Indian Wells and Miami for the last month, you know what David Martin has been doing?

Nothing.

The world’s 50th ranked doubles player couldn’t get in to those tournaments.

Why? The new ATP doubles policy that leads to more singles players entering, and losing quickly or withdrawing, from doubles.

Fewer spots means the cutoff is too high for Martin and Lipsky to qualify.

Play Challengers in the meantime? Possible, except the money is so low that the players would struggle to break even. And winning a Challenger would not improve their ranking. Martin said he might consider playing some singles, in the qualies, of Challengers just to get some matches.

This is the other side of the new ATP system: David Martin and his idle March. A premier double player unable to play in the 2 biggest tournaments in the US each spring.