Ted Robinson’s Matchpoints

One immutable truth emerged from Wednesday’s men’s quarters: the Big Two are so far apart from the rest of the field (Novak Djokovic’s objection is immediately raised) that the men’s game is a race within a race.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal obliterated their foes; Rafa taking down a top-10 player (Andy Murray) so thoroughly as to render his five-set comeback career changing win in the fourth round irrelevant.

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Federer and Nadal are ManU and Chelsea. They are the Yankees and Red Sox – in good years. They are the kings; Rafa owns clay, Roger owns hard courts and the grass is looking more like a tossup despite Roger’s five consecutive titles.

Mario Ancic had precedent in his corner as the last man to best Fed on grass. Three games into their quarter, it was clear that the 2002 result would never be repeated. The King served impeccably, dropping only 10 points. Ancic was destroyed in the first set, fought back after a two-hour rain delay to play with passion but never made a dent on Federer’s serve.

Tickets for the Nadal-Murray affair started at $3000 on the broker’s market. England was captivated by a marriage certified Monday night on Centre Court; Murray bonding with his fans for the first time.

Could the recently maturing Murray enter the “big time” with a resounding match in the biggest moment of his career?

Nadal has made his living the last 3 years smothering such hopes and dreams. Murray fell as many before him, working so hard to hold serve only to see Nadal, with a better serve yet few aces, be unbreakable. When Murray became engaged in baseline rallies, Nadal would uncork a winner from unfathomable positions, no different than if he was rolling in the red clay.

The general theme of the BBC commentary was that Murray simply wasn’t ready to match up with Nadal.

But who is?

And with Federer for that matter?

These are the two Kings. Djokovic may demand his place in a troika, but he must another major first. I am a Federer fan for Rafa has yet to prove his worth on the hard courts that dominate the tour. But it would be an utter shock, despite Marat Safin’s resume and 2005 upset of Fed in the Aussie semis, to see anything but a third straight Wimbledon final between the Kings.

This is a glorious time in tennis. Those of us blessed to watch and chronicle this should be grateful to have another Bjorn Borg-John McEnroe or Pete Sampras-Andre Agassi in our midst. We know it will be short-lived, that the game will claim these greats sooner rather than later thus we need to treasure them now.

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.