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?

SECOND SERVE, FIRST RETURN
Most agreed this was a match about the first serves of the best inthe women’s game. It turned that Venus cranked up her first return, stepping into the court and boldly whacking Serena’s first serves. Once that occurred, Serena became more cautious with the first because her second was weak. Venus took great advantage of Serena’s second serve while Venue was able to win over half the points on her own second. Venus also limited her prior problems with double faults.

BREAK POINTS
Serena had chances, none more than a point to give her a 4-1 double break lead in the first set. It was the first of more than 10 break points that Venus saved, and it may have been the most important. If Serena had charged through the first set…..

MENTAL TOUGHNESS
Venus appeared to start slowly and for a few moments it looked like another of the Slam finals where Serena simply overpowered Venus. Perhaps it was saving that huge break point at 1-3 in the first and a subsequent bounce off the soft net cord, but Venus awakened. And her mind was strong. When the two played a 26-minute group of 3 games to start the second set, Serena finally cashed in a break. Venus calmly rose after the sitdown and broke back. That moment broke Serena’s spirit.

THE MAGIC KINGDOM
That is what Centre Court remains for Venus. No one moves better on grass than Venus. She has a belief on the most hallowed court in tennis that is unshakeable. The only person who had been able to shatter that belief was Serena but….

BEATING LITTLE SIS
Venus finally seemed to conquer the notion of taking something from Serena. It seemed through the glory years of 2002-03 that Serena had an easier time with the notion of beating Venus than vice versa. Well, Venus clearly ended that notion with Saturday’s win. And she played the classy big sister afterwards in every possible way while the disappointment was etched in Serena’s face. It was high quality tennis, the best match the sisters have ever produced against each other. They should be proud to produce two champions, two finalists who on Saturday held a private party on Centre Court.

The buzz was still about Andy Murray at Tuesday’s Wimbledon card. The BBC telecast drew a 44 share; the percentage of TV sets in the country tuned to the match, and an audience of over 10 million.

We confronted this for years with Tim Henman – how to convey the obsession in England with a Brit at Wimbledon. Anyone that covers this event wonders about the day when a Brit wins. Will the town survive? Will anyone work in the next month?

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Murray’s win over Richard Gasquet afforded a small peek at the possibilities. Longtime Wimbledon observers called it one of the best atmospheres they have seen alongside the famous 2001 Rafter-Ivanisevic final. The AELTC gambled with weather and assigned Murray-Nadal the late match Wednesday. More important the Brit gets maximum time to recover from his late night than to worry about rain. Oh, they must hope to avoid a repeat of the disastrous scheduling that cost Henman a shot at the 2001 title.

On court, the Williams Sisters relentless march to the semis continued. And their success, along with the absence of so many of the top-ranked women, has raised questions.

Tracy Austin wrote in a London paper Tuesday that this “was a thin time at the top of women’s tennis….There is a big vacuum at the top of the game that none of the current players seems able to fill.” True I say, but no fault of the Sisters. Certainly their path here has been easier with the lack of significant opponents, but their play at Wimbledon, especially Venus, requires no apology. Simply, they have the track record.

The question arose in a Tennis Channel discussion with Jon Wertheim: Would you rather have the Sisters playing part-time for more years or the Clijsters-Henin mode of full-time play and early retirement? Jon’s position was that the WTA Tour requires full commitments from top players to make the “business” of tennis viable. Agreed, but I would lean to the longer run. Allow me to watch players grow, develop, mature, peak and finally, slowly decline. Meteoric rise and fall is of no interest.

How in the name of sense can the seedings be allowed? I am told that the women at Wimbledon are seeded by the rankings with no exception, explaining the incredible scenario of Thursday. Elena Dementieva will be the higher seed against Venus….and a massive underdog!

I’m shocked by the relative restraint of the London papers today. Andy Murray is the Final Eight for the first time at Wimbledon and he got there in high style, a comeback from two sets down to take out Richard Gasquet. Centre Court was a wall of sound in the fifth set as Murray beat his foe and the fading light. Yet Tuesday dawns without an overabundance of fawning from the devoted press.

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Murray deserves credit. I left the grounds with Murray down two sets. Walking through the crowd watching on “Henman Hill”, there was a natural and palapble level of disappontment, the kind that in England is usually accompanied by a tall pint of Pimm’s. So imagine my surprise when I turned on my hotel TV to see Murray rallying in the third. And then the reports started arriving from folks still on Centre Court, phrases like “You can’t believe the atmosphere,” “The crowd is going crazy,” and “Murray is going to win this!”
 
The game that advanced Murray, that may elevate him into the ranks of the top players, was the 10th game of the third set. Gasquet had finally broken Murray for a 5-4 lead and came out to serve for the match. Murray quickly struck to 0-40 but Gasquet saved the first two break points. Then, though, the Frenchman double-faulted, Murray was still alive and the reversal had begun.
 
By the fifth set, Centre Court was engulfed in a roar, Murray was charging and Gasquet, who recall rallied in a similar manner to stun Andy Roddick last year, was asking the chair to halt play. No stay from the governor. And just past 9 in the evening, Murray ran to the court with a flex of the bicep that we hope is never to be repeated. But he gets his “muscle match” with Nadal Wednesday.
 
The Sisters were terrific Monday. On court, they both handled their assignment with relative ease. Only a brief bobble by Venus when trying to win the last game slowed her progress. Serena easily handled Bethanie Mattek. Both moved well on the grass, looked confident and appear destined for Saturday.
 
More impressive, though, was how they handled the scheduling. Six Wimbledon titles between them and they were assigned to Court 2, seating capacity 2,130. It was not a decision worthy of champions. And the expected questions were there for both Serena and Venus. With the door opened multiple times for them to criticize the AELTC, neither took the bait. All Serena admitted to was some “surprise.” I have come to expect such class from Venus; Serena’s poise in the moment is newer and quite refreshing.
 
On Tuesday, Venus draws Tamarine Tanasugarn, age 31, on Court 1 while Serena gets a Centre Court match with Aggie Radwanska, a talented 19-year-old. Different types of opponents but similar in that neither should slow the Sisters Express.
 
It’s still remarkably dry at Wimbledon; the grass has dried and the courts are browning on the edge. Some rain is predicted for early Wednesday, but it’s one day only as we march through one of the driest Wimbledons in recent history.
 
Also on Tuesday, the Bryans receive a Centre Court match, following Serena in the men’s doubles. The Sisters, after their singles wins, advanced to the quarters in doubles with an easy win over the Spanish duo of Ruano Pascual and Medina Garrigues. And, top-ranked junior Melanie Oudin, No. 1 seed here, won her first round match Monday.

A quiet Sunday at Wimbledon — the Club is closed to the public which makes it a favored day for those with favored status. A credentialed hack can walk the grounds, enter the show courts and canvas the practice courts with little interference. Only the spare cleaning crew is present.
 
So that affords the chance for a rare moment with the top players. On Sunday, Roger Federer visited our NBC studios just before his practice. No shock that Federer, as classy a champion as any sport has seen, annually affords us this visit, something only Andy Roddick has regularly provided.

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Is Roger rattled by the French final? No outward signs were apparent.
 
Does he concern himself with the “media writing him off?” (I find the question unfair, as the “media” in tennis in often comprised of former players whose job is to analyze. I see no dismissal of Federer, rather a lovefest for Nadal, understandable given the French results and Rafa’s  near-miss here last year.) Roger admits the talk is an irritant; he claims he forgot the French the moment he left Paris and that he is reigning champ, 5 times at Wimbledon and 4 at the Open, and should be afforded the commensurate respect. Point well taken.
 
I asked Roger about his streaks: 16 straight Slam semis (active) and 10 straight Slam finals (ended at Australia). Are these a source of pride? He said yes, especially when seeing Novak Djokovic an early KO vicitim here and Andy at the French last year. His consistency is something he cherishes, usually discussed in terms of his #1 ranking but very real in his Slam performances.
 
Hard to understand Monday’s schedule. The Club likes to give each top player a Centre Court match before the semis in order to share the experience. But how could Venus, defending and four-time champ, and Serena,  a two-time champ, be scheduled consecutively on Court 2, the third show court and one without commentary booths? It, sadly, has every look of a slap at champions.

This Friday was one of mixed emotions depending on your viewpoint: for France, it was a day of joy as four men, (Paul-Henri Mathieu, Julien Benneteau, Jeramy Chardy and Florent Serra) advanced while for the U.S. it was a day of shock as the Sisters were sent packing in bookend matches to a long day of warm sunshine.

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Venus falling, in the fading light of a Friday night was not a surprise. After all, she has never been a serious threat here, reaching one final in a year where she played Robin to Serena’s Batman. And she hadn’t played much since taking a break from the tour in March.

Watching the Venus profile on HBO’s Real Sports emphasized several points of interest: Venus is the most likable Williams, rooted in some measure of humility, more interested in personal growth than fame (evidenced by the pride she takes in her recent design degree- she wore her class ring at RG), and more comfortable in her own skin than little Sis.

Friday’s results proved one thing that I have believed: Venus will never again be a threat at a major other than Wimbledon. She is a 1-court star: Centre Court. At 28 by the time she arrives at SW19, she is retro only when she steps onto that hallowed grass. As a four-time champ, she must hope the Club schedules her accordingly and keeps her on her “home” away from home.

Serena is baffling. She was horrid Friday. There is no other way to candidly describe her performance. It was the universal view among commentators, many of whom are champions. How she could possibly play in such a manner, so lazy afoot, so sloppy of form, could only be explained by her own admission that she “didn’t want to be here.”

If true, then she should be back in Florida, SoCal or wherever she chases the fame that is so important to her. My partner John McEnroe couldn’t hide his feeling that Katerina Srebotnik deserved her day, an honest hard-working decent player whose previous bests had been in doubles. On one sunny day in Paris, she stood tall in Paris.
 
The French didn’t try to hide their chauvinism Friday, scheduling Michael Llodra and Mathieu on the main show court while sending Serena, Nadal and Djokovic, champions all, to the second court, a good show court but still number 2 in the rank.

Neither do the French try to honor their champion. Roger Federer was granted his wish for a Monday start, thus Rafa Nadal fell victim to rain and played his first 3 matches on consecutive days.

Fed plays a Monday-Thursday-Saturday first week while Rafa went Wed-Thurs-Fri. Surviving that siege gives Nadal a tremendous edge as he must now play only 4 matches over 9 days to win a fourth RG.

Lindsay Davenport wasn’t a mom on the court Sunday in Key Biscayne, she was a champ again. In this year of a woman and a black running for our highest office, sensitivities are high. Thus, emanating from the black hole of the blogosphere are comments that Davenport should not be labeled a mom making a comeback, just as we didn’t reference Andre A as a dad trying to win one more Slam.

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Fair enough, but if we can put aside irrational sensitivity, what Davenport accomplished Sunday is precisely why she is praised: 9 months after giving birth she whacked the #2 player in the world.

Sorry but that is astounding.

To the match: Davenport struck the ball with power and precision from the first point. Whether Ana Ivanovic was in awe of Davenport’s returns or the experience of playing Lindsay herself is a matter only the Serb can answer. But for one hour in Miami, it was as if Davenport was again the champion and Ivanovic the upstart, rather than the reality of their current rankings.

By contrast, recall what Maria Sharapova did to Davenport in their second round Aussie Open match, Maria imposing her will on the former champ to remind Lindsay of the current pecking order.

The Miami draw opens for Davenport, she should be unthreatened until a potential semi against Jelena Jankovic. A few more wins and Davenport should hike her ranking high enough to ensure missing tough early-round matches. Meanwhile, Justine Henin and the Williams Sisters slug it out in the top half- can you believe that Serena and Henin may again meet in the quarters. Nothing should Serena more motivation to get herself out of the 8 seed.
 
It shouldn’t be hard to take a collection among the players for a nice retirement gift when Fabrice Santoro puts the racquet down. Again, he showed James Blake and the tennis world how you can survive among the bigger and stronger with lots of wile and guile. To me, Santoro is like a knuckleball pitcher – hitters hate facing them because they see them so rarely and they demand extreme patience.

I’ll miss Santoro because sport thrives on contrast. No one plays like Santoro, and Justin G predicted on our FSN telecast that no one ever will. If so, tennis will be poorer although many opponents will breathe easier.

First, apologies to Novak Djokovic. Thanks to tennis reporters.net, a first-hand account of the Davis Cup tie in Moscow indicated the terrific efforts of the Serb to lift his country in their historic World Group match.

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Just a week removed from his first Slam title, Djokovic arrived in Moscow and was promptly hammered by the flu. At the same time, Janko Tipsarevic rolled an ankle in practice and Serbia played Friday with one truly healthy player.

So, Djokovic toughed out Saturday’s do-or-die doubles and partnered with Nenad Zimonjic for an extraordinary win. With Serbia alive into Sunday, Djokovic then took the court for a singles match with Nikolay Davydenko. Dizziness and nausea felled him after the third set, and trailing 2 sets to 1, Djokovic retired.

We see that devotion to Davis Cup from the Americans and rarely anywhere else. Kudos to Djokovic.

The U.S. won the Davis Cup in early December, the end of a 7-year journey led by Patrick McEnroe and Andy Roddick.

They had 8 weeks to enjoy their triumph. Now the tennis world dictates the U.S. begin defense of their title this weekend in Austria on clay.

Sensible, isn’t it?

Davis Cup is run by the ITF, a European outfit that indicates little understanding or concern about selling tennis’ premier international competition on the world’s biggest stage.

This lament is familiar but perhaps only repetition can hammer home the obvious truth that Davis Cup is thoroughly irrelevant in the U.S. outside of the hard-core tennis crowd.

Let’s chronicle the insanity:

Playing the championship match in the peak of pro and college football mania pushed the U.S. win into complete anonymity.

Giving the defending champions no reward risks blunting any momentum created by a country’s success. How does any legitimate competition explain how a reigning champion has to win an away tie, on a surface chosen to hurt them, to avoid facing a relegation match? How does the U.S. public buy such a concept, especially if the Austrians can pull of an upset and the US is forced to win a match this spring to stay in World Group?

Perhaps the early exits of Roddick and Bob and Mike Bryan from the Aussie Open gave them a slight edge in preparing for the indoor clay that awaits them in Vienna. It’s simply a shame that they even face such a challenge.

Then there is Fed Cup, charter members of the tennis witness protection program. The U.S. won today, beating Germany in San Diego, but unless you read the fine print of your sports section or cruise a tennis blog (thank you who do), you will never know.

The competition persists, despite the absurdity of Maria Sharapova representing Russia. (I admire her game but still await Sharapova’s first “Thank You” to the United States, the sole reason for her success and wealth).

Lindsay Davenport’s comeback included Fed Cup and she righted a stunning Day 1 loss with an easy victory over a German player unheard to me before today. (In fact, both German singles players were mysteries. Sad that Anna-Lena Groenefeld, not long ago a Top 20 player, has slid to where she only played doubles.)

Where is U.S. women’s tennis? Without the Venus Williams and sister Serena, the team needed a mom out of retirement and a player ranked 74, 22-year-old Ashley Harkleroad. But Harkleroad, a teen hope that fizzled, says she is getting better as she gets older. The US women need such a player.

Now the. women face a match with Russia … and Sharapova in the spring. The Russian Fed Cup captain, Shamil Tarpischev, also leads Davis Cup and will be on the court Friday when the Russian men host Serbia (Novak Djokovic and Jarko Tipsarevic) in a terrific first round tie.

Some final thoughts from the Aussie Open:

And tennis fans know that one slip by Federer does not cost him the spot. But, here comes Djokovic with consecutive Slam finals, four consecutive Slams reaching at least the semis, and a split in the last 6 months against Nadal (Djokovic in Montreal, Nadal in Shanghai.) It’s a worthy question: has Novak caught Nadal as No. 2?