Nadal Gets No. 1, Then Gets Clobbered by Djokovic; Jankovic New WTA No. 1?

I myself would like to see the top 4 Russians (minus Sharapova) Kuzy, Dementieva, Safina, and stuck at No.11 Zvonereva take the USO crown.

Ana has not been a credible No.1 and I’m glad Jelena will claim the top place. I’d take someone with charisma and enough commitment to the tour to be the top gal anyday. Sure, the Williams can win slams, but give them Jelena’s schedule and they won’t even make the QF or SF week after week like her.

And the men: go Novak! I think Nadal’s stay at No.1 won’t be too long…

August 3rd, 2008 at 1:53 pm

I’d like to see Safina or Dementieva, especially Dementieva, win a GS title. Safina has been very consistent, reaching several SFs and winning titles this year. Dementieva has proved her mettle throughout the years and she’s deserving of a GS title. I would also like to see either Safina or Dementieva attain the No. 1 ranking. They’re both hard workers and not into the skin, power, and cutie-pie stuff.

August 3rd, 2008 at 2:32 pm

Computer ranking systems don’t seem to work as well as the balloting of journalists used to. The Grand Slam events are the most significant events in the sport by far. There is no way a player can be no.1 in the fan’s minds without having proven it in the Slams. Sorry, Jelena, you have to prove it on the biggest stage. I’m not sure she can beat players with bigger weapons, playing in form, to get through the second week of Grand Slam events.

AS for men’s tennis, do not count Roger out. It’s just a question of whether he can find top form. It’s been a long while since we saw Roger really in form.

August 3rd, 2008 at 2:38 pm

At this point Federer is completely unpredictable. That being said, it must be noted that in the seven times he played against the Karlovic freak show Federer has gone to tiebreakers in 11 of the 18 sets. And in case you did not know, in the final set against him in Cincy, Fed lost a TOTAL of 2 points on his serve.

Is Fed finished? I doubt it. He may lose in the 4th round of the US Open, but something tells me he will again make it to the semis, and it really would not surprise me to see him go and defend his title.

Congratulations to Rafa on reaching number one (officially in 15 days).

Has anyone anywhere heard what the points are that are going to be awarded in the Olympics? It would be interesting to calculate the what-ifs, as it is a free tournament for Federer, and Nadal will lose some points in compensation, as he is maxed out.

Also, you know Fed has to be waving a Scottish flag today, for if the Djoker wins Cincy he will be within hailing distance of the soon-to-be-former Number Uno.

August 3rd, 2008 at 3:04 pm

Jankovic is a weakest No.1 in open era,and that is fact.
Just compare Jankovic H2H with other 4 players in TOP 5 and 1 title in last 12 months.Just terrible!

August 3rd, 2008 at 3:22 pm

Gordo,
these are the ATP ranking points for the Olympics:

Gold… 400
Silver… 280
Bronze ….205
4th place…. 155
QF … 100
R16 …. 50
R32 …. 25
R64…. 5

I think a change in the rankings was bound to happen one day, even with the huge standards that Federer had set. congratulations to Rafa for all the hard work that let him take the No 1 title.
I think Fed and his fans should just be proud of what he has done. Fed should regroup and fight to break Sampra’s GS record.

Djoko is very strong on hard courts, so is Murray. So let’s see how the match will go today. The US Open will be very interesting this year.

August 3rd, 2008 at 3:27 pm

Zola – thanks for those numbers. I will do a slew of calculations after we see how the battle goes today.

Sandy – I am not as much a follower of women’s tennis as I am of men’s, but after reading your comment I checked and OMG. Yes… OMG. No, really – OMFG!

The woman is going to be number one having reached only the DF at Australia and Roland Garros and the 4th round of Wimbledon and having won let’s see now – ONE tournament?

Well, no offence to anyone here, but we saw two weeks ago when the Canadian Wozniak won Stanford through – yes, her own consistent good play, but also aided by withdrawls of some seeds, other top seeds being upset by other lower ranked players and leg and back injuries to Serena Williams and Bartoli.

The Stanford tourney finding Wozniak as its champion is a microcosm of the entire WTA tour that finds Jankovic as number one as of tomorrow.

Fans of women’s tennis – IS she indeed the lamest excuse for a number one the open era has seen?

August 3rd, 2008 at 3:46 pm

No doubt Rafa did not play his game well yesterday, probably due to fatigue, & Novak played superbly. So Novak deserved to win! It’s so hard not to like Rafa; his personality is tops. Novak, on the other hand seems quite arrogant making it difficult for the audience to truly like him

August 3rd, 2008 at 5:16 pm

I agree with your comments and you’re right on about the women’s side. It’s too bad that Justine Henin retired because she’s been one of the only consistent players on the WTA recently.

August 3rd, 2008 at 5:35 pm

Oh I am TOTALLY loving this – all of you Djoker fans just ready to say he will soon be overtaking not only Roger, but Rafa as well after he wins Cincy today.

Well, some of us don’t call him the D(CH)oker for nothing. Double faulting on his last serve in the tie-breaker to give the Scot 2 match points???

Hmmmn – and let’s not say it was exhaustion for EITHER Rafa or Novak. The truth is kudos to Murray for coming up big and winning today. Kudos to Noval for winning yesterday, lucky us for having such an interesting array of talented players in men’s tennis.

If only someone would rise out of the women’s rubble and lead the way.

August 3rd, 2008 at 5:50 pm

“The Karlovic freak show” – that’s rather unkind, Gordo.

August 3rd, 2008 at 5:53 pm

Gordo – not sure who said that? I like Djoko but I at least have never said he’ll overtake Rafa and Roger this year. He has overtaken Roger in the race with this final result, though, I believe?

I don’t think Djoko choked, but Murray just edged him out all match; if anything, Murray choked a little when serving for it at 5-3. But it was nice to see him win his first MS, hey?

I like all these guys, Novak, Murray, Rafa – it’s nice to see them in the mix now, all having a chance to win some titles.

And I agree with you 100% that someone needs to step up in the women’s!

August 3rd, 2008 at 5:56 pm

Yeah, gotta agree with Colin – Dr. Ivo is tall, and he’s awfully good. No need to call him names.

August 3rd, 2008 at 5:57 pm

congratulations to Andy Murray for his first masters shield.

I totally enjoyed the tennis played by Murray. I am so glad that he is now able to hold his nerves, no more shouting or negative energy. although he really chocked on his championship points, but he did not miss the last one. great job Andy! he did not let Djoko play his game. He has been very steady and he is now in the mix!

August 3rd, 2008 at 6:01 pm

Okay – just a thought for all to contemplate –

Andy Murray takes down Novak Djokovic in straight sets, first in Canada [ 6-3, 7-6(3) ], then in Cincy [ 7-6(4), 7-6(5) ].

Now EVERYONE – including myself – has noticed how improved Djokovic has been over the past year.

So what are we to make of the Giant-killing Scotsman? Especially when you note that before Canada, Djokovic OWNED Murray, and in the 3 times they met in 2007 and this year, Murray could only win 10 games in 6 sets, including 2 bagels. Last year in Miami (the last time hard court meeting before Canada) Novak beat Andy 6-1, 6-0.

Could it be that someone from the British Isles is starting to live up to his potential and we may soon have a new Number 4 for Rafa, Roger and the Djoker to look over their shoulders at?

This could be interesting.

August 3rd, 2008 at 6:07 pm

While watching the match Paradorn Srichaphan came to mind…hes the only guy who I remember being able to hit that stretched out wide while doing the splits forehand the way Djokovic does.

August 3rd, 2008 at 6:07 pm

Gordo I tend to agree about the Freak Show comment being a little harsh..about Murray…im sure Nadal would rather see him in the semis as opposed to Djokovic as Murray doesnt have as much to hurt him…his great returning isnt really a factor because…hey…everyone can return Nadals serve.

August 3rd, 2008 at 6:10 pm

Yeah – the freak show comment – I am a freak myself, height wise – the other way, so basketball players are like Martians to me.

I did not mean it in an insult to Ivo – good for him for being as successful as he is for being such a tall man.

August 3rd, 2008 at 6:11 pm

Just gotta say, I enjoy both tennis, though I watch Women’s more.
Jelena is my favorite, and im glad to see her #1, but everybody knows, and even shes said this, that she doesn’t deserve the position.

And a fun fact? If Justine had not asked to be removed from the rankings, she would still be number 1 :)

August 3rd, 2008 at 6:11 pm

Gordo
***Could it be that someone from the British Isles is starting to live up to his potential and we may soon have a new Number 4 for Rafa, Roger and the Djoker to look over their shoulders at?

***

yes, definitely.
I think Andy has improves a lot. in his fitness, movement, manners, everything. he seemed the less tired of both guys . the only thing I would recommend for Andy, is a decent hair cut, a shave and some dental work. :)
but seriously, he is just great.I really like to see him in the top 4.

on the wonemn’s side, I finally found how the ranking points work. they get the same point as men for the GSs and Tier 1. So, why are the points so low? how come the no 1 has only 3000 something points?

I like Safina a lot and this new girl who plays the final with her seems to be great too. ATW needs a good shake up!

August 3rd, 2008 at 6:12 pm

sorry for all the typos! **has improves!***

August 3rd, 2008 at 6:13 pm

Zola-

Compared to the men, the top players are less dominant, and the lower ranked players are more capable of going deep into tournaments.

A good example of this is Ai Sugiyama. It would be much harder on the mens side to be a (albeit small) factor in singles and doubles tournaments for 15 straight years.

Basically almost all of the top 10 is capable of going out in the First, Second or Third rounds of any major. It would be an ‘upset’, but not a complete surprise.

August 3rd, 2008 at 6:18 pm

Did anyone congratulate Safina for her win today? If not, let me do so – you go girl!

August 3rd, 2008 at 6:32 pm

Okay – rankings fans –

Two weeks tomorrow here is what the standings will look like for the men’s top 3. Below I have the current score and have added in 2008 Cincy and dropped (finally) 2007 Canada and 2007 Cincy –

Federer – 6605 + 75 less 350 less 500 = 5830
Nadal – 6305 + 225 less 225 less 5 = 6300
Djokovic – 5055 + 350 less 500 less 5 = 4900

A Gold Medal victory in the Smoglympics is accompanied by 400 points. For Federer this is a free tourney, for unlike Nadal he has not played the maximum number in the current 12 month period. So – any points he gets are added on, while Nadal is looking replace his March Dubai quarter final result of 75 points.

This is going to be interesting going into the U.S. Open. As for that tournament, although Federer is perhaps a tad fragile, I think it will be extremely difficult to take him in 5 sets. Although he is defending 1000 points as last year’s winner, Djokovic is defending 700 points as the runner up. Unless the Djokeman can win the US Open he will not be gaining much in the way of points.

August 3rd, 2008 at 6:53 pm

Congratulations to Rafa and all his fans for Rafa’s number one rank.He has worked incredibly hard for this and richly deserves it.His performances in Toronto and Cincinnati are all the more remarkable given the almost non-stop year that he has had.His incredible physical and mental strength have really come to the fore when most players have struggled due to the compressed schedule.I just get the feeling that his sheer will-power-as much as anything else-is responsible for this great achievement.Take a bow!

August 3rd, 2008 at 6:56 pm

Gordo – “Smoglympics” – excellent, well put.

August 3rd, 2008 at 6:57 pm

Jane,
I join you in congratulating Dinara who I have always liked not least because she is Marat’s sister with a lot of his likeable idiosyncrasies.I am glad that she is starting to win the bigger events on the hard courts.

August 3rd, 2008 at 7:00 pm

Is it just me, or if they make a movie of the ATP tour shouldn’t the guy who played Napoleon Dynamite portray Andy Murray?

August 3rd, 2008 at 7:02 pm

great win for Safina. I like the other girl too. she is just full of energy!

Can Safina be no 1?

;O,
thanka a lot. yes, it seems after Hustine, the rankings can change almost weekly. WTA needs some strong players. There is williams sisters and Sharapova. but they are all out with injury.

Gordo,
thanks for the calculations. yep, let’s see what happens in the Olympics.

strangely, the top players did not do wel in the last Olympics. let’s see what happens this year!

smolympics! agree with jane, great word!
Apparently the US olympic comittee is distributing masks to the athletes :
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121659379072468809.html

btw, Fed and Gonzo will be carrying their countries’ flags!

August 3rd, 2008 at 7:08 pm

Gordo,

“Could it be that someone from the British Isles is starting to live up to his potential and we may soon have a new Number 4 for Rafa, Roger and the Djoker to look over their shoulders at?”

In terms of sheer talent,Andy is right up there and the only question has been about ‘when’ rather than ‘if’.I still think that he is a work in progress and he isn’t there physically-or even temperamentally- yet.I must admit I did not expect him to make this break-through, as it were,in Cincinnati although he prefers the hard courts more than any other surface.His two wins over Nole are very significant for him although Nole will still start the US open as my favourite.I am glad he has started showing what he is really capable of and he will be right there with the big three on the faster surfaces.It is a delight to watch his intelligent play esp when he uses all the incredible variety that he has.He will be an irresistible force when his physical conditioning is at its peak and when he adds a bit more power to his groundies.The ‘potential’ is mind-boggling.Let us hope he realizes that potential.

August 3rd, 2008 at 7:24 pm

Congratulations to Andy Murray

August 3rd, 2008 at 8:23 pm

So Nadal beat Murray in the Rogers cup semis, Djokovix beat Nadal in the Cincy semis and Murray beat Djokovic in the final…. the new top 3?

August 3rd, 2008 at 10:01 pm

after watching safina come back in two matches from 5-2 down at the french, i was totally impressed. finally, she is getting her stride. long time coming.

andy murray. finally.

ivo did look a tad freakish on the court – only from a size perspective. when he and roger switched ends and you could compare size…it’s pretty crazy.

i’m excited for the US Open and the fall season – lots of potential for #1 to go back and forth.

roger seems obsessed with winning at the olympics. he’s had so little match play going in though. i hope he’s not too disappointed.

August 3rd, 2008 at 10:59 pm

Congrats to Murray, I love watching this guy play chess with a tennis-ball and racquet- my favorite player. Andy Murray’s return of serve is phenomenal right now. However, if he wants to win a slam, I think he’s going to have to get a little bit more juice on his forehand, and on his first serve. I notice that when players engage Murray in forehand-forehand rallies, they do well. Whereas Murray loves the cat/mouse backhand-backhand rallies. Nadal seemed to figure that out, I noticed him picking on Murray’s forehand corner. Not that Murray’s forehand is bad at all, it’s just that he doesn’t often kill you with it.
Also, Murray tends to get broken at least once/set by pretty much anyone he plays. He makes up for that by having the best return game on the tour. But that’s a dangerous way to live. Until he can hold serve at a higher percentage, I give him semi-final berth at any major slam at the most.

August 3rd, 2008 at 11:12 pm

Andrea:

You really think theres hope for Federer to regain his n1 spot this year??… I dont really see how….. he pretty much won everything this time last year, his only hope is that Nadal does worse, much worse than last year, which wasnt really very good to begin with… I havent gone through the math of it but the basic point is that for Roger too defend his points (that have as a n2 right now) hes gonna have to win the US and the Masters so it doesnt matter how dominating he is, it is up to Nadal to lose the few points he has to defend if Roger is to pass him

August 3rd, 2008 at 11:13 pm

I said Djokovic can overtake Nadal and Federer and I still stick by it. So he lost to Murray. As of late that doesn’t at all seem like a bad result. A shame he couldn’t get the NAHC sweep but he has many years to get it.

August 4th, 2008 at 1:19 am

after watching murray and djokovic play in cincy final, 4me, i miss the days of a federer-nadal final. u never c the kvetching and heavy breathing and tired looks on their faces the way these 2 play. djokovic didn’t look like he even enjoyed being out there and murray towards the end looked like he was about 2 keel over. after watching countless nadal-federer finals u never saw that from them. all i can say if this is the future of tennis and finals then i will mourn the days of federer-nadal. i personally don’t get the same enjoyment watching djokovic or murray. as 4 other youngsters coming up the ranks i don’t c anyone that consistently plays well other than djokovic and murray is starting to and nadal goes without saying. maybe federer is soon 2b out this new generation mix, but i 4 one will truly miss him in finals. he has never retired from a match. so many things have been written about federers demise and i can only hope he bounces back to blow all of our minds. out of the youngsters, nadal is the only one w/class and maturity

August 4th, 2008 at 1:19 am

But Murray fears Nadal. But this US Open would be interesting.

August 4th, 2008 at 3:25 am

I have to disagree entirely with Sheila above. To me, nothing would be better for tennis than for Djokovic and Murray to displace both Federer and Nadal at the top. The grouchy Murray and the affable Djokovic are far more interesting human beings than Federer and Nadal can ever hope to be. For some of us, the drama of tennis isn’t purely athletic, and seeing young men who are recognizably young men succeed at a sport that more often favors the robotic over the human is a beautiful thing.

As for Federer, not only is it time for him to “walk the walk” but it’s also time for him to stop acting like he can simply adjust his expectations at every turn without looking like a fool. First we hear that he wants to be judged on the entire year after the Australian (where he had what has to be the mildest case of “mono” in human history), then after the first part of the year goes south he wants to be judged on the French and Wimbledon. Now he’s adjusted expectations again to rely on the Olympics and the US Open. I suspect that come September, he’ll be telling us that all he needs to have another “great” year will be to win the Masters Cup. And by December he’ll be saying that we should’ve all just judged the year based on his monumental wins in Estoril and Halle.

As for Jankovic, I’ll be happy to see her at No. 1 for the same reason I love Djokovic so much. She may be occasionally bratty, but she’s not a cyborg like Ivanovic. And for those who think Ivanovic is a creditable number one simply because she won the French, please note that her record after that win is a brilliant 2-2. And since all of the post-Henin No. 1’s have faced the same illegitimacy problem (Henin left with all her toys, meaning that no one in the rankings had any champion’s points post-Wimbledon) I see no reason why Jankovic shouldn’t get a crack at it. At least she’s better than 50% since June.

August 4th, 2008 at 4:48 am

If Murray is exits early, or has to play Nadal instead. But it is very likely to have a new champ there this year!

August 4th, 2008 at 5:46 am

Not that I dislike him or anything. But I like Murray’s game better!

August 4th, 2008 at 5:48 am

Joshua,

I agree with you that Murray and Djokovic are good for the sport; personally I like Rafa too, especially his on court zeal. But Murray & Djoko, with their contrasting styles (although Murray is playing a little more like Djoko these days) and personalities, are great. Maybe I’d agree with sheila in the sense that it wasn’t the best final because neither player was playing at his best, especially Novak. Still, when it was all over, Djoko was visibly happy for Andy; just look at pictures of Andy holding up his first MS shield with Novak smiling behind him – these two go back to the juniors. Theirs will be a friendly rivalry I’d think.

It’s not that I have anything against Fed-Rafa finals, the last two Wimbledon finals being absolute classics, but it’s good to see different faces and styles too.

It’s important to look at finals case-by-case too; certainly the French Open final was a wash out this year. And other than appreciating Rafa’s clay brilliance, it wasn’t that exciting or certainly not competitive. And there have been other Fed-Rafa finals not as exciting as they could be, when one them was tired or something (like at 07 Hamburg). So I think context plays a role in terms of how exciting the finals are, not only the players. At least that’s how I see it.

August 4th, 2008 at 6:45 am

***
sheila Says:
“after watching murray and djokovic play in cincy final, 4me, i miss the days of a federer-nadal final. u never c the kvetching and heavy breathing and tired looks on their faces the way these 2 play. djokovic didn’t look like he even enjoyed being out there and murray towards the end looked like he was about 2 keel over. after watching countless nadal-federer finals u never saw that from them. all i can say if this is the future of tennis and finals then i will mourn the days of federer-nadal.”
***

Are you serious?? Do you have no sense of empathy for the players to deal with such harsh conditions, or even the simple recognition that it was 35 degrees Celsius on the court (and high humidity worsening the heat) making it EXTREMELY tough playing conditions?

I also agree with Joshua and his comments. Who wants to watch robotic human beings do battle for hours on end? It gets so boring – it’s impossible to identify with them. Watching the young players who have less stamina than Fed/Nad is much more dramatic. I admire them all the more for sticking it out through the tough times.

August 4th, 2008 at 7:29 am

Very well said.

August 4th, 2008 at 7:33 am

Oh geez sorry, the above is from me. I was just mucking around with my display name with a friend and forgot to change it :P

August 4th, 2008 at 7:37 am

Hamburg 07 was still a very exciting final… it gave every Fed fan in the world some hope…. Nadal was trying to keep up his 80 something winning streak on clay, and Federer was trying to prove he could beat Nadal on clay right before the French…. just imagine how long the streak would have gone to had Federer not beat Nadal back then… Federer seemed particularly very happy after it was over…. granted the match itself wasnt as nerve breaking as Wimbledon 08, but it still went to three sets.

August 4th, 2008 at 7:37 am

You sounded like one! lol

August 4th, 2008 at 7:53 am

Especially Federer choked in the 2 second set, leading 4-1. And Nadal won 5 games and the set. And he is a front runner and he could also comes back from behind and win a match, which Federer is having problems with. Probably that memory haunted Federer when he was leading 4-1 against Ginepri and dropped the set.

August 4th, 2008 at 7:58 am

I think each player brings his unique style to the game. I will certaily miss RAfa-Federer matches. Yes, there has been one or two lopsided matched among 18 that they have played, but others, each could have been a classic. Rome 06, Dubai 06, Shanghai 06, Miami 05, Wimbledon 07 and certainly wimbleon 08.

joko has powerful greound strokes, but I particularly enjoyed Murray’s “intelligent tennis ” yesterday. I also enjoyed Gasquet’s great match against RAfa in Toronto. I certainly hope we have Federer around for much longer time , but I am sure we will get excited by these new players as well.

August 4th, 2008 at 8:46 am

oops it should be “Djoko”, not “joko”!

August 4th, 2008 at 8:48 am

Nadal with Maria Francisca “Xisca” Perello on vacation:
http://photos.tmz.com/galleries/nadal_and_girlfriend#22094

http://photos.tmz.com/galleries/nadals_vacation#22252

August 4th, 2008 at 9:40 am

If the top players only show up for Slams and any other larger purse tournaments, pleading injury the rest of the time, what do you expect from the ranking system? Maybe their injury is too tired of living on the road and too wealthy. Maybe they try to have a life. Should those who are out their really working be second class?

Then you have the one time wonders who win a big tournament and then fold. Should Roddick, for example, get so much attention when winning only one Slam (no small feat BTW)? Tennis is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately sport.

Those who have to pee on Jankovic’s accomplishment should start their own ranking system and see if the players go for it. How do you run a fair seeding process?

August 4th, 2008 at 10:38 am

First of all congrats Jankovic – your amazing :).
Nadal gets smacked by Djokovic as I predicted due to Djokovic’s superior baseline game on hardcourt (giving him an edge over other players on Nadal’s tremendous topspin). All these Russians are taking over the game. Anyways, as long as they are good looking and play hard – I don’t mind. Safina is a great player, and she has a lot of potential. It would be great to see her crack the top 4 or 5.

VISIT MY BLOG AT: talkaboutsport.blogspot.com

August 4th, 2008 at 10:39 am

TalkAboutSport Says:
“… All these Russians are taking over the game. Anyways, as long as they are good looking and play hard – I don’t mind.”

How perfect your pea-brained world must be.

It’s not enough that someone be a brilliant tennis player? They have to be a babe as well?
Perhaps you should change the title of your blog from talkaboutsport to talkaboutsuperficiality.

August 4th, 2008 at 11:14 am

The system as it is on WTA and on ATP is to count results not the titles.
Jankovic has (in this season): one title (tierI), one final (tierI), five semifinals (two slams, one tierI, 2xTierII) and five quarterfinals, and her weaker result this season was 4th round at Wimbledon. So, that means that she came to the QF on 12 tournaments out of 13!
Ok, we can say she doesn’t have enough consistency to get to the slams title, but she showed more consistency than any other player on the tour this year and IMO she totally deserves to get that no.1 at least one week as a reward to all of her efforts given to tennis!
And to quote her words: “When you get older, at least one day you can say you were No.1 and no one can take that away from you.”

August 4th, 2008 at 11:41 am

Jankovic has a great game, she even had the game to beat Juju on several occasion she had leads over henin but she always lost them.

for me 2007 should have being the year she could have won a GS but due the main reasons she played too much tennis and her mental strenghth is just too low especially when she plays henin.

As for Ivanovic if you follow women tennis you will know that she has greatly improved her game compared to just 1 1/2 year ago.

safina i am very happy for especially the support she shows for her brother.

The other girl who played safina in the final she is called dominka cibulkova for a lady 5ft 3 she packs a punch and she is also very cute(i guess thats what most of the guy bloggers like about her).

i am not a Juju fan but I miss her because I always looked forward to see how other players matched up against her and the female tennis lost a lot when she retired .

That is why even though I am not a Roger fan I hope he does not retire male tennis wont be the same without him

August 4th, 2008 at 2:41 pm

Joshua:

“For some of us, the drama of tennis isn’t purely athletic, and seeing young men who are recognizably young men succeed at a sport that more often favors the robotic over the human is a beautiful thing.”

I wholeheartedly agree with your above statement. I posted on another thread, in response to a comment concerning Tommy Haas shouting in his match v.Nadal that the athletes are not mummies. Some find any comments from the athletes to be “irritating”, and are fixated on silence or the subject of silence. I like it that some of the players have the courage to show their emotions and let us see a glimpse of a different aspect of their personalities. For me, that’s a genuine human being not a phoney, who pretends to politically correct at all times. After all, it’s sports and we go to matches for entertainment and enjoyment. We don’t need the atmosphere of a wake where everyone is gloom and doom and walks around in a haze, do we? I too, don’t like the robotic types — I’m an advocate of humor and sometimes I think some of the athletes’ comments on court are very funny. Anyway, it’s a matter of preference, but at the same time, those who don’t like it have a serious problem, because it’s the trend in all sports of the present generation of athletes, and that is to express their emotions.

On the topic of the women athletes, I miss Amelie Mauresmo’s style of playing. She’s a true serve and volleyer, plus she has a superb net and ground game. a pity she is on the decline due to her many injuries.

August 4th, 2008 at 3:04 pm

Actually this isn’t a first for the women — both Kim Clijsters and Amelie Mauresmo took the top ranking before winning their first Slam. And both failed to reach the ranking after having finally won their first. Back then women used to get bonus points for beating players ranked higher than they were, a practice (someone correct me if I’m wrong) that they eventually abandoned. But they had the same issues with the Williams sisters not playing as often.

The only man I can think of who did it was Marcelo Rios — who is the only men’s or women’s player to date to have held the ranking without winning a Slam (assuming Jankovic can win one at some point).

August 4th, 2008 at 5:25 pm

“And if Roger still harbors any hopes of ending this year No. 1 and close within one of Pete Sampras’s record six straight No. 1 finishes, he has to win the US Open. That simple. I know he makes it sound like he doesn’t care about the top ranking, but that’s garbage. He cares and he cares a lot.”

He definately cares about No.1 based on past comments. Plus he arranges his schedule based around protecting it (dumping baggage like Davis Cup for instance). I wonder if he will play in 2009 since his excuses are running out. He used to be tired of the team depending entirely on him. Now Stan is a top 10 player, so much of the burden is lifted from his shoulders. And skipping DC didn’t keep him #1 this year, nor did playing it stop Nadal from getting it.

Congrats to Novak for the win, and to Rafa for securing #1. I wasn’t expecting Rafa to win, so I’m still happy for him.

August 4th, 2008 at 8:12 pm

JCF

Fed will be playing Davis Cup this year.

Regarding number one, this year has shown as that things can change pretty quickly. In the first months it was all about Djoko. Who would have thought that after having his n. 2 in jeopardy in that Hamburgo semi, Nadal would did what he did: 5 tourneys in a row and n. 1 seed at US Open?! Or that Fed would have his worst Canada/Cincy in ages?

The only thing that happened, which some of us were wating for a long time, was Murray to show his true colors. Finally, it was about time!

August 4th, 2008 at 11:05 pm

obviously 4 those of u who disagree w/me its a matter of the personalities. i think all these guys have a great “tennis game”, but personality wise i’m sticking w/the robotics (what i call maturity), of federer and nadal.

August 5th, 2008 at 12:21 am

Thanks to Jane for pointing out how genuinely happy Djokovic seemed to be for Murray, which is something I forgot to mention. I don’t think that rivals have to play nice or be friends, but I also think that tennis benefits when players have real relationships with each other. All the endless talk about how much Federer and Nadal “respect” each other makes me roll my eyes. They have neither the kind of passionate vicious rivalry that can be so much fun nor the friendly rivalry that has its own appeal. They just, you know, RESPECT each other. Whatever that means.

Now, admittedly this wasn’t a five set Wimbledon final, but for Djokovic to lose a close match he was finally starting to figure out and still be gracious enough to embrace him opponent and congratulate him warmly and genuinely is still a very rare thing in tennis. Maturity is probably overrated (sorry Sheila!) but if this isn’t a definite sign of maturity than what is?

August 5th, 2008 at 2:30 am

Remember how he trashed Federer at Roland Garros? If it was Boris Becker, it would be another story. Although I like Becky for being cocky. I remember when Becker beat Edberg in this indoor event. He was saying stuffs, how happy he was beating the world number 1 with that score. I used to dislike Edberg, because he is overated like Federer. And not a true gentleman like everyone were saying.

August 5th, 2008 at 10:18 am

You know whenever he was beating Federer. He would tell people that, Federer is the real number 1. And he is number 2 in the world. He was being nice with words he said. But Federer definitely would feels upset, because of it. Because it is like a sarcasm he made for beating him.

August 5th, 2008 at 10:22 am

i want to say that federer and nadal have put the game of tennis back on the map as far as tv ratings goes and the incredible rivalry between them has not been witnessed since the days of sampras-agassi or borg -mcenroe and it has reached heights that has kept us at knife -edge tension each and every time that they grace the courts.
I am a through and through Nadal fan and I have had the pleasure of meeting him 3 weeks ago at Wimbledon and as excited as I AM TO SEE HIM FINALLY OVERTAKE the great Federer in the ATP rankings my heart went out to Federer as this man has raised the bar in this wonderful sport known as tennis and to be able to sustain such an incredible grip at the top for so long and having won the Laureus Sportsman of the year award 3 years running is an unbelievable achievement that probably will never be surpassed.
So hats off to the great man and may we blessed with a comeback from him which I have no doubt will be coming sooner than later and to more exciting matches which no doubt will include Djokovic.Murray and my tip for the not too distant future,new kid on the block Maran Cilic.

August 6th, 2008 at 5:15 pm