Tennis Is In a Good Place

I blame my mother. Or better yet, I credit my mother.

Way back before I really knew anything about tennis, my mother was a Bjorn Borg fan. Not Jimmy Connors. Not John McEnroe. Bjorn Borg. The Swede. Not the Americans.

With no other Americans outside of Serena Williams a threat to do anything in the world of tennis, it does not affect my enjoyment of the game. Thanks to mom, I learned long ago not to tie my love of good tennis to a flag.

On the men's side, how much better does it get than Roger Federer (I'm a FedFan), Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic slugging it out major after major. I could include Andy Murray in there as well. And then you have Stan Warkinka and Kei Nishikori. The interesting games of Gael Monfils and Alexandr Dolgopolov. How could anyone who likes the sport not be entertained?

Would it be nice if an American male could make a splash? Sure. But it does not define my enjoyment of tennis.

On the women's side, only Serena can beat Serena right now. When her head is right and she's on her game, nobody can beat her.

After that, it's wide open. Right now I'm kind of partial to Simona Halep. There are some good young American women, Madison Keyes, Sloane Stephens, Vavara Lepchencko (which further muddies the waters since she was not US born), and Coco Vandeweghe.

But there is also Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic, Sam Stosur, Victoria Azarenka, etc.

It's not the Olympics (except every four years) so I don't root for the flag beside the players name. For the most part. I usually just root for my favorites based on other things. So, yeah, get over the fact that American tennis is not at its apex. Just enjoy.

Fed and Venus, Play as Long as You Want

Sports are cruel. And unforgiving. You lose a step, lose some power, lose...whatever, you're done. Washed up. Time to move on. You're shelf life is remarkably short. At least at the top of the profession.

Most careers, the more experience the better. And this is true of sports to certain degree. But the life span is so much shorter.

This brings me to tennis and more specifically Roger Federer and Venus Williams. And even more specifically the 2014 Australian Open. The fun slam.

Venus exited in a tough first round loss to Ekaterina Makarova in three sets. Now this was no upset by any means. Makarova is the number 22 seed and Venus was unseeded.

Venus has some health problems and is but a shell of her former self when she was queen of Wimbledon.

Federer is not the Federer the past few years. He many not even really be a part of the Big Four now. Age has caught up with him. And the likes of Rafael Nadal , Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have passed him by.

But he's still Roger Federer. Still moves elegantly. Can still pull off shots that others don't even think of.

What do these former champions have in common?

Both are asked when it will be time to hang up rackets (at least on the main tour). For Venus it's quite obvious why. Her health is preventing her from attaining the level in which she was once accustomed. She can still play at a high level, in spurts, but consistency is a problem.

For Federer, he is no longer the dominant player he once was. One who could be counted on to reach the semi-finals of every major. The player for whom winning only one major in a calendar year was ho-hum.

But, you know what? Both of these players love to compete. And I, for one, think they should continue to do so as long as they want.

Sure, both are in the twilights of their respective careers. Venus can still win some singles matches and along with her sister, Serena Williams, form one of the most formidable doubles teams in the world.

Roger has flashes of the old Federer. As long as those flashes are still there, hope remains for one more major title.

Until the day comes when these two decide to retire, just enjoy. Let them go out when they deem it the right time. It is not ours to decide.

2012 US Open: A strange first week

The first week (and a little more) of the 2012 US Open is behind us, and, quite frankly, it's been just a little strange.

Not so much the actual tennis, for the most part the usual suspects are still around, but just the whole feel of it.  With this being the last hurrahs of Andy Roddick and Kim Clijsters, the entire event has been a kind of nostalgic, feel-good tournament.  The on-court interviews after every match have turned into a tribute to the two retirees.

Not that it has been a bad thing.  Roddick and Clijsters deserve all the good things being said about them.  It has just brought about a different kind of aura to the event.

Serena is Scary Good
Since Serena Williams surprise dismissal in the second round of the French Open, she has been playing frighteningly well.  I don't know that I have ever seen a player that looks like so outclassed the competition before.  Serena was quoted as saying her opponent on Monday played well.  Her opponent failed to win a game.  Imagine if she had not played well.

It would require a complete meltdown by Serena for her to lose a match right now.  But we have seen that happen before.  However, I would not count on that happening at this point in time.

Isner is what he is
John Isner has a huge serve and huge forehand.  Not much defense.  If a set doesn't go to a tiebreak, one break either way usually decides it.  That is Isner.  A top 15 player.  With that huge serve, probably for long time.  We don't see him ever getting to the point where he can win a major.

Isner will play a ton of matches that go the distance (whether that be three or five sets) against good players. He will lose as many as he wins.  Because it all revolves around one service break or the tie breaker.