ATP Tennis/Non-India Davis Cup

[suresh]

Am I the only person who is profoundly bored by this? Hitherto I've been a fan of no tie-break in the last set. Now I'm not so sure. I mean, all credit to Isner & Mahut for the endurance and tremendous concentration that this feat is taking, but who is really enjoying watching it?

How often can a match end up with such a long tie-break? Tim Gowers (a mathematician of some note!) has estimated this in his blog in an article titled A mathematician watches tennis II. One of his crude estimates is that such a thing can occur in the grand slams once every twenty years and a further refinement only increases this number. So Prashant, you won't be bored that often and can/should remain a fan of the no tie-break in the last set.

[Prashant]

Thanks Suresh - that is a really interesting read.

Exhibit A in my argument for the lack of 5th set tie break is Federer-Roddick last year. Great drama & immensely watchable. Isner-Mahut on the other hand...

[PKBasu]

I would say that Isner-Mahut was really a freak event, caused by the fact that both have great serves (and decent serve & volley styles that are especially suited to grass), but neither has a great return of serve. That is what caused the stalemate, as their serves refused to desert them. I doubt something like this would have happened elsewhere. I recall the Bopanna-Verkerk Davis Cup match -- in which Bopanna was deprived by a bad line call on what turned out to be the final point of the match. That too had the potential to go on for a very long time, although the tendency would normally be greatest on grass courts.

[x_y_Z_a]

I was amazed that they could both serve so many aces in spite of being so tired in the later part of fifth set. John Isner siad that he would want the long fifth set to continue even though he was involved in such a marathon. What is more to be appreciated is that bot never lost their composure till the end. Great sportsmen. Hats off to them.

[PKBasu]

Congratulations to Yen Hsun Lu for becoming the first Taiwanese to make the Wimbledon QF. I think he is the first Asian since Shuzo Matsuoka in 1995, before which the last Asian I think was Ramesh Krishnan in 1986. I watched the whole of the final set while waiting in a lounge at Heathrow Terminal 1 yesterday, and Lu was simply brilliant. His strokeplay was often breath-taking, with some nice drop shots and utterly brilliant passing shots down the line on the forehand side. But what was really astonishing was the way he broke Roddick's serve in the 16th game of the final set, keeping his composure to go 0-30 up and sustaining it after Roddick made it 30-30. He broke on the first break-point he got in the set (perhaps in the match?) with another superb passing shot. Truly remarkable win over last year's tragic runner-up. I think the whole crowd felt for Roddick (how could they banish him to Court 2, the graveyard of champions??), but Lu (who I saw on Centre Court last year losing to Federer in the opening match at Wimbledon, but not after breaking the great man's serve once) fully deserved to win.

[prasen9]

Federer lost at Wimbledon? The setting of the sun?

[Sandeep]

A definite yes for your question. He might still win a couple of grand slams at the most, but I don't see him breaking sampras's record at Wimbledon. Sad but we are surely witnessing the end of Federer's era. I am an out and out Roddick fan, but I am sure I will miss Federer dominating grand slams. What a great champion .

Ps: Sampras will remain the king of grass.

[Sathya]

Sandeep,

Please do not write off Federer yet at Wimbledon. Of all Grandslams, He loves Wimbledon the most ! He already made a statement that he cant wait to comeback to Paris and Wimbledon !! Yes, his level of play has gone down certainly. But he will be smart enough like Tendulkar to play well to comeback and win (like Sachin did 200 in ODI). I hoped that Tendulkar will be back with bang when most of us rooted for his head and your GOD Tendulkar blessed me his fan with such a wonderful comeback. I hope the same for Federer that he will be back at Wimbledon as a winner in 2011 or in 2012 or in BOTH years !!!!

Having said this, what I do not like with Federer now a days is that he is becoming a sour looser blaming Luck / injury / court / praising Del Potoro (who is not playing due to injury) instead of just accepting that he did not play well to win.

[S_K_S]

Can't really compare the two sports. If anything Tendulkar has been helped by the decline in standard of bowling in the past decade where as one could argue that the standard of mens tennis has risen making it harder for Federer to remain number 1.

[prasen9]

And the physical fitness demands in a sport like tennis is much more than that in cricket. Also, often batsmen do not lose their skills drastically until they are 37 or 40. But, there are very few tennis mens players who had a run of grand slam championships when they are in their 30s. So, the sun indeed is setting. Federer may win another Wimbledon if he gets favorable draws, but he will no longer be the invincible Federer we knew of a few years ago.

[Sandeep]

I disagree with Samarth that declining bowling has helped Tendulkar to continue. But it is a different topic

Sathya, Tennis and Cricket are two different games. In tennis you are pitted against opponents who are young and constantly improving their game and physical fitness is as important as skill in tennis. Aging Federer can't obviously compete with the youngsters and definitely his decline has started. In cricket skill is far more superior to fitness. You can not compare both the sports.

[Sathya]

No I was NOT comparing Cricket and Tennis. All I want to convey was that Tendulkar went through this kind of situation (being written off) only to come back strong. I hope Federer can comeback. I will wait (till Federer announces retirement) to see him come back and win at least 20 GS. Its my wish as his fan.

[prasen9]

How about 'im? Rafael Nadal. French Open and Wimbledon in the same year. Should be a rare feat? Who are the others who have done that in the open era? Last year, Federer did it and in 2008 Nadal did it. But before that, one has to go back 24 years to 1984 and in 1981 when John McEnroe did it and 1982 when Connors did it. So, from 1984 to the late 2000s, we saw the dominance of specialists and now Federer-Nadal like McEnroe-Connors have rivalries where the players are good on multiple types of surfaces. Then, you have to go back another 12 years to Rod Laver in 1969 and 1962, his Grand Slam year. I did not go back beyond 1962. So, it seems tennis generally has specialists winning except in a few (near) consecutive years (2008-2010 and 1981-82,84), we see the dominance of a player or two who are equally competent on all surfaces.

[jaydeep]

Prasen, u forgot to add Björn Borg, who is the only male player to have won both the French Open and Wimbledon singles titles in the same year for three consecutive years (1978–80).

[kna]

Prasen, the last one before Nadal and Federer to win the French and WImbledon was Borg. McEnroe and Connors never won the French. Connors won the Australian, Wimbledon and US Open in 1974 (was not allowed to play the French), and Wimbledon and US OPen in 1982. McEnroe won Wimbledon and the US Open in 1981 and 1984.

Nadal may be playing better than 2008. If his knees hold up, he can make a run at Federer's record of 16 (or more) Grand Slam titles. I hope he does, but he has be be very selective in how much tennis he plays (especially on hard courts). I love how humble he is and how he always is respectful towards his opponents.