Wimbledon Whimsy

Good, erm, morning, everyone! I find myself compelled in my restlessness to set down a few choice thoughts, here in the final hours before yet another Wimbledon is set to commence.

We will have to wait until Tuesday for the most exciting first-round match-up on the cards, when- in a development so promotionally fortuitous as to stoke conspiratorial speculation that the draw is rigged- we are to be treated to a rematch of the legendary 11-hour encounter at last year's Wimbledon between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut. Of course, this match also carries with it the potential for a great anticlimax, as neither Isner nor Mahut is a major competitive favorite for the tournament, and a repeat of the kind of epic drama we saw last year seems less than probable.

Andy Murray seems to have had the most promising immediate lead-up to this year's championships, having made an outstanding title run at Queen's Club while Nadal went down meekly against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Federer and Djokovic fell dormant. However, it seems clear that the rather-more-grueling clay-court runs shouldered by the latter three contributed to this turn of events, and I expect we will see them fit and refreshed when they take to the court these next couple days. Djokovic reportedly looked back in fearsome form at a recent grass-court exhibition against Gilles Simon, though it remains to be seen whether the sort of magic that seemed to follow him for six months, up until his fateful meeting with Federer at Roland Garros, will still be there for him in London. This year's draw is particularly fascinating because, in contrast to recent years, wherein one could often easily identify a single cut-and-dried front-runner, there are now multiple players (Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, perhaps even Murray) who can be plausibly construed as favorite to claim the title, as well as several darkhorses (Roddick, Tsonga, Berdych) with the potential to upset the apple cart.

Unfortunately, as seen in my last post (juxtaposed with the subsequent thrashing he suffered at the hands of Murray) I seem to jinx Mr. Roddick whenever I say anything terribly optimistic about his competitive prospects, and so I will keep current speculation on his chances here strictly tentative: though he has not often shown it in recent months, I do believe that Roddick is still capable, given the necessary stroke of inspiration, of repeating everything he did in 2009 that carried him so close to the title. However, as we cannot count on this happening, I will say that a quarterfinal showing would be a solid result for him, and encouraging for those of us who are hoping to see him finish in the world's top 10 for a tenth consecutive season, as well as potentially qualify for a ninth consecutive year-end championships- two goals toward which he is a bit behind schedule at the moment.

I shall now wish you well and take leave of the waking world ever so briefly before rousing myself in anticipation of the joys to come.

Grassy Miscellany

In the aftermath of the historic events of the 2011 French Open, the ATP has turned its attention to the brief-but-crucial grass-court swing, wherein tournaments at London and Halle offer the major warm-up opportunities to the world's finest players. The top performers from the clay-court season seem to be experiencing a bit of burn-out, as Federer and Djokovic both withdrew from their scheduled events, while Nadal, having once more done just enough to maintain his tenuous hold on the exclusive world's number-one ranking (an immediate exit would have created the unique situation of co-number-one status, as Nadal and Djokovic would each have held 12,025 points to their credit come Monday) bombed out in a lackluster showing against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga yesterday afternoon.

I have been pleased to see my countryman, Mr. Andy Roddick, back in strong form this week at Queen's Club; he has dispatched three consecutive potentially-dangerous opponents, each more dominantly than the last, and in so doing set up a semifinal rematch of his gripping encounter with Andy Murray at Wimbledon two years ago. If he brings the same level of play to the Wimbledon championships later this month, he may once more find himself in contention for the greatest prize in tennis.

A Quick Prognosis Regarding the Final

In spite of the tremendous form shown by Mr. Berdych- who, for the record, bears an uncanny resemblance to an X-Files mutant by the name of Eugene Tooms- in dispatching Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic back-to-back to achieve his place in this final, I feel compelled to favor the experience and head-to-head dominance of world #1 Rafael Nadal on this occasion. Another near-flawless showing from Berdych could see his flat hitting and superior firepower keep Nadal on the defensive and carry him to a historic victory, but the combination of Berdych's established tendency towards choking on the biggest occasions and Nadal's proven tenacity and nerve lead me to see this as unlikely. I will cast my official prediction in favor of a Nadal victory in four sets.

Roddick's Never-Ending Train of Heartache

Andy Roddick takes to the lawns of Wimbledon to participate in a heated tennis epic. He wins the first set with a timely break in its last game, drops the second and third in tiebreaks, then rallies to take the fourth. He appears to hold the upper hand through much of the fifth, the misfortune of serving second notwithstanding. Break points to serve for the match come and go, however, and as the set proceeds deep into extra innings, cracks begin to appear in the once seemingly-impregnable armor of Roddick's service game. At last, one shaky service game sees Roddick broken for the first and only time in the match, and in the process, dismissed in heart-wrenching fashion from the tournament which now stands as the holy grail of his long and compelling career.
A fortnight ago, the preceding text would have appeared quite a specific summary of Roddick's last appearance at Wimbledon 2009. In the aftermath of his 2010 campaign, however, it remains intact to its last word; lightning has struck the same place twice. On a much smaller stage and against a much lesser foe, America's finest practitioner of the tennis game met with the same tragic fate for a second consecutive year.
Like many fans, I have grown increasingly fond of Andy Roddick over the years as his surpassing dedication, persistence, and reverence for the game have shown through. For all his faults, I count him a credit to the game and a sentimental favorite. It is a truly devastating thing, then, the relentless train of heartache that his Grand Slam career has come to represent. I see a man of character and conviction, a fighter possessed of seemingly endless resilience, and yet one who always falls just short of his goal, always clutching at the prize and never quite able to grasp it.
It would seem that Roddick is but a hair too thoughtful, that in the decisive moments, he fails to truly go forth and seize the day, preferring instead to wait for victory to fall in his lap, and that he thus all too often sees it snatched from his hands by an emboldened foe. Is he truly doomed to this lot in his career, or will he at last break free and achieve at least the one final moment of uncompromised glory that could at once atone for all the suffering of the last seven years? Time will tell; until it does, I will continue suffering along with America's beleaguered champion.

An Appetizer Fit to Spoil the Main Course

In several years of closely following Grand Slam tennis tournaments, I have seldom reached the point of true emotional exhaustion prior to the stage at which the titans of the game collide in pitched, high-stakes encounters. The first half of this year's Wimbledon Championships, however, has been a most pointed exception; a week spent arising each morning to immerse myself in ever more gripping, harrowing and historic action, while a treat and a wonderful experience, has repeatedly left me emotionally drained to the point of numbness and fatigue. This being the case, I am thankful for the small eye in this storm of intensity that is afforded by the middle Sunday of Wimbledon, and hope to use it to fully recover my senses and energy for the week to come.

Writing in the wake of the sensation which has reverberated around the world as a result of the aforementioned goings-on, there seems scarcely anything original left to say about them insofar as description or analysis is concerned. Obvious highlights include Roger Federer's narrow aversion of what would have been one of the most tremendous upsets of all time, Rafael Nadal's back-to-back five-set battles, Taylor Dent's new Wimbledon serve-speed record, a rare appearance by the queen of England, and, of course, the historic blood-and-guts war between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, which hearkened back in spirit to the days of epic bare-knuckle fights such as John L. Sullivan's legendary 75-round victory over Jake Kilrain. The consistent quality of entertainment and groundbreaking historical significance of these Championships has been of such brilliance as to utterly transcend any reasonable expectations.

After such a week, however, I do find myself beginning to wonder whether this year's conclusion might actually come off as something of an anti-climax; what could possibly top what we've already seen? Almost anything short of yet another classic final, supplemented by many engaging twists and turns and subplots on the way there, would summon to mind one of those occasions upon which my family and I would go out to eat at our favorite Mexican-style restaurant. We would be served a delicious helping of tortilla chips and salsa as an appetizer- so delicious, in fact, that I would often find myself disappointed and vaguely indifferent when the actual meal arrived. Here's hoping, then, that whatever magic produced this last week has not worn off. It may mean a few more days spent dragging myself out of bed abnormally early each morning to overload my senses for a few hours as a precursor to a hardy afternoon nap, but in my book, it will be more than worth the trouble.

What do you think? Was this the greatest first week of a Wimbledon event in history? Can and will the second week live up to the first week's standard? Who looks the best bet for winning the title? Has my ongoing obsession with this event reached an embarrassing and unhealthy intensity? Let me know. More to come soon, as I delve into the the remainder of the men's singles draw and discuss my thoughts and hopes regarding competitive prospects for the decisive stages of the tournament.