Pro Tennis Fan

Roddick's Wimbledon Prediction

Roddick on Wimbledon

Here is a link to an AP article where Andy Roddick says that Roger Federer is still undoubtedly the favourite to win Wimbledon this year. It will certainly be interesting to see how he handles Nadal this year if they meet in the final after such a brutal defeat in Paris.

Wimbledon Now and Then

By Mike McIntyre

As a child I can remember watching Wimbledon more vividly than any other tennis tournament or sporting event. Even on the sunniest summer days I would hide away in my parent’s cold basement and watch hour after hour of whatever coverage I could find.

I was fascinated by every aspect of the event. Never having seen a grass court in person, I was captivated by the striking green color that the courts held for the first few days of the tournament. There was the prestige of watching the players bow and curtsy towards the Royal box on Center Court. Listening to Bud Collins conduct his interviews in his outrageous outfits with the players in their best tennis whites. And who didn't get chills when that catchy Wimbledon intro music was played as the day's tv coverage began?

Most of all, there was terrific serve and volley tennis that was produced by some of the most colorful players of the time. At first it was watching Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg that got me hooked. The rivalry they enjoyed in the late 1980's was what really attracted me to the sport. Watching Boom-Boom attempt those diving stab volleys was a thing of beauty! Later, players such as Pat Rafter, Pete Sampras and local favorite Tim Henman also produced some highly entertaining tennis that I could not pull away from watching.

Wimbledon always seemed to have intriguing story lines each year as well. It was a tournament that in itself could define a player's entire career. Players such as Jana Novotna and Goran Ivanisevic captured our hearts as they tried so hard each year to win their favorite tournament. Both came so close on numerous occasions before finally persevering to the delight of the local crowd. Witnessing Andre Agassi with his long hair and dangling earring win in 1992 was another moment that seems so vividly etched in my mind. Tim Henman's quest to win Wimbledon on his home soil may not have reached its ultimate goal, but was another storyline for the better part of a decade that gripped an entire nation. The pressure that he had to endure each summer was simply enormous. These are the trials and tribulations that made Wimbledon so special. It was more than just a tennis match.

Of course the tennis itself was a thing of beauty as well.  Players who possessed a big serve and had the volleying skills to back it up were rewarded at the All England Club. Back then I would have answered in a heart beat that grass court tennis was the most exciting and pure tennis that existed. Today, I am no longer certain that this is true. I'm beginning to wonder if grass court tennis is able to maintain the same relevance within the sport as it once did. What makes it special in this day and age? When you see the world's most dominant clay court player, Rafael Nadal, make the Wimbledon finals two years in a row, it seems hard to imagine that tennis on a grass court holds a unique perspective any longer.

Perhaps I am being too nostalgic, and am not giving today’s players their due credit. I'm sure Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, and Lleyton Hewitt would all have something to say about my statements. They do bring something else to the table. Maybe my comparisons are simply what one generation typically will say when comparing their heroes against players from the next generation.

Still, the game to me seems different. The lack of serve and volleying is more apparent each year. The grass at the front of the court by the net appears to be untouched throughout the tournament, as most players refuse to venture in that deep. There are longer rallies, and players are standing further behind the baseline while grinding it out as if they were still in Paris playing at Roland Garros. The ball is bigger and heavier, bounces higher than before and the court plays slower as well. It is hardly distinguishable from the tennis we see on the clay courts and nothing at all like what Wimbledon used to represent. Ultimately I see an evolution in the way the game is played and instinctively feel it somehow threatens the sport and its legacy up to this stage. I find it hard to watch my favorite tournament lose its special aura that no others could touch.

Those who might disagree will say that change can be a good thing and allows for different types of players to get an opportunity to excel at a venue that twenty years ago they would not have had. Can we not appreciate Nadal's never-say-die style of play from behind the baseline on a grass court? If Bjorn Borg's prediction is correct, we may even see the young Spaniard finally win his first title at Wimbledon this year. Sometimes a winner is a winner on any surface I suppose, but it seems hard to accept the true worth of such an accomplishment when the differences between those surfaces appears so negligible.