Dirt, Grass and Chaos

Mr. Cranky Pants

You gatta hand it to Nadal after capturing his 8^th French Open title, he once again proved that the clay courts are his and his alone. Nadal also once again proved what a fighter and competitor he is on… and off the court. There are few if any who have mastered the art of defeating the mighty Federer but that mountain was seemingly too small for Nadal. He then squared off against the ATP with their “Blue Clay” experiment and it was the ATP that would feel the tenacious wrath of The Mallorca native. Now his latest opponent, a worthy one I might add, it appears that Mother Nature is on the war path of the cranky Spaniard. French Open rain delays are not an option for the King of Clay as he openly criticized the organizers at their efforts to maintain a working schedule. The fact that after his tirade the rest of the tournament went off without a hitch, I’d chalk that one up to Rafa getting the better of o’l mother Nature. My opinion… with those wonky knees he better start devising a game plan for his greatest opponent yet, the pesky Father Time.

Quarter Past Fed

Well we now know who will be the trivia answer for “who was the man that halted Roger Federer’s consecutive quarter final streak” the one, thee only Serhiy Stakhovsky. More on him later. The fact is that yet another sign of the ever weakening force field, that once shielded the greatest player of all time, is continuing to dissolve. The titles and numbers behind Federer’s case to be the greatest are all firmly in check but it’s some of those smaller less heralded feats that make even the most skeptical Federer observer give him the nod as numero uno. 36 straight quarter finals in grand slams is a record that is truly extraordinary. Hey even winning a slam isn’t as potent a case for greatness course Gastón Gaudio and Thomas Johansson may say otherwise. Federer’s streak is forever etched in the tennis history books but what about the stories of Federer yet to be told? Was this just a slip up? Will order as we knew it be restored? Or will this open the door to fans, writers and even Federer himself accepting the fact that, despite 10 years of proving otherwise, early round upsets can happen to everyone. EVEN Federer?

Northern Perspective

Well it really is who does what and where it’s done that matters. Wimbledon 2013 was yet again a major disappointment for Milos Raonic in a country that is now starting to doubt and tune out the once sought after prospect of the North. The chats went from “ this Canadian Roanic is good eh, finally a Canadian tennis player with some hope” to “ I guess Raonic was flash in the pan eh?” No joke. The amount of people that represent those extremes and talk to me about it after every tournament is staggering. In reality though it is good to hear. While 2nd round upsets are not what Canadians want nor expect, the anger or disappointment proves how ready the nation is to celebrate a tennis star. In my opinion I pin pointed when this Raonic struggle began. That being said, the “why” it has happened still eludes me. The irony of this all dates back to Canada’s huge Davis Cup win over Italy where Raonic locked up the tie and set up Canada’s first ever semi final date. The post match interview struck me as odd. The well spoken and laid back Raonic, caught up in extreme emotion, was rather boisterous and at times rude with his interviewer. While he seemed on cloud 9 with the win, Raonic made it very clear that there was work to be done and this was not the extent of the heights he envisions for Canada. On one hand it’s great to hear but I remember thinking to myself, lets enjoy this! Not just cause we move to the clay courts next tie to take on Djokovic and the Serbs but because this was an achievement to celebrate and enjoy. My concern is perhaps Milos is trying too hard to carry a country on his back without realizing how much he’s done for Canada already.

Then there is Genie Bouchard... her third round Wimbledon was a success story on so many levels. A huge win over former number 1 Ana Ivanovic on centre Court probably topped the cake but it was more than the result on the grass, one year removed from winning the girls Wimbledon title, the talk at bars, groceries stores, water coolers was “hey how about that Canadian girl Bouchard” it was amazing to hear and even greater to be able to stand proud and reply “ya, she’s doing great”!

 

 

Draw Breakers

Tennis is not a sport that appreciates an upset. I firmly agree with those who said this first. While the 2013 Wimbledon draw was rife with them there was very few underdogs getting any love whatsoever. The fact is, in a sport that is one on one, you need both the "ones" to be intriguing storylines at the very least. And even though Stakhovsky was definitely a storyline 48 hours ago to the fans who paid top dollar to see Federer play in round 3, the Ukrainian was an undisputed  heel. But its not just the upset that potentially ruins a draw it’s the follow up by the underdog that really grinds the gears of the tennis fan. All too often and history shows this, a major upset does NOTHING to boost a player from obscurity into seizing momentum and making a play deep in the draw. Look at this year for example. Stako falls next round after stunning Federer. Darcis fails to even get on the court after taking out Nadal. De Brito took out Maria Sharapova then swiftly followed her on a flight out of town. Even last year… Rosol decided that beating Nadal was a great way to end a tournament, even if it was only round 2. Its part of tennis.  A really really annoying part that has no answers. We just need to hope it happens as little as possible. It’s the beauty of the draw but at the same time, the beast. But this problem dates back many years. Remember when Pete Sampras lost his 4^th round Wimbledon match to a certain Swiss player who next round bowed out routinely to Tim Henman? Wait, okay maybe scratch that guy from this argument. He ended up doing ok in the end.

THANKS

Okay everyone thanks for reading this blog! Starting soon with my next blog there is going to be some exciting changes to GAME SET N BLOG ! Please stick with me and I promise things will only get better! Thanks for the support. It has been overwhelming. Follow me on twitter at "maydaypelligra" to stay tuned with my announcements!