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Wrapping up Wimbledon Posted: Monday July 08, 2002 2:59 PM
Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim will answer your tennis questions every Monday. Click here to send a question. Some random ruminations from a random Wimbledon: Men's tennis seems to have solved its parity problem. Since last year's U.S. Open, Lleyton Hewitt is playing at a different level from the rest of the field. With Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi in their sunset years, Gustavo Kuerten and Juan Carlos Ferrero still markedly better on clay than other surfaces, Andy Roddick a work in progress (if not regress), and Marat Safin and Roger Federer honorary citizens of Headcaseville, there is no imminent threat to Hewitt's dominance. ... So much is made of Hewitt's counterpunching and his Michael Chang-like style, which can take its toll on the body, but don't underestimate his power. Consider: After five rounds, Hewitt had twice as many aces as Tim Henman, 72-36. ... Speaking of dominance, Serena Williams has won 36 of her last 37 matches, most of them played on her worst surface. If you discount her retirement in Sydney from an ankle injury, she's lost just four times in the past year. ... Anyone who watched Saturday's match and still posits that the Williams-Williams affairs are fixed should be chased around with a butterfly net. ... Venus Williams got one winner's trophy last week. She and Serena teamed to beat Virginia Ruano Pascal and Paola Suarez in the doubles final. ...
For the next two years the ATP Masters Cup will be held in Houston. Want to guess what the surface will be? Yours is as good as mine. ... American tennis fans got to listen to John McEnroe, but those fortunate to view Wimbledon on the Beeb got Boris Becker, whose unintentional comedy rating is off the charts. At one point he filled the dead air during the men's final (and there was lots of it) by saying that it was a shame that Nalbandian was being beaten so thoroughly, but, hey, at least he has a hot girlfriend. ... In this post-9/11 world we live in, it was unconscionable that a streaker was able to penetrate the oxymoronic "Wimbledon security" and make his way to Centre Court during the men's final. (Particularly in a sport that saw Monica Seles get stabbed, particularly during a week in which a player's alleged stalker was arrested at the club.) The pathetic statement released by the All England Club p.r. toadies only made the situation worse. In its entirety it read: "Security has been reviewed but it is always a tough compromise between containment and the great views and closeness to the court that spectators enjoy at Wimbledon. In this instance it was quickly apparent there was no threat, but it would be a great shame if we have to put more permanent measures in place to prevent people gaining access to the court. Clearly, we hope this will not be the case." ... Finally, many of you wrote in about the, uh, striking hairstyle of Orangecene (thanks, Chip), I mean, Oracene Williams. "What do you call that look?" asked T. Crowley of Los Angeles. After consulting several tonsorial experts, we've determined it's known as the "My-daughters-are-dominating-tennis-and-I'll-wear-my-hair-however-I-damn-well-please." Could be a new fad. I'm somewhere over Nova Scotia and my battery is running low, so just a few questions this week:
What do you think of Justine Henin and Amélie Mauresmo lamenting another all-Williams final? They said that people will get bored always seeing the Williamses. But we've had a lot more Chris Evert-Martina Navratilova finals (and so far more Steffi Graf-Monica Seles finals) and no one ever seemed to get bored of those. I'm not sure if we've got a lot of sour grapes going around the WTA Tour, but if other players are getting tired of all-Williams finals, then maybe they need to shape up and raise the level of their games.
The players' gripes do indeed smack of petty jealousy. Even when the Williams-Williams matches are stinkers, the intrafamily affairs still generate tons of interest and elevate the status of the game. (When, say, Jennifer Capriati played Martina Hingis in Australia, you can bet the match wasn't covered on the front page of The New York Times.) When the Williams-Williams matches are well-played and competitive, as Saturday's final was, all the better. Let's see: When the sisters play each other, the television ratings are comparatively high; the media has yet to tire of the story; corporate America loves the sisters (wait and see how much bank Serena gets for her next shoe deal); the women's game is being portrayed as a fiercely athletic sport; and Venus and Serena both come across as charming and well-adjusted. How can this possibly be bad for women's tennis? One gets the sense that after years of rationalizing and excuse-making, the rest of the WTA Tour field finally is resigned to the fact that Venus and Serena are not a cut above, but many. Mauresmo even conceded that her goal is to be No. 3 because right now toppling either Venus or Serena is unrealistic.
We heard a lot of whining about how the courts at Wimbledon played too slow or were in worse shape than last year. But it seems to me one hears complaints about the court surface playing differently than the previous year at every Grand Slam. How much does court speed actually vary and how much is just in the players' heads?
Often it's in the players' heads, but in this case the courts were demonstrably slower. (Of course, the conditions didn't help, either.) The boys at the All England clearly have been hearing the critique that Wimbledon matches have degenerated into wham-bam-thank-you-Goran affairs in which rallies are nonexistent and any hard-serving thug has a chance to win the title. The problem is that altering the grass to make it play slower and using heavier balls will only speed up the death of serve-and-volley. Two asides: Bjorkman went to great lengths Sunday to complain about how slow indoor surfaces have become. Hadn't really heard that before, but it's an interesting observation. Also, as surface becomes increasingly significant in the men's game, it is less and less an issue in women's tennis. The Williams sisters playing in the final of the French and Wimbledon, two opposite ends of the court-speed spectrum, is an obvious example. Here's a less-obvious one: Ruano Pascal and Suarez, two players with dirtball origins, came within a match of winning the Wimbledon doubles crown.
I just finished reading Venus Williams' post-match interview from Day 7. In it, she made a comment that raised my eyebrows. When asked her feelings about Jennifer Capriati, after dancing around the issue she said that Capriati was "a funny person." Jennifer never struck me as the humorous type, yet Venus never struck me as one to hide her intentions when answering questions.
Come on. All that joy and levity J-Cap radiates? She is a vaudeville act disguised as a tennis player. Go through some of her interview transcripts and I defy you not to crack up. Honestly, when both the Williams sisters are interviewed, they often say the first thing that comes to their minds, no matter how absurd or contradictory. (Serena calls herself "strong" and "jaded." No, wait. She is "emotional" and "a baby.") My strong suspicion is that Venus hated the question and simply came up with the first adjective that sprung into her head. (You're right, though, it sounded like a Mad Libs sentence.)
Every year in Indianapolis there is an NFL combine in which prospects go through vigorous tests of speed. If tennis were to hold a similar type of speed testing, who do you think would have the top five 40-yard dash times in both the WTA and ATP?
Good question. And when tennis finally gets its act together and holds an All-Star weekend, perhaps this can be a competition. I feel like I'm leaving out obvious answers, but my five would be:
MEN
WOMEN
After listening to Martina Navratilova for a few days on TV, I'm stumped as to why someone hasn't asked her to coach -- if even for just the grass-court season. Why is that? Also, what are your thoughts on the Williamses' critique of Steffi Graf as not being a good grass-court player?
Navratilova has too good a life and too many other interests to coach full-time. If she didn't have designs of competing (and if it didn't conflict with her broadcast schedule), her coaching a player -- say, Daniela Hantuchova -- for grass-court events sounds like an excellent idea. As for your second question, I wouldn't call it a "critique" so much as an omission. Asked whether Graf was the best grass-court player she ever faced, Venus, surprisingly, responded, "No." Pressed as to who was better, she spat out the name Els Callens, who had just been beaten in straight sets by Serena. Anyone else? "Nathalie Tauziat," winner of zero Wimbledons. If we're giving Venus the benefit of the doubt, we can speculate that she answered the question not in absolute terms but in terms of "grass-court specialists," i.e., a player whose results are appreciably better on grass than other surfaces. Still, it was a bizarre give-and-take.
Why don't other players on the women's tour simply ask Richard Williams to coach and teach them how to play tennis?
Two answers: 1) Why would Richard share his insight with his daughters' competition? It would be like a baseball catcher telling a batter what pitch was coming. (Of course, of all people, Richard just might.) 2) No players will approach Richard because that would be a concession that he's won. It's much easier (and less ego-deflating) to come up with theories about match-fixing and biological engineering. Say this: If Richard got serious about his "plan" to open a tennis academy, he would have to turn away business.
Considering that American men seem to reach new lows at each Grand Slam, has the USTA commented on how it is going to fix this problem? Or, like Nero, are officials busy fiddling while Rome is burning?
Hey, diddle, diddle. The USTA is going to fix this with premium-class airfare, comically inflated salaries and all the lobster bisque you can slurp. (It is, after all, a non-profit, right?) And don't buy the hype that goes something like this: "The men might be in a down cycle, but the American women are kicking butt." Let's see: The Williams sisters took pains to avoid what their prescient father calls "the freak show" of junior tennis. Capriati turned pro before she was 14. Seles, of course, had nothing to do with the American juniors. Shaughnessy will tell anyone who will listen how she has succeeded in spite of the USTA. The short of it: There ain't much to show to support the prohibitively expensive U.S. Open tickets, the $8 hamburgers and the soul-sucking luxury boxes at Flushing Meadows. At some point, perhaps the peasants will revolt. But far be it from me to trash the USTA. On that note, have a great week, everyone!
Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim covers tennis for the magazine and is a regular contributor to
CNNSI.com. Click here to send him a question or comment.
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