Wrapping up Wimbledon

Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim will answer your tennis questions every Monday. Click here to send a question.

Some random jottings ...

An extended tip of the cap -- or the Nike bandana -- to Roger Federer. Over the weekend he played six sets of the most fluid, complete tennis we've seen since the glory days of a guy named Pete Sampras. ... For a player to win the big prize barely a month after hitting a professional nadir (a first-round, straight-set loss in Paris) speaks eloquently to Federer's character. You wonder whether, with the proverbial weight off his shoulders, Federer will now have his run of the place. ... With Federer's title, Andy Roddick inherits the Best Player Never to Have Won a Slam sash. Roddick, however, did himself proud on the green stuff. He was terrific for five matches and then, well, there's not much you can do when your opponent can hit every shot in the book and decides not to miss. ...

The Serena Show plays on, but before we go any further, let's take a moment to reflect on the fact that the two women's finalists for five of the last six Grand Slam events once shared a bedroom. As globally well-known as Venus and Serena Williams are, we submit that theirs is still the most underrated story in sports. ... Though Serena won the title, the big winner may have been Venus, who answered all the questions prompted by her unfashionably early exit in Paris. But for the aggravation of the stomach injury, she may well have stopped Serena's reign. ... While we're at it, can we finally inter the shabby suggestions that something untoward is going on when the two sisters meet? If it's hard enough playing your sibling, imagine doing so when she is injured. (If, in fact, Richard Williams is pulling strings, we're less concerned about the actual offense than the fact he has divined the same sister six times running.) ...

In Australia, Kim Clijsters had Serena dead to rights in the semis (5-1 in the decisive set) and relinquished her grip. In Paris, Clijsters reached the final and was the favorite against countrywoman Justin Henin-Hardenne, but she came out strung tighter than her racket and couldn't keep a ball in the court. In Wimbledon's final four, Clijsters faced Venus Williams, who was sometimes doubled over in pain from an abdominal injury. Palpably uneasy sticking it to a wounded player, Clijsters lost in three sets. We hope she was watching the men's final on Sunday and learned from Federer that self-possessed, kind-hearted, emotionally sensitive souls (without putting too fine a point on it: human beings) can still get the brass ring in this sport. ...

Speaking of quasi-Aussies, Mark Philippoussis deserves a round of applause for rescuing his career from the ash heap and reaching the final. As long as he comes armed with that serve, he'll always be a threat on grass. You have to think that, not unlike Goran Ivanisevic, he'll have his year eventually. ... Lleyton Hewitt took an absolute beating at Wimbledon, both in his first-round loss to Ivo Karlovic and the extended media pile-on that followed. As we watch with curiosity to see if he emerges a changed man, we'll say this: We're having a hard time naming too many other top male pros who would suffer a stinging upset and then stick around the tournament for two weeks to watch his girlfriend play. ...

Lots of questions this week about the ATP Tour's threatened boycott of future Grand Slams. Mark Miles, the tour's CEO, is as politically savvy as they come. But this was an misplayed hand of epic proportions. The timing was off. When pressed, his own constituents waffled and danced around the issue. Miles' leverage was nonexistent. Sympathy was a sparse commodity. But more than anything: Players the likes of Federer aren't reduced to sobbing -- not tears; sobbing -- when they win Hamburg or Rome or Indian Wells. The Grand Slams are the gold standard for the players, and this has nothing to do with prize money. Until that changes, calls for a boycott ring hollow. ... Anna Kournikova (perhaps you recall the name?) reportedly has split with her coach, Harold Solomon. ... Help us out here: Where have we heard the name Martin Verkerk? ...

How about some props to the Spaniards? Neither Juan Carlos Ferrero nor Feliciano Lopez made the quarters, but both proved that surface differences aren't all they're cracked up to be. ... Had their careers overlapped, who else thinks Tim Henman's name might have popped up in some typically dark and fatalistic Morrissey lyrics? ... Speaking of, reader Ian Katz of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., forwarded a Daily Telegraph poll that asked readers: "When will a Briton next win Wimbledon?" The responses: This year (6 percent). Within 5 years (6 percent). Within 10 years (8 percent). Within 50 years (80 percent). ... Happily, Todd Woodbridge can afford his Isleworth dues this year. Now within two wins of the record for most career doubles titles, Woodbridge teamed with Jonas Bjorkman to defend their Wimbledon crown, beating Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi in the final. ... In the women's division, Clijsters and Ai Sugiyama, as they did in Paris, beat Paola Suarez and Virginia Ruano Pascual to take the title. ... Leander Paes and some middle-aged woman named Martina something-or-other won the mixed-doubles title. It was Martina Navratilova's 20th Wimbledon title, tying Billie Jean King's record. ... Move over, Kim and Justine. In the girl's singles final, Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens beat Anna Tchakvetadza of Russia (yes, you read right: There is a talented junior girl from Russia). In the boy's final, Florin Mergea of Romania beat Chris Guccione of Australia. ...

The Tennis Channel will broadcast a seven-week "Summer Title Wave," with coverage of 12 events from July 8 through Aug. 23. The program schedule features more hours of televised action for these competitions than ever before, beginning with first-round live coverage of many of the events. Also, the third episode of The Tennis Channel's original No Strings series, featuring Russian teen sensation Maria Sharapova, will air Sunday, July 13, at 7:30 p.m. ET. ... Nice week for IMG's Carlos Fleming, who works with both the Williams sisters and, apparently, Philippoussis. The guy got more air time over the weekend than both McEnroe brothers combined. ... SFX is the winner in the Brian Baker sweepstakes, signing the Tennisean Tennessean, America's best junior prospect, who reached the quarterfinals of the boy's draw at Wimbledon. Still SFX's self-congratulatory press release that it had "beaten out it's [sic] rivals to represent the top junior" was as over-the-top in "it's" gloating as it was grammatically flawed. ... Two links to pass on: 1) John McEnroe and Navratilova have spearheaded a groundswell of support for a return to smaller rackets. With a counterpoint -- that we dare suggest is slightly more empirically based -- we turn the floor over to guest contributor Howard Brody, an emeritus physics professor at the University of Pennsylvania who is the world expert on the physics of tennis. 2) This has nothing to do with tennis, but anyone who enjoyed Old School might get a kick out of this link.

A few questions ...

Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport were both asked during post-match press conferences whether they have developed a friendship on tour. Lindsay was somewhat forthcoming; Venus clearly avoided the question, hinting that a male player would never be asked about his friendships with his colleagues. Contrary to Venus' suggestion, I've often heard the young American men speak freely about their friendships with one another off the court. Why do you suppose that Venus didn't just respond that she and Lindsay are as friendly as could be expected of two professional rivals? Is it really the case that the American women limit their exchanges to perfunctory hi-how-are-yous? Is it possible that Lindsay shared her wedding photos with Venus, Serena and Jennifer Capriati? Do they gossip amongst themselves about Billie Jean King's latest Fed Cup crackdown? At least two inquiring minds want to know ...
—Richie Vincent, Houston

I think you're onto something: In a masterful bit of sports psychology, King has purposely made herself a source of bonding among the American women. They can unite in frustration over her martinet-like standards, her inflexibility and her gross misjudgment about the importance of Fed Cup. (And when that gets old, they can discuss how a champion for women's sports can, in good faith, sit on the board of Phillip Morris. But they'll save that for another time.)

Seriously, the dirty secret about the American women is that animosity toward the Williams sisters has really died down. Now that a) the belligerent Richard Williams is less prominent; b) Serena and Venus are no longer arrivistes, but are clearly the two best players in the sport; and c) all parties have matured, the sisters are much more accepted, and vice versa. Lisa Raymond recently told me that relationships "are 100 percent" improved on all fronts and that there is "a lot of mutual respect" between the Williams camp and other players. Also, it's worth pointing out that the other Americans expressed support for Serena in her French Open dispute with Henin-Hardenne. "That was total bulls---," one top American said about JH-H's calling for a let and then not giving Serena another serve when her signal went unnoticed by the chair.

In my experience among the women, too much is made of the friendships and too much is made of the feuds. Clijsters and Henin-Hardenne have been "branded" as the Belgian sisters, but they are not, in fact, particularly close -- not that they're enemies, they just go their own way. Likewise, the assorted feuding players may act frostily toward each other but they are hardly on the verge of brawling. All of which is to say, it is a fairly typical workplace environment.

Would James Blake benefit from a coaching change, à la Andy Roddick? And if so, who would be a good fit for Blake?
—Huey Kwik, Stanford, Calif.

At Wimbledon we saw salient endorsements both for changing coaches and for "rolling with the punches." Roddick was bounced in the first round of the French Open, made a difficult decision to replace Tarik Benhabiles with Brad Gilbert, and promptly came within two matches of winning Wimbledon, regaining his mojo in the process. On the other hand, Federer ignored calls to sack his man Peter Lundgren; a player blessed with Federer's gifts who fails to win a solitary set in three Grand Slams would be well within his rights to make a coaching change. Yet Federer's loyalty obviously paid off. Then we have Hewitt, who parted ways with Jason Stoltenberg and, shall we say, has thus far not been gangbusters for his new man Roger Rasheed. All of which is to say you can make a case for Blake, who's in the midst of a disappointing year, going either way on this. I'd think a more pressing concern would be a return to full health. And, of course, fortifying that backhand.

Thanks for the reference a few weeks ago to the Web site with the interviews with Martina Navratilova. You were right, they were entertaining. I was comparing her French Open predictions to yours, and, well, she pretty much nailed the French Open, saying something to the effect of "It's hard to pick against Serena, but my money would be on one of the Belgians," both of whom wound up in the final. So here's a thought -- why don't you see if Martina will compete with you when you pick the U.S. Open? That'd be entertaining for your readers.
—D. Campbell, Atlanta

Since we're all about entertaining the readers, we're happy to make the inquiry. On a related note, apologies for spacing out on an old promise to pick against a reader for ATP Masters Series events. First person to send me selections (semifinalists, finalists, winner, darkhorse) the day the Montreal draw is released is in line for a prize.

What do you make of Lindsay Davenport's comments about Billie Jean King not letting Davenport play Fed Cup in July? After all Lindsay has done for the U.S. Fed Cup team over the last eight to 10 years, isn't this pretty rude? Does it also give credence to Jennifer Capriati's comments about King being too strict? A lot of the media sided with King during their confrontation, but now that King is having problems with Davenport, could that change? With the Williams sisters only playing to ensure Olympic eligibility, should King really be alienating the next two best Americans?
—John Montognese, Madison, Wis.

Maybe King has been afflicted with World TeamTennis fever and has taken leave of her senses. The beef with team Capriati -- not exactly the most sympathetic plaintiffs to start with -- was reasonable enough. But it's hard to side against Davenport on this -- and, in turn, it's hard not to question whether the captain isn't besotted with power. The pendulum certainly seems to be swinging against King. Check out Filip Bondy's column from the New York Daily News a few days ago.

Anyway, a far cry from Capriati's ritual defiance, Davenport submitted a request that appears, on its face, to be completely reasonable. Her point is well taken that as a Fed Cup stalwart for the better part of a decade, she deserves better. Further, King's suggestion that Davenport's mother reschedule her surgery is simply ludicrous and underscores a serious detachment from reality.

As a side note: If the actual Fed Cup matches generated half the interest as the off-court feuds and politicking, the competition might actually pierce the public consciousness. As it stands, if the USTA weren't paying serious sheckels for player participation, they would have to field a team from the Fairfield County ladies' scrambler.

I'm getting fed up with always hearing about Andre Agassi's accomplishment of winning a career Slam. Why shouldn't Jimmy Connors' record of winning the U.S. Open on three surfaces not count as much as that? A Slam's a Slam, and proving that you have what it takes on any surface at the big moment (especially when Connors wasn't allowed to play the French in his best year) is as good a lifetime accomplishment as any.
—Andrew Simon, Hong Kong

Duly noted.

Your answer to the question of Andre Agassi's continuing high performance at age 33 credits his exceptional talent, professionalism, family support and excellent preparation. I have no doubt that all of these contribute to his amazing competitiveness, but I'd like to posit that another main reason he regularly beats today's young stars is that many of them pattern their game after his and he is simply better at that style of play than they are. It is ironic that although Pete Sampras was the more dominant player of his and Agassi's generation, Agassi has influenced the younger players far more than has Sampras. That might well be because of the exceptional media hype that Agassi got as a result of his lifestyle when he started. Do you agree with my point about styles contributing to Agassi's ongoing success?
—Alston Fergusson, Sherbrooke, Quebec

Your timing is a smidge off, considering the Wimbledon champ just mentioned Sampras (and Stefan Edberg) as his model. But your point is well taken. Many of the smaller set -- Hewitt, Sebastien Grosjean, Rainer Schuettler, Guillermo Coria, Ferrero -- have culled part of their game from watching Agassi. But why is it a given that "he is simply better"? Didn't Agassi and Sampras model their games after someone?

I like your second point, too. Agassi has gotten a lot of mileage out of the arc of his career and the story of redemption. (From Image is Everything to Tennis' Mahatma. There's an essay to be written on how his hair loss was symbolic.) But the fact remains: The guy is still on the top of his game at age 33. No amount of hype or spin-doctoring can muddle this. More Andre ...

Don't you think the ups and downs throughout Andre Agassi's career have actually aided him? Ultimately, those breaks in physical and mental focus allowed him to rest some, and thus Agassi hasn't become as worn down from constant pressure and focus as, say, Pete Sampras has. It's a lot like Jennifer Capriati having a second tennis life because of her time away from the game.
—Jason Englisbe, Simpsonville, S.C.

Absolutely. I had to write a story on ageless baseball player Paul (Don't Call Me Melanie) Molitor several years ago, and he remarked that the injuries he sustained early in his career were black-and-blue blessings in disguise. He learned to pace himself and recovered the missed years on the back end. With Agassi, there's no question his assorted of ailments and his nosedive to Challenger events not only enabled him to play longer physically, but they also gave him time to smell the proverbial roses and realize that he was squandering his talent, mistreating his body, etc.

Incidentally, Sampras, quite reasonably, has posited that if he hadn't been so consistently driven -- his finishing six straight years at No. 1 remains one of tennis' most underrated records -- perhaps he would still be playing, too.

More Andre ...

Much has been said and written about Brad Gilbert, Andre Agassi's former coach and now the guru behind Andy Roddick's resurgence. Where does Darren Cahill figure in all of this? Gil Reyes, Agassi's friend and trainer, gets more press than Cahill, his coach. Just what does Cahill provide to Agassi?
—Gerri Traina, Englewood, Fla.

Let's keep in mind that Reyes has been an integral part of Agassi's life for more than a decade -- Agassi refers to him as a second dad and named his first son after the guy. Reyes was with Agassi for seven or eight years, during which he transformed (radically) both Agassi's game and image. Cahill has only been on the payroll since the beginning of 2002. As we've said in the past, coaches provide different services to different players. But let's be clear that Cahill is not just an idle member of an entourage. Though Agassi has unparalleled tennis instincts and an unsurpassed tennis brain, he relies heavily on his coach. It's common to see Cahill sitting incognito in the stands, scouting other players, even guys on the other side of the draw from Agassi. Cahill stands in as a hitting partner and takes notes during Agassi's matches. When you interview Cahill after a match, it's abundantly clear the guy is earning his keep. (Plus, rumor has it that Cahill, who like Agassi has a young child, supplies the Wiggles DVDs on road trips.)

Even more Andre ...

Why is it acceptable for Andre Agassi to shoot those "snot rockets" (as my friend Bill calls them) all over the court wherever he plays? Why doesn't he use a handkerchief? And why did gentlemanly Tim Henman take to doing it during his quarterfinal against Sebastien Grosjean? It is (pun intended) Gros(s).
—Mitch Kohn, West Hollywood, Calif.

We hope you read this in time for lunch. The Wimbledon groundskeepers ought to put the tarp on the court before Agassi plays. Actually, we alluded to the "snot rockets" ("farmer blows," by the way, is the Indiana vernacular) in the past and eagerly await ITF comment. Perhaps it's one of the manifold benefits accorded to an eight-time Grand Slam champ.

An Agassi aside: Here at Mailbag HQ, we just received an invitation to a party introducing what appears to be -- we kid you not -- a signature line of Agassi cologne. A free bottle of the stuff for the person who comes closest to describing the aroma. Send your entries here.

Long Lost Siblings: Wimbledon Champ Edition

Roger Federer and director Quentin Tarantino.

LONG LOST SIBLINGS? Federer Tarantino

Federer's girlfriend, Miroslava Vavrinec, and actress Catherine Keener.

LONG LOST SIBLINGS? Vavrinec Keener

Federer's coach, Peter Lundgren, and rocker Gregg Allman.

LONG LOST SIBLINGS? Lundgren Allman

Have a good week, everyone!

Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim covers tennis for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com. Click here to send him a question or comment.

 

Related information

Stories

Jon Wertheim's Insider Archive

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video