Sports Then and Now

Novak Djokovic at press conference after winning 2011 Wimbledon Championship.

New World No. 1 Novak Djokovic defeated defending champion Rafael Nadal in the men’s final at the All England Club Sunday, claiming his first Wimbledon championship in two hours and 28 minutes.

The Serb served up 21 winners, including seven aces as opposed to 12 unforced errors. Nadal was not far behind with 21 winners, five aces and 15 unforced errors.

The break point conversion was the most critical stat, with Djokovic breaking Nadal in five of six opportunities, while Nadal converted only three of his six chances to break serve.

Prior to the men’s final at Wimbledon, Djokovic won his last four meetings with the former world No. 1, Nadal. The four tournaments were, in fact, consecutive Masters events at Rome, Madrid, Miami and Indian Wells—all in 2011.

The Serb was enjoying an outstanding year on the tennis courts.

In fact, Djokovic managed to win 43 in a row before Roger Federer defeated him during the French Open semifinals. Now the Serb has a 48-1 winning record to build upon during the American hard-court season starting later this month.

Even though Nadal led in their head-to-head 16-11, Djokovic had won seven of their last nine meetings––now eight of their last 10.

The only other time they had met in a major final, however, was the 2010 U.S. Open; Nadal won 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.

On Sunday, Djokovic responded positively to the fact of his imminent No. 1 ranking as he took his place on Centre Court. From the early going it appeared the Serb was going to anoint his ascension to the top of men’s tennis by winning his first Wimbledon Championship.

Nadal came out blazing, bouncing and ready to rumble. The No. 1 seed was serving brilliantly in the first set, getting more than 90 percent of his first serves in.

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Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in four sets to win his first Wimbledon title.

Thanks to the crazy system used to determine tennis rankings, Novak Djokovic was assured of becoming the number one player in the world regardless of the result of the men’s final between Djokovic and current number one Rafael Nadal. But Djokovic eliminated any doubt about his worthiness with an impressive four set victory over Nadal.

In claiming his first Wimbledon title, Djokovic now seems to have replaced Roger Federer as Nadal’s primary rival for tennis supremacy. His 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 victory may not have been in the classic style of previous battles between those two tennis icons, but Djokovic has illustrated that at age 24 he is reaching his tennis prime.

With his sweep through Wimbledon, Djokovic now holds two of the four grand slam titles and has lost only one match in 2011 (in the French Open semifinals to Federer).

Though he still is capable of competing at a high level, the days of Federer dominating men’s tennis are clearly over. He will turn 30 next month and hasn’t won a grand slam since the 2010 Australian Open.

Rafael Nadal is only a year older than Djokovic, but has significantly more wear on his body than his new rival, but also more overall success with 10 grand slam titles. Read the rest of this entry →

Will Serena and Venus Williams be able to recover from injuries and recent losses to regain their tennis dominance?

With women’s tennis seemingly in a state of flux it would seem foolish to write off Venus and Serena Williams after they crashed out of Wimbledon at the fourth round stage.

Serena’s title defense came to a halt when Marion Bartoli of France claimed a straight sets win 6-3 7-6 (8-6), while Tsvetana Pironkova scored an even more comprehensive victory over Venus taking the match 6-2 6-3.

There were always doubts about Serena’s ability to cut it at Wimbledon this year as she was recovering from the various problems which had kept her out of the game for over a year, but there still has to be worries about her ability to compete at the highest level. Those planning to bet on US Open action will have to think long and hard before backing her.

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Samantha Stosur continued her struggles with a first round loss at Wimbledon.

Samantha Stosur’s latest early Wimbledon exit further calls into question her ability to compete at majors. Combined with her freezing in the French Open final last year and a record of just three quarter final or better efforts at slams, it suggests the world number 10 cannot find her best game when it matters most.

The Australian’s poor Wimbledon record is one of the great anomalies in tennis. Stosur has fallen in the first round five times, reached the second on three occasions and has a best finish of the third round, achieved in 2009. Anyone with a free bet on US Open action may  want to bear her poor form in mind.

In that tournament she reached the doubles finals for the second consecutive year, which hints at why her singles record at SW19 is so hard to understand. Stosur is one of the best doubles players in recent times, possessing as she does a big and varied serve and excellent volleying ability. She is seemingly tailor-made for grass. Read the rest of this entry →

Gael Monfils will look to make a good run at Wimbledon.

The top-seeded French player competing at Wimbledon next week, Gael Monfils, is shaping up for life on grass courts rather nicely at the Gerry Weber ATP event in Halle, Germany. He made it through to the semifinals before being eliminated by the German tennis player and eventual winner Phillipp Kohlschreiber and as such will be looking forward to play getting underway at the All-England Club in London on Monday.

He is perhaps not at his best on grass – a point highlighted by the fact that his best results in Grand Slams have come at the US Open and the French Open – snaring quarter-final and semi-final finishes respectively. But now, following a strong showing in Germany on grass, and a generous ninth seed placement for the SW19 tournament, he is looking in good shape to really mount a challenge and those who bet on Wimbledon 2011 will have to keep an eye on him.

“In the last days before Wimbledon, I want to improve my overall game further still – serve faster and stronger and work on my movement. Last year, I was terrible on grass, because that surface does not come naturally to me, so this year I am happy, I want to continue improving,” he said. Read the rest of this entry →

Pauline Betz Addie's amateur career ended abruptly in 1947.

Considering how blurred the lines are today between amateur and professional sports, it is difficult to imagine a time when the rules were so strict that athletes were actually banned from competing in amateur competition simply for considering the idea of becoming a professional. Such was the case for tennis legend Pauline Betz Addie, who recently passed away at the age of 91.

As women’s sports rose in prominence and stature during World War II, Betz Addie was the most dominant women’s tennis player in the country.

After having reached the finals the previous year, she won the U.S. National Championship (now the U.S. Open) for the first time in 1942 while still an undergraduate student at Rollins College in Florida.  She went on to appear in the finals every year between 1941 and 1946 and claimed the championship four times.

In 1946 she appeared at Wimbledon for the only time in her career and easily won the title without dropping a set. Later that year, she won the U.S. Nationals for the fourth time and appeared on the cover of Time magazine, which pronounced her the “first lady of tennis.”

However, that would be the last year in which she would be able to compete for the most prestigious titles in tennis.

Until 1968, the four major tennis championships – U.S. National, French, Australian and Wimbledon – were all amateur events with no prize money and professionals were barred from competing. Read the rest of this entry →