Sports Then and Now

Roger Federer continues to add to his tennis record totals.

Roger Federer possesses many, many ATP records.

Because he is the man many consider the GOAT (Greatest of All Time), that fact should surprise no one who has been following tennis since Federer began his assault on the record books.

Turning pro in 1998, Federer announced his arrival at the top of the men’s game in February of 2004 when he captured the No. 1 ranking for the first time.

From 2004 through 2007 Federer dominated, often winning three slams in a season. He held the No. 1 ranking a record 237 consecutive weeks.

But after winning slam No. 16 at the Australian Open in 2010, Federer’s pace slowed considerably.

Of late, however, Federer has once again been advancing upon long-held tennis records—those many believed safely chiseled in stone for the ages.

Federer has lost only two matches in 2012—to Rafael Nadal in the 2012 Australian Open semifinals and to John Isner in a five-set Davis Cup match in Switzerland.  The world No. 3 stands at 22-2 having just won his last three tournaments in Rotterdam, Dubai and most recently at Indian Wells.

But no one individual can own all tennis records—can he?

Following are eight tennis milestones which many be beyond the Maestro’s reach.  Or are they?

Number of Titles Won in the Open Era

Ensconced ahead of Federer for the record for the Most Titles Won in the Open Era are three tennis giants.

Federer, who remains active and able to add to his totals, has his work cut out for him if he hopes to end his career as No. 1 in this category.

By the end of 2011, Federer had won 70 titles since his first triumph in 2001. On average, the Swiss wins over six ATP titles a season

At age 30, however, and leaning toward the end of his career, winning six trophies a year might be a stretch, although you never count Federer out of any challenge.

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Roger Federer won his first championship at Indian Wells in 2004.

No doubt the anti-Federer-contingent cannot be happy with the recent results of the tennis star who will not die or fade away—even after turning 30.

Just when they think the Swiss fountain of youth has congealed into lumpy cheese fondue, Federer revives his game and comes back free-flowing as he did during his dominating best.

Such was the case recently in Dubai. The hard, fast courts in the United Arab Emirates desert suited Federer just fine as he rebounded from predicted obscurity to reclaim his fifth title in Dubai 7-5, 6-4—much to the shock and dismay of Andy Murray and the Scot’s camp.

Murray had pulled his own coup d’etat by upsetting the No. 1 seed and reigning world champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Murray, however, was not able to arrest the development of the Federer forehand on the hard courts of Dubai, losing in straight sets in the final.

No other man has won five tennis titles in Dubai. The courts there suit Federer’s game—which may explain why Nadal has been absent from the Dubai desert since 2008.

Once the world No. 2 figured out that he had to ration his playing time, Dubai was sacrificed because the hard courts, especially the faster hard courts, took too much out of Nadal’s vulnerable knees.

Just as well for Federer’s fans. Playing Nadal often becomes a non-productive exercise for the 16-grand slam champion.  Before each major, Federer’s backers sink to their knees praying to play Djokovic or Murray before Nadal. Much of it has to do with the “confidence level” Federer spoke of after his recent victories over top ten opponents.

After winning 33 of his last 35 matches, Federer will enter the contest at Indian Wells with renewed confidence and vigor. Since losing his semifinal battle with Novak Djokovic at the US Open, the world No. 3 has captured titles at the World Tour Finals in London, overcoming Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final.

Prior to Dubai, Federer claimed the title in Rotterdam over Juan Martin del Potro. Now the Swiss has captured this outdoor title in Dubai defeating world No. 4 Andy Murray.

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Roger Federer won the Key Biscayne/Miami title in 2005

March Madness has its own special setting for tennis. Prior to the start of the dusty clay-court season in April, the tour swings through the States landing first in the California desert at a venue called Indian Wells before proceeding to Miami and the Sony Ericsson Open.

Both tournaments field players for a Masters 1000 for the men and a premiere mandatory event for the ladies with 96 participants in the field. Play extends over 10 days, which is unusual for a Masters Series tournament.

The BNP Paribas Open held at Indian Wells will begin March 8, 2012, concluding on March 18.  The Sony Ericsson Open will follow, starting on March 21, 2012, and ending on April 1.

For the men, multiple winners of each tournament remain relatively rare when you consider the number of participants each year.

But the true piece de resistance of the March Madness swing through Indian Wells and Miami is winning both titles, back-to-back in the same year. Surviving to win one of these tournaments is a testament to a player’s endurance, but to win both in the same season is one of the most difficult doubles of the tennis tour.

Only nine players, both men and women, have accomplished this rare feat to date. Only one man and one woman claimed the double more than once—Roger Federer and Steffi Graf.

Indian Wells

Eight men have won Indian Wells more than once.

Boris Becker (1987-1988), Jim Courier (1991, 1993), Michael Chang (1992, 1996-1997), Pete Sampras (1994-1995), Lleyton Hewitt (2002-2003), Roger Federer (2004-2006), Rafael Nadal (2007, 2009) and Novak Djokovic (2008, 2011) all captured the trophy at Indian Wells more than one time.

Only Federer and Chang can claim three titles—so far.

Seven ladies including Martina Navratilova (1990-1991), Mary Jo Fernandez (1993, 1995), Steffi Graf (1994,1996), Lindsay Davenport (1997, 2000), Serena Williams (1999, 2001), Daniela Hantuchova (2002, 2007), and Kim Clijsters (2003, 2005) have won the championship at Indian Wells.

None of the ladies have managed to win the tournament more than twice.

Key Biscayne/Miami

Locale for the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami

Only six men have won the championship in Miami more than once, although Andre Agassi managed six titles during his long, illustrious career.

Ivan Lendl (1986, 1989), Andre Agassi (1990, 1995-1996, 2001-2003), Sampras (1993-1994, 2000), Federer (2005-2006), Andy Roddick (2004, 2010), and Djokovic (2007, 2011) have all brought home multiple titles.

By the same token, eight women have won the championship in Miami more than once with  Graf and Serena Williams bringing home the most titles with five each.

Graf (1987-1988, 1994-1996), Monica Seles (1990-1991), Arantxa Sanchez (1992-1993), Martina Hingis (1997, 2000), Venus Williams (1998-1999, 2001), Serena Williams (2002-2004, 2007-2008), Clijsters (2005, 2010) and Victoria Azarenka (2009, 2011) represent the some of the best of the best in the women’s game.

But only nine players in the history of these tournaments have won both respective championships in the same year.  They follow.

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Novak Djokovic has won the Dubai Tournament consecutively for the past 3 years.

While oil and water may not mix, oil and tennis seem to merge beautifully. That will become perfectly obvious as the oil-rich United Arab Emirates hosts its annual tennis extravaganza on outdoor hardcourts in Dubai beginning on February 20, ending March 3, 2012.

The tournament known as the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships will begin with a week-long foray featuring the top women in the world to be followed later by the top-ranked men as the second week gets underway.

The luxurious accommodations plus the rich setting make this venue one of the more popular ones for the tennis pros who journey here year after year.

In fact, it remains the site of one of Roger Federer’s chief training centers where the Swiss comes to get his body in prime condition for the long season ahead—usually during the hot month of July.

Despite the home court advantage, Federer has not won in Dubai since 2007.  He will be hoping to change that this year.

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While the "big four" slug it out for major titles, Mikhail Youzhny and other second tier players fight for ATP titles.

While Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray are dominating the majors, other talented men’s tennis stars are fighting it out for ATP titles in an attempt to build their game toward a level capable of competing with the top stars.

One of those players, world number 32 Mikhail Youzhny, claimed the eighth ATP title of his career by easily beating the unseeded Slovakian Lukas Lacko 6-2 6-3 in the final of the PBZ Zagreb Indoors tournament. The 29-year-old Russian, who was the third seed, had not won on the ATP Tour since his victory in Kuala Lumpur in 2010, but was far too good for the world number 97, who was competing in his first Tour final.

Youzhny did not face a break point throughout and broke his opponent’s serve three times. Those betting Betfair money will have been impressed.

“It feels really good as it was my best match of the tournament, and that’s why I won,” said Youzhny. “It’s tough to compare my level with previous years, it’s impossible. But for sure this was my best tennis of the week.” Read the rest of this entry →

Roger Federer turned 30 years of age in 2011.

Turning thirty can be traumatic for any normal human being.

Some stepping over that threshold suffer overwhelming angst, knowing that Bob Dylan once swore you could not trust anybody over thirty. Seriously—at one point in the recent past, Dylan was akin to God in certain circles, causing some recently turned thirty-somethings to weep copiously over lost youth, sensing all was lost.

On the other hand, Dylan is now over 65—so surely he has learned to trust himself despite living well beyond those prophetic 30 years.

For a tennis pro today, however, reaching thirty presents a true turning point—not simply a psychological marker. The legs grow heavier and the foot, a step slower. Unerring instinct now takes a second longer to kick into gear.

For most tennis players having played for over a decade brings steady decline if not resignation, ending in retirement. Time seemingly has expired requiring shelving or recycling for the majority.

That was not always the case in men’s professional tennis.  There were some notable exceptions from bygone days when tennis players were not millionaires and fame was hard to come by.

Think of Bill Tilden who played professional tennis well into his forties. During the 1920s we can safely attest, however, that the competition taking the court against Big Bill was hardly the same caliber as today’s players. Still, Tilden helped Americanize the game, altering its path from strenuous past time to highly competitive sport.

The great and enigmatic Pauncho Gonzalez seemed unbeatable in his thirties, playing top-notch tennis well into his forties. Consider, too, that Rod Laver won his second grand slam while age 31 in 1969—at the beginning of the Open Era in men’s tennis.

Other men have been successful, winning slams  after age 30 like Roy Emerson who won the 1967 French Open title or like John Newcombe who won the 1975 Australian Open having turned 30 years of age in 1974.  Renowned Arthur Ashe won his 1975 Wimbledon title at age 32.

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