Sports Then and Now

Novak Djokovic celebrates match point in the Final match against Gael Monfils.

How will Novak Djokovic look back on 2009?

As things stand now, it would seem a letdown from the prior year, when he captured his first major title at the 2008 Australian Open, then threw in a couple of Master’s Shields and the year-ending Master’s Cup for good measure.

In contrast with last year – and even with 2007, when he was clearly on the rise – Djokovic’s 2009 campaign bore the marks of a highly gifted young man unsure of where he belonged in the world of tennis. The Serbian, who turned 22 in May, has endured varying degrees of disappointment at this year’s majors.

His title defense in Melbourne was derailed when he withdrew due to heat exhaustion. A heartbreaking loss to Rafael Nadal in Madrid contributed to a flat third-round exit from Paris. While regaining his form at Wimbledon he was surprised by the resurgence of Tommy Haas, and even when his play (and fun-loving demeanor) had returned, it wasn’t quite enough against Roger Federer in New York.

What’s more, the solid play of fellow 22-year-old Andy Murray and the stunning rise of now 21-year-old Juan Martin del Potro made it clear that the Serb was no longer the youngest of the young guns in tennis.

But as Djokovic’s winning ways began being spoken of in past tense, the fall indoor season shows that he has not stopped believing in his own talent. While he is not the cerebral tactician that Murray is, and while he may no single shot as brutally effective as del Potro’s forehand, Djokovic is still arguably a better athlete than either. And this year he’s doing what some of us advised him last year: take advantage of the fall, when your competition has been beaten down by the rigors of the tour.

Read the rest of this entry →

Roger Clearly at the top of his game, Roger Federer made short work of Andy Roddick in the 2007 Australian Open.

I’ve grown accustomed to your pace…

No one was more acutely aware that Andy Roddick was on a roll during the 2007 Australian Open than Roger Federer. The Swiss No. 1 had been keeping a watchful eye on the progress of Roddick through out the early rounds.

This was the man who had defeated Federer in the semifinals of the Kooyong Classic, a warmup event, a few weeks earlier.

Federer was not really surprised that in the quarterfinals Roddick had rolled over Mardy Fish 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 in about 90 minutes on Rod Laver Arena while committing only two unforced errors. He had seen Roddick accomplish such feats before—especially over Fish. They were buddies and knew each other’s games inside and out.

During his quarterfinal match, Federer, who won the Australian Open in 2004 and 2006, overcame having his serve broken four times in his 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 7-5 win over seventh-seeded Tommy Robredo. Federer would advance to the semifinals where he would meet the American Roddick who had only defeated him once in their 13 meetings.

Read the rest of this entry →

Roscoe Tanner won the 1977 Australian Open and was a finalist at Wimbledon in 1979.

Blond, beautiful, athletic—filled with untapped promise, Roscoe Tanner should be among our heroes in tennis.  Instead he sits atop a rare list of tennis gone-bad boys.

Tanner remains one of the finest tennis players of the 1970s. In 1977, he won the Australian Open and in 1979 played Bjorn Borg to a trauma-inducing final at Wimbledon, extending him to five sets before finally falling to the mystique and iron will of the ice man.

The significance of that match goes beyond the intensity of its level of competition. It was the first live broadcast of Breakfast at Wimbledon, now a tradition to tennis loving fans in the United States.

NBC had prayed for John McEnroe or Jimmy Connors to meet Borg in the finals. Instead, they got Roscoe Tanner, who played the match of his life. We owe the continuation of the early morning live broadcast to him for making it memorable.

Read the rest of this entry →