Sports Then and Now

Novak Djokovic will need to harness his emotions if he hopes to stay at number two in the world.

It is a new high for Serbian Novak Djokovic who finds himself ranked No. 2 in the world as well as being the No. 1 seed at Rotterdam this week. Finally after years of chasing that No. 2 spot, it seemed to fall into his lap as former No. 2 ranked Rafael Nadal’s knees folded once again during the quarterfinals of the 2010 Australian Open.

For all but a few weeks starting in August of 2009 when Rafael Nadal gave up his No. 2 ranking to Andy Murray just before the U.S. Open, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have held steadfast to the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the ATP rankings since 2005.

Nadal is absent from the Netherlands this week because of his recent knee injury.  It is difficult to imagine Nadal a factor in the rankings race until the clay season gets underway.  Frankly the Mallorcan would be well advised to skip the hard courts altogether because it is not worth further injury.  His best chance at regaining one of the two top spots is by exerting his usual clay dominance and winning again at Stade Roland Garros.

This week, however, the new number two ranked player in the world, Novak Djokovic is playing tennis at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, sitting 510 points ahead of No. 3 ranked Andy Murray and 640 points ahead of No. 4 ranked Rafael Nadal with Roger Federer safely over 3,000 points ahead of the pack. Read the rest of this entry →

A new series for a new year.  In a companion series to ‘Queens of the Court,’ ‘Great Men of Tennis’ takes a look at the men who have left an indelible mark on tennis.  The series begins among the foundations of our modern game, with the man who invented aspects of the serve, and set the stage for Davis Cup competition: Dwight Davis.

In honor of Dwight Davis, this article is posted on the 110th anniversary of the first Davis Cup – held Feb 9, 1900.

The Davis Cup has been an important part of tennis history for 110 years.

Let’s see, Secretary of War? Or famous tennis star?  Hmmm … Which career path to choose?  How about both?!

Not many tennis stars go to college.  John McEnroe, who is famously known for attending Stanford, really only attended the university for a single semester.  John Isner, a current tennis star, is the only one in the top 50 to obtain a degree (at the University of Georgia) before starting his ATP career this year.

Like John Isner, Dwight Davis was a collegiate tennis singles champion.  He played for Harvard University in 1899. The closest he came to a singles title was runner up in the US Championships in 1898.  A lefty, Davis made a name for himself in doubles.  While at Harvard he also went out for baseball and played on the sophomore football team.

Quite a few US politicians were collegiate, or even professional athletes, before embarking on a life of public service, among them: President Gerald R. Ford, and Senator Jack Kemp.  Dwight Davis can be counted among these public figures.  Davis would serve the U.S. as secretary of war from 1925-1929 under President Calvin Coolidge.

In spite of his dearth of singles titles, Davis serves as a keystone for our ‘Great Man of Tennis,’ because Davis, like Frenchman Rene LaCoste 30 years later, was not only a winner but also a technical innovator, and became a key mover and creator in the sport.

Like many tennis stars of his day, Davis was from an upper class family, one of the founding families in St. Louis Missouri.  At the turn of the twentieth century, tennis was played in society clubs, and also in the street.  To distinguish its form of tennis from that in the street, club tennis was known as ‘Lawn Tennis.’  An iconoclastic visual of the times comes from the musical ‘Ragtime,’ which depicts turn-of the century upper-class types in the opening vignette as ‘fellows with tennis balls’ in 1902, in New Rochelle New York; straw hats, slacks, afternoon tea, and a spot of tennis. Read the rest of this entry →

Enter the Sports Then and Now Trivia Contest to win tickets to the 2010 BNP Paribas Showdown on March 1st.

On Monday, March 1, 2010, four of the best players in women’s professional tennis will be on one court at Madison Square Garden vying for the prestigious Billie Jean King Cup and you could be in the audience.

One lucky Sports Then and Now reader will win a pair of tickets to see Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Venus Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova face off in a high-powered evening of tennis at the 2010 BNP Paribas Showdown.  The format includes two single set semifinals followed by a best of three set final.

To register, click here to answer a quick trivia contest that includes questions about the four contestants as well as Billie Jean King. The winner will be selected from all entrants that correctly answer the highest number of questions. The winner will receive two tickets to the tournament, but must provide their own transportation and other accommodations in New York City.

2010 marks the second year of the BNP Paribas Showdown as Serena Williams won the inaugural event last March.

The field for 2010 is amazing as it includes the winners of the last seven majors, with each of the four participants having won at least one major during that stretch.

Serena Williams, the winner of 12 Grand Slam titles, has been the most successful of the four players in recent times as she has claimed four of the last six majors, including the last two Australian Opens.

Venus Williams, winner of seven Grand Slam titles, won the 2008 Wimbledon and was a finalist in 2009.

Kuznetsova won the 2009 French Open for her first Grand Slam title. Clijsters has two Grand Slam titles, including the 2009 U.S. Open.

Even if you don’t win the free tickets from Sports Then and Now, you can still attend this great tennis event. Tickets for the 2010 BNP Paribas Showdown are currently available through Ticketmaster.  You can save $10 by typing in the promotional code: SHOWDOWN.  You can follow Madison Square Garden on Twitter and Facebook.

Here are some of the Pillar matches of Roger Federer’s career. Check back regularly to see stories on more of these great matches.

• Roger/Hewitt vs Rafter/Bjorkman – 1999 Wimbledon
• Roger vs Sampras – 2001 Wimbledon
• Rafter vs Roger – 2001 Halle
• Agassi vs Roger – 2002 Miami
• Kuerten vs Roger – 2003 Indian Wells
• Hewitt vs Roger – 2003 Davis Cup

• Nadal vs Roger- 2004 Miami
• Roger vs Agassi – 2004 US Open
• Roger vs Roddick – 2004 WTF
• Roger vs Safin – Tennis Masters Cup 2004
  
• Safin vs Federer – Austalian Open 2005
• Roger vs Juan Carlos Ferrero – Dubai 2005
• Roger vs Nadal – Miami 2005
• Federer vs Santoro – New York 2005
• Nadal vs Roger – Rome 2006
• Roger vs Nadal – Wimbledon 2007
• Roger vs Roddick – New York 2007
• Roger vs Tipsarevic – Australian Open 2008
• Roger vs Murray 2008 – US Open
• Murray vs Roger 2008 – WTF Shanghai
• Roger vs Del Potro – Australian Open 2009
• Roger vs Roddick – Wimbledon 2009
  
• Roger vs Murray – 2010 Australian Open