Sports Then and Now

Caroline Wozniacki is in the U.S. Open Semifinals for the first time in her career.

Caroline Wozniacki sent Cinderella packing without her glass slippers after smashing her magic pumpkin.  She not only dispatched the fairy-tale princess, Melanie Oudin, she did it without pity, smiling all the way to the semifinals of the U.S. Open.  And what a smile she has.

She will face another teenager, Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, who, unseeded and at age 19, has made her way quietly through to the semifinals after taking out Kateryna Bondarenko, 7-5, 6-4.

Wozniacki, with quiet determination, upstaged the media darling, Oudin, taking the first set 6-2, followed by an identical 6-2 in the second set.  Oudin devastated previous competitors with a great inside-out forehand and the ability to run well.

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Serena Williams

JA’s Commentary about Women’s Tennis

You want to hear the truth, don’t you?  You don’t want somebody to pull the wool over your eyes or lead you down the garden path? So, that is what I am going to do—tell you the honest-to-God, unvarnished truth.

The bottom line is that often being a woman sucks—which is perhaps the most precise word to use in this circumstance even with its unfavorable historical connotations. Frankly, it emphasizes the cold hard realities of being a woman in this day and age—in any day and age.

Women scramble to reach this detrimental rung on the ladder of life, finding that inevitably they must take one step more or laugh one decibel louder or be a smidge brighter because being number two means you must try harder and bounce back faster—if you wish to compete and be taken seriously.

A case in point—this week the women’s matches at the U.S. Open have been, for the most part, totally more engaging than the men’s matches.  The women have generated more excitement and more controversy.  Because of this, the world has tuned in to watch them.

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Roger Federer hopes to kiss the U.S. Open trophy for a sixth straight year in 2009.

Introduction
From 2004-2008 Roger Federer won the U.S. Open in New York.  Within the confines of Arthur Ashe Stadium Federer has won his last 35 matches in a row during what many call the toughest tournament in tennis.

Once the US Open begins this year, Federer seeks to extend his record winning streak with a record sixth consecutive US Open title.

After winning the 2009 French Open and Wimbledon, the Swiss regained the top ranking.  Federer compiled a total of 15 grand slam  wins – more than any other male tennis player.

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Jimmy Connors was never one to hide his emotions.

James Scott Connors was a momma’s boy, and that became his strength as he battled his way to the top of men’s tennis.

As we settle in for another two-week extravaganza in New York, we must acknowledge the man who won the U.S. Open five times on three different surfaces.  Connors holds the record of having won 98 singles matches at the Open in New York.

With that outrageous attitude…cocky, self-assured, and in your face, Connors epitomized not only tenacious tennis, but New Yorker tennis.

The women in his life taught him to be strong, to stand on his own two feet, and fight for what was rightfully his.  His mother, a teaching pro, taught him how to play tennis.

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Kim Clijsters

(10) Kim Clijsters

The Belgian blonde is making a comeback after a brief stint at stay-at-home motherhood.  Impatience is often the calling card for some young women when the drive to “settle down, get married and raise a family” supplants reason.

Let’s face it – women generally have fewer years than men to make their mark in athletics.  They peak younger and age faster than their male counterparts, on average.    This explains why on May 6, 2007, at age 23, after several bouts with injuries, Clijsters announced her official retirement from tennis.

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A four-time champion at the U.S. Nationals, Pauline Betz-Addie claimed the 1942 title while still attending Rollins College.

Teenage girls patrolling the courts at Grand Slam tennis tournaments is nothing new for the sport of women’s tennis. However, unlike the players of today, some of the stars from the past didn’t just juggle tennis schedules, they also often juggled their college course schedules.

Greats of the game including Doris Hart, Helen Wills Moody, Althea Gibson, Billie Jean King and Helen Hull Jacobs all competed in Grand Slam tournaments while also balancing their academic calendar.

Surprisingly, the college with the grandest tradition as home to women’s tennis greats of the past is a tiny school located just outside of Orlando, Florida.

With less than 2,000 students, Rollins College is a small liberal arts college popular with students from the northeast and known for producing champion water skiers, golfers, tennis players and occasionally even a movie star (most notably Buddy Ebsen and Anthony Perkins).

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