Wimbledon Final Open Thread
I’m thinking The Joker in 4, as well. He’s a man on a mission right now!
Damn I didn't even know it was being played. Back in my day this was a BIG deal, always played over 4th of July weekend, and I got up early to watch Conners, Borg or McEnroe go for the title. Now? I need a thread on MgoBlog to remind me today is the finals.
Wimbledon today to me is kinda like the Indy 500. A HUGE sporting event of my youth that's still played today but with nowhere near the pomp and circumstance of days gone by.
Well, there are definitely more viewing options now than in your youth. And, sports other than football and basketball have seen a decline in casual fans. But, for serious fans of tennis, the lack of a relevant American male, and a decline in casual viewership, has not lessened the thrill of watching. You're missing out. Novak Djokovic is bidding to be ranked as the best tennis player in the open era.
Yeah, I miss the days of Boris and Ivan.
....and of course Anna!
The lack of an American contender hurts its appeal in this country (we’re a bit provincial in these matters) but globally, the sport may be bigger than ever. Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are huge names in the sporting world.
Djokovic is going to win, but I was quite surprised how he let Berrettini come back and take that first set. Serving for the set, and then blowing the tiebreak? Not the Djokovic we're accustomed to. However, he cleaning house in the 2nd set, and I'm certain he'll breeze through the rest of the match.
As far as tying Nadal and Federer, it's astonishing that we've witnessed 3 tennis players that have won 20 Grand Slams EACH. It was crazy when Roger blew by Sampras' 14, but to now see 3 guys at 20?!! We've seen one guy (or team) dominate, we've seen 2 dominate, but 3 guys at this caliber for the better part of a decade? Those who are not fans of tennis do not know what they are missing.
Yup for about 15-16 years it seems the 3 of them have won every grand slam tournament. I swear, maybe only 3-4 other players have even won a major since the start of the big 3 era in men’s tennis.
EDIT: Here are all of the other winners since the start of 2005:
Australian Open: Safin (2005), Wawrinka (2014)
French Open: Wawrinka (2015)
Wimbledon: Murray (2013, 2016)
US Open: Del Potro (2009), Murray (2012), Cilic (2014), Wawrinka (2016), Thiem (2020)
Thats 10 wins credited to those other than the big 3. The big 3 have won an astounding 85% (57/67) of grand slam events in that time.
That Wawrinka guy had a pretty good run there.
Safin was my man. That dude knew how to throw some epic fits on the court. Then he went and joined Vlad in the Duma…
This is shaping up to be a classic battle. Djokovic wins 4 in row to save his serve and it looks like he is toying with Berrettini and then Berrettini wins a set in 4 serves. I am casual fan and very impressed.
@BLUE @ LSU!
Sup fellow Djokovic fan!
@the Djoker haters:
"Dread it. Run from it. Destiny still arrives."
Thanovic wins!!! And he overcame the crowd yet again!
/Now that Djokovic has won, I'm gonna blow off some steam.
In my firm, unyielding, unapologetic opinion, it's fucking embarrassing for the sport that arguably the greatest tennis player up to this point is not easily the crowd favorite in a final to a youngster who has won 0 Slams.
Hell yeah, brother. Our man is on a roll. It's amazing to think what he might be able to accomplish this year. Just three weeks until the Olympics and then on to Queens.
I've always been frustrated by the lack of respect that Djokovic gets from the crowd at majors. Some of them are just rooting for the underdog (although that's something they would never do if Federer were playing), some of them have some deep seeded hatred of Djoker, and the NY crowd has always been down on him ever since his post-Roddick match interview. But I do think he's slowly starting to win many of them over. If not, fuck 'em. Win anyway.
A master of winning ugly with fake medical time outs, bathroom breaks because he is down a break or two, narcissistic “i am bigger than the rules” attitude. His strategically time breaks are known as “cheating within the rules”. Federer and Nadal are all class and win without that crap.
there was one amazing rally where Joker was really on the back foot, but somehow, he came back to win it...i think that really broke the spirit of the Italian...
Djokovic has had an amazing career....hard for the younger guys to break through.
Joker won. I hate that dude but he’s undoubtedly gonna be the greatest when he calls it a career. I could see him getting to 30 easily at his current pace.