OT - Wimbledon final - Djokovic/Federer
It is a great cruelty that one of these players has to lose this match.
No kidding. Each man has won 27 games in this match. Feels like we're headed for another tiebreak.
No tiebreaks in the 5th set of Wimbledon matches. First to win two games. Recall the Isner-Mahut match that ended 70-68 in the 5th set.
That's right - it's only the U.S. Open that does that. This one could last a while (which is awesome).
Who can't capitolize more? Federer or Djokovic?
Looks to me like it's a matter of Djokovic's body can hold up. If it can, he'll get Federer.
Getting deep into the 5th now.
This might be it...
EDIT: That was it. Djokovic in 5.
I was pulling for Fed but happy for Djokovic as well. He's starting to climb the all-time charts for Grand Slam wins (eight now), too. Just needs the French.
I love how the Wimbledon trophy has a pineapple on top.
Was going to post a thread someday about the death of tennis in the U.S. I know we have Serena but it seems like so few people watch tennis anymore. I am old enough to catch the back end of Connors/McEnroe and the personalities I think really helped. Later, Agassi at least had the hair and flair if not super outspoken on the court like those 2 previous guys and Sampras was a winner if silent which Americans can get behind. Nowadays we have 2 of the best players ever and Joker is coming in as a top 10 all time type of guy and yet you see almost no interest.
Was thinking about this in context of soccer which so many poo poo but if you graphed the interest in the U.S. from the late 70s/early 80s to now of these 2 sports in the U.S. you'd probably have a chart that looked like a X, one trending up big time, the other trending down.
p.s. the Federer Nadal match at Wimbeldon maybe 3-4 years ago? was probably the best I've ever seen and from commentators one of the best ever. That was a match no one truly deserved to lose.
American viewers can be provincial. If there's a U.S. competitor in the mix, viewership goes up. Interest in the World Cup would be weaker if we were still a minnow on the world stage.
In tennis, we used to always have someone in the top 3-4 in the world, but this past decade has been bleak for American men's tennis. Our last Grand Slam champion was Roddick in 2003, which is pretty amazing to consider. If we produce another great champ, viewership will go back up.
Agreed on those counts. And there doesn't seem to be any help coming on the horizon. I also think the technology of the sport has hurt - there used to be more action and you could be a net player like McEnroe or Becker in the 70s/80s - it seems like that has completely died with the balls being hit so hard.
I wasn't alive when Connors/McEnroe was going on, so to me tennis has always been more of a niche sport. Like golf, the decline of the "country club" culture in the last 10 years seems to have impacted the popularity of tennis. Seems like there are fewer people playing. Certainly, the lack of a dominant male American player has not helped with its popularity here the last 5 years (since Roddick). Which is really too bad, because for those of us who pay attention, this has been an amazing era for men's tennis with 3 all time greats at their peak battling it out at every major.
I grew up in a very middle class neighborhood and there would be parks with tennis courts and you'd see them pretty filled up... plenty of soccer mom types and the kids. I don't see much of that now but maybe I am in the wrong places. So anecdotally it seems less are playing.
I think this could be easily checked by sales of equipment in the U.S. now versus 25 years ago - I'd be curious how it shook out.
Agreed - the tennis of this era is probably the best it has ever been. You have 2-3 players at the same time who would be in the top 10-12ish of all time including 2 of the top 5, even as Roger is fading.
One issue with tennis is that it's hard to make a living on it. The superstars obviously make a ton but If you're not in the top 100, you're basically scraping by - and it's increasingly hard to make it up in the rankings as the game has spread around the world. Obviously, it's hard in any sport to be good enough to live professionally, but tennis is one of the toughest.
Also, making a college tennis team generally only means a partial scholarship, and as tuition keeps going up everywhere, that may not be enticing enough to players and their parents to stick it out.
This was somewhat reminiscent of Federer / Nadal in 2008 when it comes to the scale of the epicness, if you will. Simply an amazing match and like someone said, it is a shame that someone had to lose this one. Congratulations to Novak Djokovic.
Already 6 years ago? Jeez time flies.
Fantastic match with incredible drama in the 4th set. Like others here, I feel its too bad someone had to lose. I was pulling for Roger as this may be his last chance to win a major.
Djokovic is a really funny guy. Watch his imitations of Sharapova and Nadal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y2ORlHxIL8
Today, I loved his post game talk with Prince William and Kate when you can overhear him asking her, "How is your sister?"
He's also pretty good at tennis.