Murray Madness

We get one of our oldest rivalries. England vs France. Richard Gasquet (FR) and Andy Murray (UK). Murray lost the first two sets which I actually missed. I got home from work (yes, I work and still find the time) and Murray was down two sets to love and I thought it was over...

A feeling of disappointment loomed into my thoughts because I heartily predicted Murray as one of the sleepers at Wimby. I have predicted Roger and Venus to repeat, and Jankovic to get knocked yesterday, and so far I am on the ball.

Gasquet has always been one of those players on the fringe, good enough to play with the boys but just not good enough to seperate himself from the boys to the men. Murray has inherited the torch from Henman although not as pretty as aged Henman. Murray looks like your typical bloody Brit. Murray has a soft chin, crooked teeth and tragic hair. Yet, the Brits love him because they have to. Gasquet on the other hand looks like a French cover model who should be sitting in a coffee shop drinking a "cup of joe" talking about his next photo shoot. Well, these two faced off today.

Back to the story... I got home from coaching the mornings at a local Gainesville tennis camp (westside) and took a nap because it looked like a blowout. I woke up and we were in the fifth and I had not seen the energy level at Wimbledon more explosive this whole tournament. Murray was fist pumping and chest pounding and the fans were emotionally charged with him on every ball and there were a couple really great (ESPN highlighted) points. Murray used his "crowd control" to take the first game and break the Gasman. A huge break to maintain momentum, control, and enabled him to be the "master of his own destiny." Murray just outplayed him.

Ive actually watched more of Murray than most players for some odd reason (with the exception of Safin) and this ugly kid from Britain has a real shot. He will compete against Rafa Nadal in the quarters. It is going to be tough to beat Nadal because I think Nadal would have smoked Gasquet but we shall see. If he does beat Rafa he will be destined for the Wimby finals. For the Brits I would look at the Nadal match as if it were the Wimbledon Finals because it may be the closest they get for a while. I am really excited for this Murray and Nadal match. This is Murray's turf and his people. There are going to be a ton of ugly drunk Brits at this match.

I cannot stress how many "scrubs" are left in the draw. I am pretty sure I could beat some of these guys. Of the 16 left, 7 of these players are just awful. Not tragically awful, but they just should not be in the 4th round and some of these guys by default will make it to the quarters and semifinals.

Well, Murray found a way and survived to die another day.

Somebody contact ESPN and pass this story onto them.

YOUR THOUGHTS?

Arthur Ashe

• Has his name on a stadium at the US Open
• National Champ at UCLA in 1965
• Wimbledon Champ in 1975
• Australian Open Champ in 1970
• US Open Champ in 1968
• Career lasted from 1969-1980
• The only African American to win at Wimby, US Open, and Aussie
• Yannick Noah is the only other African American to win a Slam
• Ashe died from complications from AIDS on February 6, 1993

Sunday Trivia

I am not a caucassion tennis player

I am an american tennis player

I won three grand slam titles

I was a collegiate national champion at UCLA who won the 1965 NCAA singles title

I unexpectedly beat Jimmy Connors in the 1975 Wimbledon finals

I am only one of two men of my race who have won a grand slam title

WHO AM I?

French Connection

submitted by my cousin Lee. (thought it was great so i posted it)

Rafael Nadal proved once and for all yesterday that he no equal and really no challengers to his dominance on clay as he thoroughly dismantled the best player in the world, Roger Federer, in three sets at 1, 3 and love. It wasn’t even close. I have seen nearly every match the two have played and never have I seen one completely destroy the other the way Nadal did yesterday to punctuate his amazing clay court season. Federer’s only reprieve is that the clay season is now over and he can set his sights on a 6th straight Wimbledon title and cementing his number one ranking.As Federer was playing for history for the third straight year by completing the career grand slam as the French Open is the only slam to elude him, while inching one closer to Pete Sampras’ record of 14 grand slams: Nadal was playing for history as well. He tied Bjorn Borg’s open era record of winning 4 straight titles at Roland Garros by improving to a staggering 28-0 at the French Open. Let me repeat that-he has never lost there-ever.

While Roger Federer is no doubt one of the 2 or 3 best players of all time, he will have to wait to be universally considered the best as his clay court nemesis, Nadal, continually beats him in their finals on clay. Nadal improved to 9-1 against Federer on clay and nearly all of those matches are in finals of majors or Masters events. Shocking really but fitting because Nadal may go down in history as the best clay court player ever. If Federer has no equal on grass or hard courts, Nadal is certainly the same on clay.

While I am a huge admirer of Federer, I am in awe of what Nadal has accomplished on clay. He needs to improve on the other surfaces to ever take over number one from Federer but he is closing the gap. Mentally he has an incredible advantage on Federer but the second half of the season is historically where Federer puts the distance between him and the rest of the field so it should interesting to see what happens as we move into the summer. The ATP has never been stronger with these two giants and of course Novak Djokovic coming of age as well.

All England Club

Authors Predictions... (better late than never)

Returning champs on both sides of the men's and women's draw. I don't know the last time this has happened, but do believe that Venus Williams and Roger Federer will win Wimbledon 2008. I think most people forgot that Venus won Wimbledon last year especially since pretty girl Ana Ivanovic took over the number one spot after winning the French Open and then choking in Wimbledon and that Venus has not won a singles title yet in 2008.

I almost leaned for Serbian Jelena Jankovic to win it because it will probably mean more to her, but the Serbians have been choke artists on grass this year and believe she will follow suit. Although Jankovic will more likely than not move into the number one woman's spot in the world no matter what, I do think its more fitting that the woman who win's a major tournament (i.e. grand slam) should get it under certain circumstances. It appears to look like she earned it more and is a more clear cut number one. Maybe we could push for that rule. It sounds simple to me. Whoever wins the tournament (grand slam) should be number one in the world regardless of their current ranking.

Roger will probably face Nadal in the finals. As simple and obvious as that sounds and as much as people want to see things shaken up (including myself) it will probably be consistent with all the other years and be a thrilling final. I do believe the semifinal Safin match will be a match worth watching and we may see Roger play some really incredible tennis at that time to push through.

Does anyone else think that Roger Federer looks like the classiest guy on the planet leaving the court at Wimbldeon?

Does anyone else think he also looks like Colin Firth?

What are your bold Wimbledon predictions?

Trivia

WHERE WAS THIS PHOTO TAKEN?

Florida Tennis

In case you have not already found out, Governer Crist finally signed and approved a license plate for tennis about a month ago. I must admit, I got myself a vanity plate and when I was getting it at the DMV there was golf and no tennis. There was everything you could possibly think of but no tennis. I was actually really irritated to the point of asking about what to do to get a tennis license plate. I even considered writing something to someone but after some investigation I found out I needed to get 62,000 signatures (essentially become a citizen-at-large) in order to get a a tennis plate on the DMV wall.

The plate becomes the first tennis license plate and is here to assist in the USTA Florida Section Foundation in its efforts to "improve the health and quality of life of Floridians through tennis." Well said by Governer Crist which restores my little to no faith in politics. Therefore, I have decided to get involved by hopping on a local advisory board. I would like to be an old man with white hair as a U.S. Senator or Florida Senator.

The plate will be available at the latest in May 2009, but more likely at the end of 2008 or early 2009. It may be a little corny but I will probably be the first in line to get one, just like the apple iphone.

Doug Booth USTA Florida Big Dog (Executive Director) says the revenue will go towards improving the quality of public tennis facilities. He says "Tennis is on the rise, and we want to keep it that way."

Tennis is on the rise? One of the camps I work at can't even fill the courts in the mornings and are struggling to employ tennis pros who need to pay bills. Another camp had to cancel their first week of camp because they didnt have enough campers. On the flip side Florida is arguably the tennis capital of the world. We've got incredible weather, University of Florida, Bolletierri, Saddlebrook, and most professionals retire and teach in Florida at the local clubs.

Not to sound too pushy but if two of the Gainesville camps struggle to even operate maybe some of this money needs to be pumped into the local school systems promoting tennis.

Summer Theatre

Sharapova and Roddick were officially waxed today in the second round at Wimbledon. What is going on? : ( Do they not realize that this is a Slam event and that they need to win in these tournaments in order to maintain a solid reputation. I don't care who they are playing these players should not be losing in the second round of a Grand Slam.

Sharapova who actually won Wimbldeon in 2004 at the age of 17, lost in straight sets nonetheless, to the 154th ranked Russian girl whose name only her mother can pronounce unless she makes it into the top 5 in Women's Tennis and then I will be sure to learn it. I believe she is also the 22nd ranked best Russian, and isn't Maria, #1?

Roddick actually was playing someone with reasonable talent. Roddick was facing handyman Janko Tipsarevic a Serbian who appears to be representing the Serbs since Djokovic looked like a joke the other day and is now watching from the stands. I dont know much about Janko Tipsarevic, but what I do know about him the match he played against Federer in the third round of the Australian Open this year and saying to myself "who is this guy?" He took Roger to five sets in a memorable match and played well enough for me to bookmark his name. Clearly the heavy hitters don't appear to be fairing too well this year on the soft grass surface.

Anywho, does anyone else think that Tipsarevic's ATP photo looks identical to reality star Brody Jenner?

Grass Stains

Federer still alive. Djokovic is dead. Mr. Djokovic is gone and Mr. Federer moves through. Wimbledon witnesses its first major upset as 21 year old Novak Djokovic gets knocked out in straight sets to 75th ranked Marat Safin. Safin won 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-2 on Centre Court and handled business.

Djokovic prior to the tournament was claiming that Federer was vulnerable at Wimbledon after his beatdown in Paris. He should have been speaking for himself.

I was training with one of the top juniors in Gainesville yesterday (possibly top in the State of Florida) and she mentioned this match and thought Marat Safin was going to win. I agreed with Brad Gilbert in believing that Novak was going to be Federer's eventual semifinal foe, and respectfully disagreed with her. Its funny these days how some kids are smarter than you think they are.

There is a respect for Safin's talent in the tennis world but on the flip side he happens to be one of those guys who may have something that some experts may call "wasted talent." Safin's erratic behavior and inconsistent and bad boy style has made his mark and earned him a place in tennis fans hearts as the "always potentially dangerous" opponent but could not string enough mental toughness together to win tough matches, another slam, or get deep into tournaments. This guy didnt even show up to his sister's final at the French Open. We shall see if he can take the current path that Novak planned with a semifinal against Roger.

Fancy Pants

Women's tennis star Maria Sharapova will be rocking a unique look at this year's Wimbeldon in London town. She's ditching her famous figure hugging tennis dresses for 'tuxedo' ensembles of shorts and sleeveless tops. The new look will reflect London's 'history in bespoke tailoring'. Maria's shorts will feature gold stitching and a subtle pin stripe. Bucking tradition in style.

We like!

"I've never worn shorts at a Grand Slam," says Maria. "I'm going to be debuting that. Call it menswear, obviously. It's kind of like a tuxedo look, very simple lines, classic."

Do U like Sharapova's new look?

Wimbledon

The tennis Gods are not smiling on Roger Federer in his quest for an unprecedented sixth straight Wimbledon Championship. His side of the draw is murderous while Rafael Nadal’s on the other side of the draw is a cake walk. Except for a possible semifinal matchup with two time finalist Andy Roddick. However, Roddick has been very unreliable in majors as of late and his window of opportunity is closing quickly.Federer opens with a tough matchup against former world #12 Dominik Hrbaty and then a possible third round match against tough French Open semifinalist Gael Monfils looms. After that he could end up in the fourth round against Chilean Fernando Gonzalez or the the last man to win Wimbledon before him, Lleyton Hewitt. His projected quarterfinal matchup would be against Spaniard and world #5 David Ferrer before his sure semifinal foe, Novak Djokovic, who has been talking a lot about how Federer is vulnerable this Wimbledon fortnight. Of course if he gets through this minefield, Rafael Nadal will surely be in the final for the third straight year. Hopefully Federer can enact a little revenge for his beatdown at Roland Garros.
If Federer somehow manages to survive this brutal field and win his sixth straight All England crown he will silence a lot of critics and set himself apart from all others that have ever played on grass. He is playing for history and against his own demons. A win at the All England Club moves him within one of Pete Sampras’ record of 14 grand slams and 7 Wimbledons (non consecutive). It would also raise his grass court win streak to 66. It should be fun to watch.