The Campbell's Hall of Fame tennis championship has gone pretty much as expected, since the middle of the week. Mardy Fish and Olivier Rochus are set to play each other in the final, as they were the only seeds left by the third round. They're 1-1 against each other, and their last match, in 2007 in Lyon, was just about as close possible. Three tiebreak sets, with the third set tiebreak going to 17-15. Rochus won that, but Fish won their earlier meeting, though that was all the way back in 2002. This match could really go either way, as neither player has a great record in finals. Fish is 3-11 while Rochus is 2-5. I lean towards Fish in this one, but neither result would surprise me.
As for the Davis cup, there have already been some surprising results. In an absolute shock, France beat Spain 3-0 in the first three matches of their Davis Cup tie. While I thought it was possible that France could pull the upset, I never would have imagined that it might go down like this. Monfils played brilliantly against Ferrer, showing a lot of toughness to come back from being so close to winning the match in the fourth set, only to ultimately have to go five. Normally, I would have figured that to be the type of match that Ferrer would win, but I give Le Monf a lot of credit for the guts he showed in toughing out what must have been an exhausting victory.
But the real surprise performance came from Michael Llodra, who upset Fernando Verdasco in the second singles match on Friday. Llodra served absolutely brilliantly, winning 72% of points on serve and only facing two break chances. On return, he manufactured an amazing 16 break chances. He may have only converted on 25% of them, but it was enough. That's a huge win for the 30-year old Frenchman, and he followed that up by playing a part of the doubles team that clinched the victory for the French, as he and Benneteau defeated Lopez and Verdasco. I'm really surprised that Spain, the two-time defending champion, fell at this stage. They had been without Rafael Nadal before, but their tennis talent is deep enough that it hadn't mattered much up to this point. I expect they'll continue to be a huge favorite in the coming years of the Davis Cup, but they're out until 2011. What a shock.
For the privilege of playing France, rather than Spain, Argentina is currently leading against Russia. The first match of the singles was a real thriller, as Nalbandian and Davydenko both just walloping the ball from every part of the court. It may not have been beautiful tennis, since they both missed the mark more often than they hit it, but it was exciting. I think Davydenko is still not fully recovered from his injury lay-off, as he lost that match in straight sets and then was also a part of the Russian's dropping the doubles point today. I'm surprised, I have to admit, that Argentina was able to win without Nalbandian playing, but that was a pretty convincing victory. I expect that they'll probably sub out Gabashvili for Davydenko in the reverse singles, and he may be able to win against Leonardo Mayer. That means the tie will come down to Nalbandian against Youzhny, which would be quite an interesting decider. We'll see if it comes down to that. It's possible that Nalbandian might win the Davis Cup this year, almost entirely by himself.
Croatia-Serbia has been interesting to watch thus far, and I've been pretty much spot-on with my predictions. Novak Djokovic and Nenand Zimonjic (along with doubles partner Tipsarevic) won easily, giving Serba a 2-1 advantage. Cilic is going to need to pull off a monumental upset against Djokovic to give Ljubicic a chance to pull of the upset. I don't think Djokovic is going to lose - he may not have played spectacular tennis in the last few months, but he did play amazing in the first round of the Davis Cup, and maybe his performance here could turn his year back around. Even though Djokovic is back up to number two, he hasn't even made a final since Dubai, and he hasn't beaten a player ranked inside the top 20 in that time, either. But Cilic has been underperforming since making the Aussie Open semis, too. This is a big match for both guys.
On the other hand, there's not much to say about the Czech Republic and Chile. Even without Berdych or Stepanek, the Czechs ran roughshod over their Chilean opponents. It was a beatdown, with Chile winning just one set in the doubles, and never getting closer then 6-3 in either singles match. In fact, both singles players won a combined total of eight games in six sets. Chile is in trouble without Gonzalez, is the message to take from this. We'll see if he's fit again by the time Davis Cup kicks up again in 2011, because otherwise, Chile might find themselves relegated out of the world group, pretty soon.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Newport Mid-Week and Davis Cup Preview
Some interesting things happening in Rhode Island. Top seed Sam Querrey was felled by an absolutely inspired Dustin Brown - the Jamaican lost only one point off his first serve and served at 67%. Querrey may not have been at his absolute best, but credit to Brown for playing the best I've ever seen him. Unfortunately, he was unable to sustain that level, and fell rather tamely to Brian Dabul in the next round.
Rajeev Ram, the defending champion, was also upset in the second round to South African Raven Klaasen, who has a career ATP-level record of 5-2 over the past 8 years. I'm willing to bet that all of those matches are either in Davis Cup play or in the Johannesburg event. Credit to him for getting that win, but he also fell to Olivier Rochus in the quarterfinals.
Nicolas Mahut looked to be nursing a back injury in his second-round match against Frank Dancevic, but he didn't quit. He played it tough, but he seemed to be in pain whenever he went up to serve, and he ended up losing in two sets. All the same, is this guy an iron man or what?
In addition to Rochus, the only seed left in the draw is Mardy Fish, who has looked dominant, so far. I'm hoping he'll see young American Ryan Harrison in the semifinals. Harrison demolished Slovakian Karol Beck, seeded sixth, in the first round. I'm seeing a Mardy Fish-Olivier Rochus final, but since they're the only two seeds remaining and this tournament has been seeing quite an exodus of its top players, that may not play out.
In addition, tomorrow marks the first day of the second round of the 2010 Davis Cup. There are some interesting match-ups, but also some big-name players who are sitting this week out with injury. Let's look at who's in action:
France and Spain are two of the most dominant nations in tennis today, but both teams are missing their top players. Nadal and Tsonga are both on the sidelines, and unfortunately for France, Spain's B-team is more impressive than the second squad that France is putting up for action. The first singles match of the day is Gael Monfils and David Ferrer, which is an extremely appetizing match, and France's chances will depend largely on how well Monfils can play. He's the best player that's active on the French side, but his record in Davis Cup has not been great. After his first rubber with Ferrer, Michael Llodra takes on Fernando Verdasco. Since France is playing at home and on a hard court, I think the big-serving Llodra has an outside chance against "Hot Sauce," but it will depend in large part on his first-serve percentage. If Spain finishes day one with a 2-0 lead, the French are toast.
The second quartefinal is between Russia and Argentina, with Russia at home and again on hard courts. Since the majority of Argentine players prefer to play on clay, and last year's U.S. Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro is still out with injury, the Argentine squad doesn't look like they have much of a shot against the Russians. But they have a potential spoiler on their side - the recently-injured David Nalbandian, who saved Argentina in the first round against Sweden, is the country's only hope. He opens against Davydenko, which could be a cracker of a match. If both players are healthy, it may be the best match of the first day, but that's a big if. Nalbandian holds a slight 6-5 advantage over Davydenko, so we'll see how that one plays out. The second match of the day is Youzhny against Leonardo Mayer, which would be a big upset for Mayer.
In what is sure to be a hotly-contested, Eastern European fight, Croatia takes on Serbia, in Croatia. The Serbs have Nenad Zimonjic, so you can almost give them the doubles point already. The tie will likely hinge on whether either Marin Cilic or Ivan Ljubicic can upset Novak Djokovic. Both of the Croats had extremely lackluster Wimbledon campaigns, while Novak made it to the semifinals. He's clearly the form player here, but is he getting tired? This is another one that should be fun to watch how it plays out. Also, Serbia's number three player Janko Tipsarevic just recently got married, so maybe his tennis will be invigorated by that change in his life.
The last quarterfinal match-up is, honestly, a bit of a letdown. Chile takes on the Czech Republic, but Fernando Gonzalez, Tomas Berdych, and Radek Stepanek are all out of action. That leaves us with the scintillating match-ups of Nicolas Massu against Ivo Minar and Paul Capdeville against Jan Hajek. Considering that the match is taking place in Chile and Massu only seems to play well when he's playing for his country (see 2004 Olympics), I think the edge goes to the Chileans. But this is definitely the tie with the least star power in action.
Wimbledon's less a week gone, and things are already picking up again. Injuries aside, I love the packed tennis season, don't you?
Rajeev Ram, the defending champion, was also upset in the second round to South African Raven Klaasen, who has a career ATP-level record of 5-2 over the past 8 years. I'm willing to bet that all of those matches are either in Davis Cup play or in the Johannesburg event. Credit to him for getting that win, but he also fell to Olivier Rochus in the quarterfinals.
Nicolas Mahut looked to be nursing a back injury in his second-round match against Frank Dancevic, but he didn't quit. He played it tough, but he seemed to be in pain whenever he went up to serve, and he ended up losing in two sets. All the same, is this guy an iron man or what?
In addition to Rochus, the only seed left in the draw is Mardy Fish, who has looked dominant, so far. I'm hoping he'll see young American Ryan Harrison in the semifinals. Harrison demolished Slovakian Karol Beck, seeded sixth, in the first round. I'm seeing a Mardy Fish-Olivier Rochus final, but since they're the only two seeds remaining and this tournament has been seeing quite an exodus of its top players, that may not play out.
In addition, tomorrow marks the first day of the second round of the 2010 Davis Cup. There are some interesting match-ups, but also some big-name players who are sitting this week out with injury. Let's look at who's in action:
France and Spain are two of the most dominant nations in tennis today, but both teams are missing their top players. Nadal and Tsonga are both on the sidelines, and unfortunately for France, Spain's B-team is more impressive than the second squad that France is putting up for action. The first singles match of the day is Gael Monfils and David Ferrer, which is an extremely appetizing match, and France's chances will depend largely on how well Monfils can play. He's the best player that's active on the French side, but his record in Davis Cup has not been great. After his first rubber with Ferrer, Michael Llodra takes on Fernando Verdasco. Since France is playing at home and on a hard court, I think the big-serving Llodra has an outside chance against "Hot Sauce," but it will depend in large part on his first-serve percentage. If Spain finishes day one with a 2-0 lead, the French are toast.
The second quartefinal is between Russia and Argentina, with Russia at home and again on hard courts. Since the majority of Argentine players prefer to play on clay, and last year's U.S. Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro is still out with injury, the Argentine squad doesn't look like they have much of a shot against the Russians. But they have a potential spoiler on their side - the recently-injured David Nalbandian, who saved Argentina in the first round against Sweden, is the country's only hope. He opens against Davydenko, which could be a cracker of a match. If both players are healthy, it may be the best match of the first day, but that's a big if. Nalbandian holds a slight 6-5 advantage over Davydenko, so we'll see how that one plays out. The second match of the day is Youzhny against Leonardo Mayer, which would be a big upset for Mayer.
In what is sure to be a hotly-contested, Eastern European fight, Croatia takes on Serbia, in Croatia. The Serbs have Nenad Zimonjic, so you can almost give them the doubles point already. The tie will likely hinge on whether either Marin Cilic or Ivan Ljubicic can upset Novak Djokovic. Both of the Croats had extremely lackluster Wimbledon campaigns, while Novak made it to the semifinals. He's clearly the form player here, but is he getting tired? This is another one that should be fun to watch how it plays out. Also, Serbia's number three player Janko Tipsarevic just recently got married, so maybe his tennis will be invigorated by that change in his life.
The last quarterfinal match-up is, honestly, a bit of a letdown. Chile takes on the Czech Republic, but Fernando Gonzalez, Tomas Berdych, and Radek Stepanek are all out of action. That leaves us with the scintillating match-ups of Nicolas Massu against Ivo Minar and Paul Capdeville against Jan Hajek. Considering that the match is taking place in Chile and Massu only seems to play well when he's playing for his country (see 2004 Olympics), I think the edge goes to the Chileans. But this is definitely the tie with the least star power in action.
Wimbledon's less a week gone, and things are already picking up again. Injuries aside, I love the packed tennis season, don't you?
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Newport Preview
With Wimbledon done, we have one last grass court gasp before the surface fades into memory for the next 11 months: the Hall of Fame Championships in Newport, Rhode Island. Since it's the week after Wimbledon, it doesn't usually draw the greatest players in the game (since they're either resting or readying themselves for the Davis Cup) but it is the first tournament on U.S. soil for several weeks, and always has a handful of middle-tier American players happy to be back in action after what was surely a long and often frustration European clay court tour. I'll take a quick look today at some of the interesting storylines heading into this week.
Sam Querrey is the top seed in this tournament, and he opens against Jesse Levine another young American who doesn't really have Querrey's weaponry. Sam made it to the final here last year, where he lost (surprisingly) to Rajeev Ram. I think he'll do one better this year - he already won at the Queens Club, which had a much, much tougher field to work through. If he wins that, he'll get to play the number one Jamaican player Dustin Brown, who is starting to put his game together and become a solid top-100 player, which I'm excited about.
Unfortunately for another American in the draw, Taylor Dent lost to perennial qualifier Go Soeda from Japan in the first round. Dent wasn't able to put together the kind of grass court season that he was hoping for, and this isn't the best way to end it. It's a benefit for another player in this section, though - young Australian Carsten Ball, who I think should see Querrey in the third round. They played in last year's Los Angeles final, and it was a fine match.
The second quarter of the draw has Olivier Rochus, fresh off his near-upset of Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, as well as big Australian lefty server (much like Ball) Chris Guccione. The defending champ, Rajeev Ram, is also in this section, but I admit that I'll be shocked if he can repeat his title run from last year. He's good on the grass, but he was a lucky loser here last year - everything broke his way.
Mardy Fish is in the third quarter, as well as Federer's recent near-upset opponent Alejandro Falla. We'll see how Falla can deal with that close call - his first round opponent should have a bit of understanding about it, because it's former Rhode Island finalist and loser of the longest match in tennis history, Nicolas Mahut. I hope he can win this one - he deserves a win after player for so long and coming up empty.
I'm really excited about the last quarter, for one reason - it has young American Ryan Harrison, who upset sixth seed Karol Beck in the first round already. I think that he has a good draw, and could possibly make it to the quarterfinals here. Maybe this will be his coming out tournament; I really think Harrison is the next big name in U.S. tennis, and he should be top-20 bound, at comparable levels to where Isner and Querrey are right now. But he'll have to get there one step at a time, and a deep run into this tournament for the 18-year old would be a fine way to do it.
Sam Querrey is the top seed in this tournament, and he opens against Jesse Levine another young American who doesn't really have Querrey's weaponry. Sam made it to the final here last year, where he lost (surprisingly) to Rajeev Ram. I think he'll do one better this year - he already won at the Queens Club, which had a much, much tougher field to work through. If he wins that, he'll get to play the number one Jamaican player Dustin Brown, who is starting to put his game together and become a solid top-100 player, which I'm excited about.
Unfortunately for another American in the draw, Taylor Dent lost to perennial qualifier Go Soeda from Japan in the first round. Dent wasn't able to put together the kind of grass court season that he was hoping for, and this isn't the best way to end it. It's a benefit for another player in this section, though - young Australian Carsten Ball, who I think should see Querrey in the third round. They played in last year's Los Angeles final, and it was a fine match.
The second quarter of the draw has Olivier Rochus, fresh off his near-upset of Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, as well as big Australian lefty server (much like Ball) Chris Guccione. The defending champ, Rajeev Ram, is also in this section, but I admit that I'll be shocked if he can repeat his title run from last year. He's good on the grass, but he was a lucky loser here last year - everything broke his way.
Mardy Fish is in the third quarter, as well as Federer's recent near-upset opponent Alejandro Falla. We'll see how Falla can deal with that close call - his first round opponent should have a bit of understanding about it, because it's former Rhode Island finalist and loser of the longest match in tennis history, Nicolas Mahut. I hope he can win this one - he deserves a win after player for so long and coming up empty.
I'm really excited about the last quarter, for one reason - it has young American Ryan Harrison, who upset sixth seed Karol Beck in the first round already. I think that he has a good draw, and could possibly make it to the quarterfinals here. Maybe this will be his coming out tournament; I really think Harrison is the next big name in U.S. tennis, and he should be top-20 bound, at comparable levels to where Isner and Querrey are right now. But he'll have to get there one step at a time, and a deep run into this tournament for the 18-year old would be a fine way to do it.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Wimbledon Wrap-Up
After three years of magnificent, five-set finals at Wimbledon, we've finally had our first dud in a while. Despite the scorelines for the three sets being close, Berdych was never really in the match. Nadal actually did not play that well - he made a lot of unforced errors and only made a few of the trademark spectacular shots that he was making left and right against Andy Murray. His forehand, while heavy and spinny as ever, was not quite as easily placed as he would have liked - an unusual number of the Spaniard's usually reliable down-the-line shots drifted wide or long.
Despite the fact that Nadal's level of play was not as high as it's been during recent rounds, Berdych was unable to find his top gear as well. It would be one thing to come on court at the Wimbledon final and just get beaten by one of the best players the game's ever known. On the other hand, it's quite another to come out and not be able to muster your best tennis, because what other occasion is going to come along where it would be needed more?
Berdych was unable to play as well as he did against Federer or even Djokovic, and as a result, his defeat was all but assured. His other failure was an apparent unwillingness or inability to adopt another strategy when his initial gameplan was clearly unable to do the job against Nadal. Berdych tried to slug it out from the baseline, and when that didn't seem to work, he just kept on doing it. Credit to Berdych for playing so well that he made it this far, but it is disappointing that he couldn't do a bit better today.
It may have been that injury was troubling him, as he's pulled out of the Czech Republic's appearance in the Davis Cup this week. Nadal's done the same, but the loss for Spain - who has a very deep field and people of capable players to include - is not nearly so dear as the loss for the Czechs, who are already missing Radek Stepanek due to injury.
All in all, this Wimbledon fortnight had such an exciting and historic first week, that it was almost a guarantee that the second would be a letdown. There was some good tennis and a satisfying victor in the end, but aside from Roger Federer's defeat, there was nothing that really compared with the stunning action that absolutely littered the first six days of the tournament.
Almost everyone except Nadal and Serena are going to go away from this tournament disappointed - Yun-Hsun Lu is probably going to be happy for his run to the quarterfinals and his subsequent skyrocketing 40 places up in the ATP rankings, but everybody else has got to be thinking about missed opportunities. Falla and Bozoljiac could have beaten Federer, and Petszchner and Haase could have beaten Nadal. Surely, they will be encouraged by taking the game's best so close, but any excitement is leavened by the disappointment of not being able to seal the deal.
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic fell short at the semifinal stage, once again. For players of their caliber, they won't be satisfied. They want to be in the finals, they want to win grand slams. And they certainly don't want to lose in straight sets on their way. For Andy Roddick, this is another chapter in the strange and mystifying history of the American losing heartbreaking fifth sets. I don't think it's indicative of anything new or worrisome for his progress, except that it's another chance he let get away. If he had beaten Lu in that fifth set, he really could have made a run at this title. Who knows if his draws will break so well in the coming years?
And Roger Federer drops to number three in the world this week, for the first time in seven years. With Nadal now the owner of two grand slams and three masters series shields this year, he has all but sealed up the year end number one ranking. It will be interesting to see if this loss, probably the most shocking in a year of shocking losses since the Australian Open, pumps up Fed or signals his waning interest in competing, day in and day out, in a sport that he so effortlessly dominated for more than half a decade.
While most players are taking the week (or month) off, or at least getting ready for the next round of Davis Cup, the tennis calendar marches on, and this week features the Hall of Fame championships in Newport, Rhode Island, the last grass court tournament of the year. They were kind enough to give Nicolas Mahut a wildcard (I expect he'll be getting a lot of these in the near future). It's actually an interesting field, but even though play begins tomorrow, I won't take an in-depth look until then. After spending two weeks getting up early to catch the tennis live, I need to catch up on my sleep.
Despite the fact that Nadal's level of play was not as high as it's been during recent rounds, Berdych was unable to find his top gear as well. It would be one thing to come on court at the Wimbledon final and just get beaten by one of the best players the game's ever known. On the other hand, it's quite another to come out and not be able to muster your best tennis, because what other occasion is going to come along where it would be needed more?
Berdych was unable to play as well as he did against Federer or even Djokovic, and as a result, his defeat was all but assured. His other failure was an apparent unwillingness or inability to adopt another strategy when his initial gameplan was clearly unable to do the job against Nadal. Berdych tried to slug it out from the baseline, and when that didn't seem to work, he just kept on doing it. Credit to Berdych for playing so well that he made it this far, but it is disappointing that he couldn't do a bit better today.
It may have been that injury was troubling him, as he's pulled out of the Czech Republic's appearance in the Davis Cup this week. Nadal's done the same, but the loss for Spain - who has a very deep field and people of capable players to include - is not nearly so dear as the loss for the Czechs, who are already missing Radek Stepanek due to injury.
All in all, this Wimbledon fortnight had such an exciting and historic first week, that it was almost a guarantee that the second would be a letdown. There was some good tennis and a satisfying victor in the end, but aside from Roger Federer's defeat, there was nothing that really compared with the stunning action that absolutely littered the first six days of the tournament.
Almost everyone except Nadal and Serena are going to go away from this tournament disappointed - Yun-Hsun Lu is probably going to be happy for his run to the quarterfinals and his subsequent skyrocketing 40 places up in the ATP rankings, but everybody else has got to be thinking about missed opportunities. Falla and Bozoljiac could have beaten Federer, and Petszchner and Haase could have beaten Nadal. Surely, they will be encouraged by taking the game's best so close, but any excitement is leavened by the disappointment of not being able to seal the deal.
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic fell short at the semifinal stage, once again. For players of their caliber, they won't be satisfied. They want to be in the finals, they want to win grand slams. And they certainly don't want to lose in straight sets on their way. For Andy Roddick, this is another chapter in the strange and mystifying history of the American losing heartbreaking fifth sets. I don't think it's indicative of anything new or worrisome for his progress, except that it's another chance he let get away. If he had beaten Lu in that fifth set, he really could have made a run at this title. Who knows if his draws will break so well in the coming years?
And Roger Federer drops to number three in the world this week, for the first time in seven years. With Nadal now the owner of two grand slams and three masters series shields this year, he has all but sealed up the year end number one ranking. It will be interesting to see if this loss, probably the most shocking in a year of shocking losses since the Australian Open, pumps up Fed or signals his waning interest in competing, day in and day out, in a sport that he so effortlessly dominated for more than half a decade.
While most players are taking the week (or month) off, or at least getting ready for the next round of Davis Cup, the tennis calendar marches on, and this week features the Hall of Fame championships in Newport, Rhode Island, the last grass court tournament of the year. They were kind enough to give Nicolas Mahut a wildcard (I expect he'll be getting a lot of these in the near future). It's actually an interesting field, but even though play begins tomorrow, I won't take an in-depth look until then. After spending two weeks getting up early to catch the tennis live, I need to catch up on my sleep.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Wimbledon Final
The women's final this morning was - I'm sorry to say - a bit of a dud. Serena won, rather handily, as one might expect. I was glad to see Zvonareva free from meltdowns or crying fits, and she was respectful in her post-match comments. I think she was just happy to have made it that far - it's been the best two weeks of her career, for sure - and she wasn't going to let a little thing like losing to the best player in the women's game today. Unfortunately for Vera, the hits just kept on coming as she also lost in the doubles final to the unseeded duo King/Shvedova, and apparently she was unable to keep from breaking down in tears on court there. That's a shame.
Looking ahead to tomorrow's match between the men's finalists, there is a chance that we'll have a repeat performance. Nadal is 7-3 against Tomas Berdych, including winning the last six. The last time Berdych even took a set off Nadal was back in 2006. Now Berdych is playing the best two weeks of tennis he's ever put together - until last month's French Open, the Czech had only been past the fourth round of a grand slam once. And now he's in the Wimbledon final. Will he be able to rise to the occasion?
I hate to say it, but I'm afraid that he won't be able to meet the test of beating Rafael Nadal on this court, in a grand slam final. It's nothing like anything that Berdych has ever been a part of before. Berdych has five titles to his name, but the people he's beaten to win those titles are of a different sort of caliber of player than someone like Rafael Nadal, who is - without question - going down as one of the game's all-time greats.
Berdych was lucky to face Djokovic in the semis, because the Djoker had not been in particularly good form, while Nadal got a real test against Andy Murray. Considering that both matches were about equally difficult for the winners, Nadal's performance was significantly more impressive. If Nadal can manage that kind of form for three sets tomorrow, it's unlikely that Berdych will have any say in the outcome of the match.
This is not to say that Berdych doesn't have a shot. He'll need to play as well as he did against Roger Federer, if not even better, and he'll need to be able to keep it up for an entire match. He'll need to keep from being overcome by the situation, and mental toughness has not been a hallmark of his game. He's going to need to capitalize on every chance that he gets, because he's not going to get very many. It's a big ask for the big man, and I'll be honest - it's tough for me to see him pulling it off, all things considered. But that's why we play the game, after all. I didn't expect him to beat Federer, either, and he did that convincingly. We'll see what happens.
Looking ahead to tomorrow's match between the men's finalists, there is a chance that we'll have a repeat performance. Nadal is 7-3 against Tomas Berdych, including winning the last six. The last time Berdych even took a set off Nadal was back in 2006. Now Berdych is playing the best two weeks of tennis he's ever put together - until last month's French Open, the Czech had only been past the fourth round of a grand slam once. And now he's in the Wimbledon final. Will he be able to rise to the occasion?
I hate to say it, but I'm afraid that he won't be able to meet the test of beating Rafael Nadal on this court, in a grand slam final. It's nothing like anything that Berdych has ever been a part of before. Berdych has five titles to his name, but the people he's beaten to win those titles are of a different sort of caliber of player than someone like Rafael Nadal, who is - without question - going down as one of the game's all-time greats.
Berdych was lucky to face Djokovic in the semis, because the Djoker had not been in particularly good form, while Nadal got a real test against Andy Murray. Considering that both matches were about equally difficult for the winners, Nadal's performance was significantly more impressive. If Nadal can manage that kind of form for three sets tomorrow, it's unlikely that Berdych will have any say in the outcome of the match.
This is not to say that Berdych doesn't have a shot. He'll need to play as well as he did against Roger Federer, if not even better, and he'll need to be able to keep it up for an entire match. He'll need to keep from being overcome by the situation, and mental toughness has not been a hallmark of his game. He's going to need to capitalize on every chance that he gets, because he's not going to get very many. It's a big ask for the big man, and I'll be honest - it's tough for me to see him pulling it off, all things considered. But that's why we play the game, after all. I didn't expect him to beat Federer, either, and he did that convincingly. We'll see what happens.
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