Some Thoughts About Wimbledon

1) Cherish Federer, His time at the top of his game may be over…

Federer might have just won his 15th Grand Slam event, however there were cracks appearing in Federer’s game. He was only able to break Roddick in the final once, four hours into the final when Roddick was starting to tire.

Until the final, Federer had been imperious, dispatching players who were thought to be tests, notably Karlovic. However both Djockavic and Murray, both players who have been troublesome in recent years, were knocked out. This years championships also saw injury keep Rafael Nadal out. Once Nadal comes back, I suspect we will see less and less of the old imperious Federer. The new guard of Nadal, Murray & Djockavic look ready to take over.

2) Andy Roddick is Back!

The other big story of the All England Championships was the revival in the fortunes of the one time World number one and great white hope for American Tennis, Andy Roddick. When Roddick first emerged, his main weapon was his huge serve. However, as time went on, that serve became more and more Roddicks only weapon.

Roddicks re-emergence as a player can be attributed to Larry Stefanki becoming his coach. Certainly Roddick has not returned better than he did at points in the semi-final and final. That he lost Wimbledon can only really be attributed to the tough matches he came through from the Quarter Finals onwards. He beat Lleyton Hewett in a tough five setter on the Wednesday, followed by another tough semi against Andy Murray. At the end of the final, it was clear that Roddick had very little left in the tank.

3) Murray’s time will come.

At the end of the Semi-final, Murray was out-though and tired as Roddick powered his way to his third Wimbledon final. However, even in defeat, there were positive signs for the Murray camp. Obviously there was disappointment, however he balanced that by stating that he wouldn’t let his exit at Wimbledon ruin his year, and that his next target was the US Open, which starts at the end of next Month. For team Murray, the road to Flushing Meadow started at about 7 o’clock last Friday evening.

4) The Womans Game is in the Doldrums.

With the exception of the Williams sisters, there is not one outstanding woman tennis player. Even more of an indicator of how poor the woman’s game is the fact that the number one seed, Dinara Safina, does not have a single Slam to her name. Her humiliation at the hands of Venus Williams in the semi-final was a reminder of the true quality of the Woman’s game. A shame really as it came straight after one of the best semi finals ever seen at Wimbledon, Serena’s win over Dementieva.

Watching some matches, it appears that baseline tennis dominates the game, with little deviation from this gameplan. A little variety in the tactics employed could do wonders for the game.

5) Please stop the grunting.

It is offputting. It was bad enough with just the shriek’s at serves, but the continued grunting is, quite simply, a deterrent to people tuning in to watch Tennis. My fiancée won’t watch if there is grunting, how many people are there like her. The worst offender at the moment is Serena Williams, who sounds like a drunken fight on any given Saturday night. It is not pleasant and not called for.