Harrison Goes Down

Well, Ryan Harrison, the new budding American tennis star, ended up losing his second round match at Wimbledon today to 7th seed, David Ferrer, after the match was suspended yesterday due to darkeness. He took Ferrer to five sets, losing the fifth at 2-5.

But it's okay, Harrison has all the skills to be the next great American tennis star. It's all there. He has the big serve of Pete Sampras, the pigeon-toed gait and two-handed backhand of Andre Agassi, the beautiful groundstrokes of Roger Federer, and even the temper of John McEnroe. In fact, it was probably his inability to control his emotions that lost his match today. But again, it's okay, he's only 19, and he'll learn quickly. What most impresses us most about Harrison is his versatility of shots; in addition to using a two-handed backhand, he also occasionally uses a one-handed backhand slice which is very effective. It's rare to see a "two-hander" also have the ability to use one hand when needed. Harrison's impressive Wimbledon debut follows an also impressive performance at last month's French Open, so all eyes will be on Harrison at the upcoming U.S. Open later this summer to see if he continues to improve.

On a sadder American tennis note, perennial loser Andy Roddick is currently behind, two sets to none, in his third round match against Feliciano Lopez. It looks like another early round exit for the once former #1 player in the world. Rupert Grint, pictured at left, of "Harry Potter" fame was spotted yesterday at Centre Court. Maybe Grint can wave a magic wand and give Andy Roddick a few desperately needed, free points. He needs them.

Can Harrison Do It?

We've been begging for a long, long time for another great American tennis player, and it looks like our long, national tennis nightmare might finally be over. Ryan Harrison, the 19 year-old Shreveport native is already living up to his potential as American's next great tennis star.

We hinted a couple of days ago that Harrison might upset #7 seed David Ferrer today at Wimbledon, and so far, so good. He was leading two sets to one over Ferrer when the match was suspended for darkness. If he can come back tomorrow and finish off Ferrer, then he's got a chance to go far into the tournament. Laughingly, Andy Roddick commented about Harrison that he'd have to learn to control his emotions if he wants to become really great. Oh, right, this advice coming from a man, (Roddick), who because he never matured emotionally turned out to be one of the great American tennis under-achievers of all time. Maybe Roddick should just concentrate on getting past the third round of the tournament.

And speaking of whiners, Serena Williams was complaining today that she's had to play her past few matches on Court #2, instead of Court #1 or Centre Court. It is odd that the defending champion is not playing every match on Centre Court, but let's get real. Wimbledon is, at the end of the day, a business, and just a like t.v. programmers, the organizers of the tournament are going to schedule for the famed Centre Court the players with the most appeal. And frankly, most people are bored with Serena Williams' clunky, clydesdale horse-version of tennis. Williams is a great champion, no doubt, but her game is big and ugly and boring.

Wimbledon 2011 is Underway

Day 2 of Wimbledon 2011 is in the history books, and although there haven't yet been any interesting upsets, there are already some interesting stories.

Serena Williams, who hasn't played for a year due to a freak foot injury and later life-threatening blood cots in the lungs, won her first round match, afterwhich she dissolved into tears. Williams, the defending women's champion, later commented about her emotional display, stating that she surprised even herself about how much it meant to be able to play tennis again, especially at Wimbledon.

Meanwhile, sister Venus might have won her first round match, but she didn't win the favor of the British press with her odd-looking attire. Venus wore what looked to be a terry-cloth jumper and was promptly pilloried in the press.

The top four male contenders for the Wimbledon crown, Federer, Djokovic, Murray and Nadal all won their first round matches easily, as did American John Isner. By strange coincidence, Isner had to play Nicholas Mahut, the same opponent whom he needed 11+ hours over the course of three days to defeat in last year's Wimbledon. Luckily for Isner, he ousted Mahut today in less than two hours.

American disappointments James Blake and Donald Young went out in the first round, but the young man who truly looks to be American's next greatest hope for tennis greatness, Ryan Harrison, won. Harrison was defeated in the final round of the qualifying tournament, which left him on the sidelines of the tournament, but then entered the main draw at the last minute when someone else pulled out. He has a tough 2nd Round match against 7th seed, David Ferrer, but if he can somehow pull out an upset against Ferrer, he's got a chance to go a couple of more rounds, where he would then probably meet powerhouse Jo-Wifried Tsonga, and then someone named Roger Federer.

And of course, when it comes to Americans, and especially when it comes to American disappointments, we'll always have Andy Roddick. You gotta hand it to Roddick, who hasn't won a Major tournament since the 2003 U.S. Open, for, if nothing else, his naive chutzpah. Roddick, who long ago stopped being a threat in men's tennis, stated today that he thought he could go "to the semi-finals or even the finals of this year's Wimbledon". Wow. Really? Has he forgotten that there are at least a dozen men who are also in the tournament who he has little chance of defeating? Poor Andy. But you can't blame him for his enthusiasm; he just defeated in straight sets little-known Andreas Beck, although he needed a tie-break to win the second set. What former #1 player in the world wouldn't be encouraged if he just beat the 156th ranked player in the world?

Let's get real here. Roddick will struggle to beat Victor Hanescu in the next round, and if manages to get past Hanescu, he'll next have Lopez or Schuettler, both of whom are dangerous players. And even if he manages to get past those two rounds, he'll next face Gael Monfils, who's currently playing the best tennis of his life. If Roddick somehow manages to get past Monfils, he'll face Andy Murray in the quarterfinals. Oh my. Yes, Andy Roddick, you're on your way; on your way straight to the dustbin of great American coulda'-shoulda'-woulda's.

The Greatest Rivalry

Earlier today was the final of the ATP World Tour Finals in London, the annual tournament to officially end the professional tennis year. Only the top eight players in the world are invited to participate, and these photos were taken a few days ago when the players were invited to 10 Downing Street by British Prime Minister David Cameron.
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(robin soderling, roger federer and andy murray)
.Fittingly, the finalists today were Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, and another chapter was added to the greatest rivalry in sports. Many probably expected Rafa to end his year on an even higher note than what he has already experienced earlier in the year by winning three of the four major tournaments, The French Open, Wimbledon and The U.S. Open. But for all those who are quick to declare the end of the reign of King Roger, not so fast. Federer not only beat Nadal today, but beat him handily. Roger might be nearing 30, but he's got at least five more good years in him, and we're guessing he'll win at least a few more Grand Slam titles.
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On a sadder note, when you look at the photos below of the top eight world players, Federer, Nadal, Robin Soderling, David Ferrer, Novak Djovic, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick and Tomas Berdych, any serious tennis fan must wonder what Andy Roddick is doing in the picture. But true to form, he lost quickly and easily in the prestigious year end tournament. When, oh when, will America once again produce a great tennis champion?
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Oh, and by the way, did David Ferrer miss the memo about the black suit thing?
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American Shame

As we write this post, American James Blake is losing his second round match at the 2010 U.S. Open in New York. And no surprise, he just finished a bratty, whining tirade against the match umpire over a questionable call. This comes on the heels of a match last night in which Blake's fellow American, Andy Roddick, was defeated in his second round match, and Roddick also blew up at a lineswoman over a foot fault call. Roddick berated the woman incessantly for over thirty minutes, sounding like a spoiled petulant child who didn't get his way. Oh, and by the way, on a review of the video, Roddick did, indeed, commit a foot fault.

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(james blake and andy roddick, no doubt discussing how

to best blame their failures on the linespeople)

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When, oh when, will the long, embarrassing national nightmare of the Roddick/Blake/Fish era of American tennis finally come to a long-overdue end? These American men will go down in sports history as the biggest underachievers in the history of the sport of tennis for America. The only talent they seem to have is behaving as overindulged, pampered children.

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Just to show how far American men's tennis has fallen, consider these statistics. During the Open Era of tennis, first for the Americans came the Ashe/Smith era, during which American men won 5 Grand Slam titles. Next came the McEnroe/Connors era in which American men won 18 Grand Slam titles. Next up was the Sampras/Agassi/Courier/Chang era in which American racked up a stunning 26 Grand Slam titles. But for the past few years, we've been mired in the very sad, disappointing era of Roddick/Blake/Fish/Ginepri/Dent, etc., who have all combined for a grand total of 1 Grand Slam title, (Roddick won the U.S. Open in 2003).

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So please, Andy Roddick and James Blake, stop crying like babies, and just go away.

Serena Pulls Out

In the 35 years of professional rankings in women's tennis, no #1 player has ever missed the U.S. Open. Until now. Serena Williams has pulled out of this month's U.S. Open due to a freak accident she suffered right after winning Wimbledon this summer. Evidently, she was at a restaurant in Munich when she stepped on broken glass, requiring surgery, and the injury hasn't healed in time to allow the current #1 women's player to play the U.S. Open in two weeks. Of course, we're still wondering what was really going on in that restaurant. Broken glass, Serena stepping on it, in Munich? Was she barefoot in a restaurant? What the hell was going on? A "Cabaret"-inspired naked dance-off that went horribly awry? Who knows?. But what we do know is that with Serena and Justine Henin both out of the tournament, the field is wide open for the women for the final Grand Slam championship of 2010. Maybe Kim Clijsters will repeat.
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One more thing we know is that U.S. Men's tennis continues to decline. When Andy Roddick recently dropped out of the Top Ten, it marked the first time since 1973 that no American man has been in the Top Ten. The U.S.T.A. is scrambling to promote youth tennis leagues around the country in an effort to "grow" another great American tennis champion, but with no potential contender currently in sight, we might be waiting for a long time for another Connors, McEnroe, Sampras, Courier or Agassi.

Don't Hold Your Breath

At Wimbledon 2010, we're into the quarterfinals.

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(roddick humilated... again)

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It's been a crazy championship so far; in the very first match, defending champion Roger Federer was almost eliminated, and had to come back from two sets down to win. American James Blake went out in the first Round, but not before cursing at Pam Shriver, who was commenting for television in the nearby stands, and yelled for her to shut up. Now, that's class.

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(james blake)

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Next up was the historic and now famous match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut which took eleven hours to complete. The match stretched out over three days and ended with a fifth set score of 70 games to 68 for Isner. Isner proceeded to the next round where he promptly went out in straight sets.

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Venus and Serena Williams are looking very strong, probably heading for another final against each other, unless Kim Cljisters can pull off an upset against Venus. Meanwhile the American men have, as usual, have fallen faster than a whore's panties at a dollar night strip club. Most embarrassingly, Roddick was eliminated today by a man ranked 82nd in the world who had never before made it past the second round of Wimbledon. Unless someone pulls a rabbit out of a hat, look for Federer and Nadal in another final.

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(the gigantic, 6'9" john isner)

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Sadly, no one has any answers for why American men's tennis is so bad, and seems to be getting worse, with no up-and-comer's in sight. Roddick will go down in history as one of the most over-ranked underachievers in American sport; he came onto the scene with a big serve, but once his opponents figured out how to return it, he had no other game. Fellow Americans James Blake, Mardy Fish and Robby Ginepri might as well retire now; they're never going to achieve anything spectacular in a grand slam championship. Many are pointing to John Isner and Sam Querrey as America's next best hopes, but don't hold your breath. It took Isner five sets and 138 games in a fifth set before he finally managed to break the serve of a guy ranked 149th in the world. Of all the American men, Sam Querrey looks like he might possibly have a game which could take him into the Top Ten in the world, but both and he and Isner are already in their mid-twenties, an age by which most tennis greats have already accomplished grand slam success. It might be too late for them.

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(sam querrey)

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One might look to the dress of the American men for clues. Okay, we know what you're thinking, "What does fashion have to do with sport?" A lot, actually. Notice how the attire of the top players, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, is tailored and fits their bodies well. Even after long matches, these players still look well put together. Meanwhile, the American men show up in big, baggy, oversized shirts and shorts which are so big they look like something Baby Huey might have donned, and after a few sets, the Americans look completely bedraggled. At the top levels of any world class sport, the mental game becomes as important as the physical, and when one is dressed well, one exudes confidence. But when one looks like some sloppy 12 year-old whose Mommy hasn't washed his clothes in a couple of days, one doesn't exactly inspire fear in his opponent. Instead he looks like he doesn't care about himself or his game. No wonder no one is no longer frightened to play Andy Roddick or any of the other American men.

How Could We Have Missed Someone Who's 100th Ranked?

And speaking of admitting a wrong, we erred when we mentioned a couple of days ago that Andy Roddick was the lone American left in the French Open. Robby Ginepri, as of today, is still in the tournament, in fact, he's made it to the 4th Round, a great feat for the 100th ranked American, and especially for Ginepri, who's never done well in this championship.

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(robby ginepri at the 2008 french open)

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But we were correct when we said that Andy Roddick woudn't win the French Open; he went out in straight sets in the very next round to an unheard of qualifier. Some sports commentators are trying to find new ways to describe the extent to which Roddick will go down in sports history as one of the greatest, over-hyped disappointments of all time. One writer called him Andy "Kournikova" Roddick, referring to Anna Kournikova, the Russian tennis star who became famous a decade ago for being blonde and beautiful, but whose tennis career flamed out without ever winning the big matches. So sad.

I See Paris, I See France...

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The French Open tennis tournament is underway, and Venus Williams is causing a stir with her "Moulin Rouge"-inspired dress, complete with nude-colored panties. Television commentators and bloggers have almost worked themselves into a stroke discussing the daring look, and British comedian Russell Brand got in on the act on Jay Leno's show this week by caressing the middle photo from above and launching into a ten minute bit complete with lewd suggestions barely appropriate for t.v.
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U.S. Men's tennis continues to suck. Andy Roddick is currently the lone American male left in the tournament, and if you think he has a chance in hell of winning this tournament, then we're thinking you've been washing your hair this week in the lovely, black, oil-drenched water of the Louisiana Gulf Coast, because you've lost your mind. It's been 2003 since an American man last won a Grand Slam title, the longest drought for American tennis since the beginning of tennis. Roddick won the U.S. Open in 2003; taking advantage of a brief "gap" in tennis when all the old stars, (Sampras, Agassi), had recently retired or were about to retire, and new stars, (Federer, Nadal), had yet to emerge. But the world quickly realized that Roddick's lone title win was a fluke; his only talent was a booming serve, and once the other players figured out how to return it, Roddick's star quickly faded. Plus, Roddick had, and still has, all the maturity and emotional strength of a quivering 10 year-old girl at a Justin Bieber siting. We don't know where the next great American male tennis stars are hiding, but we wish they'd emerge, and soon!
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And in the "We're Too Dumb to Understand Our Own Technology" department, ESPN needs to get it together. As we were watching the tournament this afternoon on the ESPN2 Network, the televised matches we were watching had already been played, Paris being several hours ahead of American time zones. And right in the middle of the matches, there came the "crawl" at the bottom of the screen showing the winners and final scores of the very matches we were watching. Wow. Way to go, ESPN. We're guessing an Emmy Award is coming your way... sometime right after Andy Roddick wins the French Open.