Tennischick's Articles – July 2009 Archive (10)

...Dechy was not the most tremendous achiever in tennis. I say this against the backdrop of comparisons to such high achievers as the Williams sisters and Steffi Graf. Some players, like Graf, seem to wait until their tennis life is over before than can go on to other pursuits. Players like Dechy combined tennis with other pleasures. If I had to choose, I could not imagine having Graf’s single-mindedness, even though I truly admire it. I am more like Dechy. I like to enjoy a nice glass of wine… Continue

...With the announcement that Roddick has also withdrawn from Indianapolis, I find myself contemplating the impact of his injury from a broader scope. Clearly the US would not have lost to Croatia had Roddick played Davis Cup. Clearly Dmitry Tursunov and Dudi Sela would not be the top seeds in Indianapolis had Roddick not called in sick. An injured Roddick is not good for American tennis.



That this coincides with an injured Nadal and an absent Federer places men’s tennis in a curious… Continue

It’s not entirely Jamie Foxx’ fault but his presence a few years ago didn’t help. It wasn’t that he serenaded Serena. It was that he didn’t seem to know how to stop serenading her. His song seemed to go on and on, and then he draped his body over hers and expressed his lust in a manner that I personally would have found disrespectful.



To be fair, it did not seem to bother Serena who laughed along gamely and spanked his butt when asked to do so. But I did note that she did not use the… Continue

I have in the space of this blog, previously bitch-slapped Martina Hingis for having tested positive for cocaine. I have also been less harsh on Gasquet for the same offense, not because I have double standards -- although I will fully accept if some readers believe that I do -- but because I honestly felt that there were differences between their situations that made the one less excusable than the other.



A friend called me after I posted that last column to say that he thought that… Continue

...Right about now, Selesians must be celebrating like it’s Christmas. You see, yesterday, Monica Seles got inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. This honor is very much deserved. Seles has won 53 singles titles and six doubles titles. She held the # 1 ranking for a total of 178 weeks and in both 1991 and 1992, she was the # 1 player in the world. She has won nine Grand Slams (only Wimbledon eluded her). And she was the original screamer. You could hear her playing a mile away.… Continue

He knew he would have to go. There was just no getting around it. DampAss had been dreading this moment for months, ever since The Maestro had earned a 13th Slam. DampAss’ spirits had lifted temporarily after Nadal crushed him in Australia. But alas, along came Paris, and Nadal’s surprising announcement that he would not be defending. Suddenly DampAss found himself in a tie for the G.O.A.T. And now it looked like things were about to get worse.



The hardest part was figuring… Continue

The new Wimbledon roof: If you don’t build it, it will rain. But if you build it, Murray will complain.



Andy Roddick seems to have matured. Is it the punani or the Stefanki? Discuss.



Was Djokovic at Wimbledon? I didn’t see him. I think I saw his shadow playing on a nether court but that can’t be true cuz he’s not ugly.



Federer had a jacket with the # 15 imprinted in gold on the back. What would he have done if he had lost? Was there a back-up clothing… Continue

...Officially, dominant performers have every right to enter any contest they chose. But unofficially it is understood that they had better not because audiences would be most unhappy. And so, usually at the point at which their dominance peaks, they start being pressured to give others a chance. Or to paraphrase John McEnroe during his post-match interview of Federer, they start feeling that it is time to throw the other guy a bone...



Find the rest of this article… Continue

...Roger didn’t say it but his meta-point seemed to be that we have become so accustomed to his success that we dismiss anything that falls short of a win in the finals. He didn’t say it but he seemed to be implying that we his fans, are somewhat prone to either-or thinking, such that anything that is not a win in the finals is defined as a failure. He didn’t say it, because he was doing his whole classy guy act, but he seemed to be hinting that in this, we are all quite full of it. And then… Continue

So the entire tennis world is up in arms over an allegation that the Wimbledon organizers place the pretty players on center court while the homely chicks are relegated to the courts located in the netherworld. I have honestly been shocked by the amount of press that this story has managed to attract, what with the universal fixation on the death of Michael Jackson and the astonishing number of related scandals now clogging up the news pages.



I was even more intrigued that a… Continue