Federer and Nadal still the main draws
There’s no such thing as a bad year at Wimbledon, the most elegant of all sporting cathedrals, but things seemed especially promising on the eve of the 2006 tournament. Roger Federer, looking for his fourth straight title, was seeded No. 1. Rafael Nadal, rising to prominence at warp speed, was No. 2. In just their third meeting at the Grand Slam level, and their first at the All England Club, Federer prevailed in a four-set match that set a glorious tone for the future.
What no one could have foreseen: Eleven years later, those two all-time greats remain the most compelling stories at Wimbledon.
As the tournament opens Monday, that near-inconceivable story line gives tennis a much-needed boost. Pretenders come and go, with an alarming lack of consistency. Just two years ago, Federer and Nadal seemed to have approached the twilight of their careers, offering little beyond the memo-
ries. And yet, they rise again. Who needs successors with a golden era so purely resurrected?
Nadal has stormed through the clay-court season with a familiar vengeance, winning at Barcelona, Madrid, Monte Carlo and, finally, the French Open, flashing all of the skill, panache and determination that characterized his prime. He’s a spry and youthful 31, actually hitting the ball harder than ever (thanks to his adoption of supercharged contemporary rackets) and, while not terribly comfortable on grass, still a threat to win it all.
Federer limped out of last year’s Wimbledon, losing to Milos Raonic in the semifinals after aggravating his surgically repaired knee, and he took six months off the tour. He approached this season with renewed vigor, and the payoff came immediately. Trailing Nadal 3-1 in the fifth set of the Australian Open final in January, he responded with “the best 20 minutes of my life on the tennis court,” as he described it to ESPN, rallying to break nearly a five-year drought at major tournaments. And that was just the beginning for Federer, who went on to win the two most important nonmajors, Indian Wells and Miami, against worldclass fields.
What a remarkable thing to witness from a man who turns 36 next month. In a conversation with the magazine Inside Tennis, broadcaster Ted Robinson likened the still-wondrous Federer to Stephen Curry, in that “he’s the quietest player I ever heard. His feet are so light. He doesn’t grunt, never curses or exhorts himself. You never see him off-balance or lunging.”
Federer also has come around to the new technology, casting aside beloved racket models for the power-packed variety, and the results have been dramatic on his groundstrokes. “We’ve never seen you hit backhands like that,” Tennis Channel’s Mary Carillo told Federer.
“Me neither,” he said with a smile.
Federer skipped the clay-court season, fearing the injury risks of a yearround grind, and is now widely favored to win Wimbledon for the eighth time. The so-called Big Four still exists, but while Nadal is enjoying a career rebirth, there are measured expectations for Andy Murray, dealing with a hip injury, and Novak Djokovic, who has called upon Andre Agassi to coach him through a lingering malaise.
At this time last year, after winning the French, Djokovic was in possession of all four major trophies. No one seems to have an answer for his drop-off, including Djokovic himself, and he seemed oddly distracted at this year’s French, some viewing the final moments of his loss to Dominic Thiem (7-6, 6-3, 6-0) as a borderline tank job.
If you’re not familiar with Thiem, a 23-year-old Austrian targeted for greatness, follow his progress at Wimbledon. Be aware, also, that on the women’s side Atherton’s CiCi Bellis, now a fastrising player at 18, has drawn Victoria Azarenka (returning from childbirth) in the first round.
And you might need a crash course in women’s tour developments to stay current with a heavily
pervasive European element. Aside from such recognizable names as Angelique Kerber, Petra Kvitova, Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza, the players-to-watch list includes Karolina Pliskova, Elina Svitolina, Anastasija Sevastova, Anett Kontaveit and French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.
The women’s draw is definitely a wide-open affair, considering Serena Williams’ pregnancy and the fact that Maria Sharapova won’t be making her return to the tour until
the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, which runs from July 31-Aug. 6.
Speaking of which, the Stanford event has drawn one of its best-ever fields, featuring Sharapova, Azarenka, Muguruza, Madison Keys, Coco Vandeweghe, Francesca Schiavone and Bellis, who decided against attending Stanford to turn pro.