Anyone like Tennis?

Another Slam, another early exit for Rafael Nadal. Not only did he fail to win at least one major for the first year since 2004, he didn’t even make it beyond the quarterfinals of any. At the U.S. Open, of course, he lost to Fabio Fognini in five sets. The notion that needs a new coach is as simplistic as it is unlikely to happen. You know what he could use: a sports psychologist to change his risk-reward ratio. Too often Nadal is playing with caution, positioning himself deep in the court, playing passively—especially on the forehand side, especially deep in matches.

So the week before the tournament, I attended a Rafael Nadal/Tommy Hilfiger event a few blocks from my office in Bryant Park. The conceit was a strip tennis match. The makeshift court in the Hilfiger logo was ringed with models and slick publicists and fashion world types. Jane Lynch was, inexplicably, a mock chair umpire. Nadal was admirably game, but the whole thing—not to mention the highly risqué underwear commercials that followed—was so…off. It was just so wildly at variance with Nadal’s personality and sensibilities. You get the feeling that if Nadal’s friends back in Mallorca had seen this, they’d sit around the fishing boat, drinking beer and giving him endless rations of grief. He’d sheepishly take it, knowing it was richly deserved. But you won't believe what they paid me, no?

The whole affair was weirdly depressing and it took a while but I finally figured out why. It wasn’t the Wisconsin-level cheese factor, or seeing Nadal—one of the all-time greats—reduced, almost Kournikova-style, to a sex symbol, replete with the Cheshire cat look at the end of the commercial. It wasn’t knowing that Nadal—a simple guy with humility, who’d rather eat a burger at a sports bar than go to hip new restaurant—was out of place, surrounded by all these climbers. It was the message of resignation as it pertained to his career: The air is leaving this balloon and I need to capitalize on these opportunities while I can.

It's been a privilege and pleasure to cover his career. But between the retrospectives he has been offering on career—translation: “If I don't win another match, it’s been a good run.”—and some of these commercial decisions that are out of his character, one wonders about his mindset. We all always suspected that his body would doom his career and prevent him from playing into his 30s. This year has been much more about his lack of confidence and conviction. It as though he doesn’t believe the ride is lasting much longer. Here’s hoping he is wrong.

Oboy, it's getting intense at the end of 2nd set!!

There is something about Djokovic. I've read he really wants to be liked by the crowd and when the crowd is obviously against him, he tends to taunt them, of course making them more against him. It's so at odds with everything else you read about him. He's known for being very gracious to his opponents...

snood wrote:

Oboy, it's getting intense at the end of 2nd set!!

The second set was the one set when Federer raised his game to match Djokovic's. In the second set he showed what he could still do. Unfortunately he could not keep it up for more than a set. It took all his strength just to win the second. Yeah, I watched the whole set, and it was awesome.

Should Djokovic win, he will own winning records against both Nadal and Federer. Djokovic and Federer are tied right now. Should Serena win, she will tie Steffi Graf's slam total.

Kerber is a pretty decent German player who made some waves a couple of years ago and is consistently top ten.