Saturday Blues

I will admit that I was sad when Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer lost on Saturday.  I thoroughly enjoyed Novak Djokovic’s performance at the 2007 Miami Masters event.  From that point forward, I’ve been a fan of his.  Similarly in 2001, I predicted Roger Federer to beat Pete Sampras at Wimbledon and told anyone who would listen that this upset was coming.  I had fallen in love with Roger’s all-court game in watching his 2001 Roland Garros quarterfinal loss to Alex Corretja.  I thought he looked like “Euro-Sampras” with a similar game, but less on his serve and more spin on his groundstrokes.  Roger obviously grew beyond his Pete Sampras-like play to establish his own style, but Roger Federer has been my favorite player of all time to watch and follow over the years.  I came to tennis as a player and fan long before I wrote about tennis.  I think objectivity is something that is impossible as none of us has a God’s-eye point of view on sports, but when writing or thinking about tennis we can all strive to be fair.

Reasons for Excitement

1. 2014 has seen a subtle but distinct shift in the ruling class of tennis.  Players who are 25 and under have made a lot of impact on the ATP Tour and men’s Grand Slams.  Cilic is 25 and Nishikori is 24. However, their final is a crystalizing of a broader trend.  Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov each reached their first Grand Slam quarterfinal this year.  Both surpassed that result with their first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon.  Nick Kyrgios rocked Wimbledon with an upset of Rafael Nadal and a solid loss in the quarterfinal round.  Kyrgios played well at the US Open too.  Dominic Thiem has made in-roads on tour.  Cilic is recapturing some of the Grand Slam promise he demonstrated in 2009 and 2010.  Nishikori had been tabbed as a future top 10 player by Rafael Nadal.  Now, that prediction is a reality being delivered with an exclamation point.
2. Tennis is likely to boom in the Eastern Hemisphere.  The Australian Open markets itself as the Grand Slam of Asia Pacific.  The vast populations of Asia Pacific and Oceania have had a good 2014.  China’s Na Li won the Australian Open for her second Grand Slam singles title.  Australia’s Nick Kyrgios shook up the world at Wimbledon.  China’s Peng Shuai reached the US Open semifinal round. Now, Japan’s Kei Nishikori is in the US Open final.  This should help 2015 get off to a bang as the Australian Open is the Grand Slam of Asia Pacific right?
3. Marin Cilic is a lot more mobile than most players his size.  Cilic may not move as well as the 6’4″ Gael Monfils, but he moves far better than Tomas Berdych or Milos Raonic.  Under Goran Ivanisevic’s tutelage, Marin is serving bigger and playing more authoritatively than ever.  If he plays like he did versus Federer, Marin’s game resembles that of Safin’s game.  This is a game that is not represented by the Big Four so it is a welcome addition.
4. More Goran!  Someone tweeted that when Marin served for the match that Goran had not been that nervous since he served out the 2001 Wimbledon championship.  Goran helping Marin’s mental game is a good example that a coach can teach something he or she struggled with as a player.  For that reason, no one should ever hire Michael Jordan to run a basketball franchise.
5. Nishikori takes the ball early in a manner that used to be en vogue in the early 1990s.  Tennis is a sport in which multiple strategies can work, and Nishikori is employing a strategy that had faded a bit in recent years.
6. Grand Slam finalists are normally repeat visitors.  The 2004 French Open final between Gaudio and Coria was the last Grand Slam final to feature a player to not reach at least 2 Grand Slam finals in his career.  If one objects that Federer, Nadal and Djokovic’s consistency skews the numbers, I offer that one has to go back from the 2004 French Open to the 1996 Wimbledon final between Krajicek and Washington to find the next most recent set of Grand Slam finalists to not produce at least another grand slam final appearance.  We will likely see Marin and/or Kei in more major finals even if they are not the usual participants at the moment.
7. These guys are excellent tennis players and as a tennis fan I enjoy good tennis.