How about that French Open, huh? What a terrible tournament it was this year.
The women's final pitted an unseeded Barbora Krejcikova against a 31st seeded doubles specialist, and the play was about what you'd expect. It was atrocious. Not a single woman ranked in the top 20 even made it to the semifinals.
On the men's side, Stefanos Tsitsipas won his first two sets against Novak Djokovic in the final and then lost the third. Then he took a timeout and asked the trainer to "work on his back." This was practically an admission of defeat: he was basically giving himself permission to lose. And sure enough, he did.
This is the difference between the Big Three and everyone else: Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic play every single point the same. They keep coming at you no matter what. Other players lose a set to one of these guys and they all but give up.
Anyway, Djokovic now has 19 grand slams under his belt, yet another testament to the conditioning revolution that took over tennis a couple of decades ago. Until about the year 2000, age 30 was it. Nobody won slams after that. Now, players keep on going for another decade. Take a look at the records of the men who have won the most grand slam titles over the past half century:
Emerson and Sampras won all their titles by age 30. Federer and Nadal both beat Sampras's record by age 30, but only barely. The difference is that they just kept on winning, which is why they haven't just beaten Sampras's record, but scorched it.
That said, it's a sad commentary on the men's game that nobody in their twenties can give these guys a run. It's insane. They can't be that good. Where's the talent?
In all fairness to Roy Emerson, and all the players from that golden age, Emerson was already 32 before the age of Open Tennis arrived, So he played most of his career as an amateur. With no money (at least by today's standards) in tennis, there was no great incentive to keep playing into your thirties
Love your blog, but your tennis commentary would have more credibility if you spelled Djokovic correctly 🙂
Where's the talent?
The talent is playing Minecraft, can't afford tennis, and avoids the sun.
I'm nobody's idea of talent and I can barely watch it on tv for all the glare.
Most of the revenue sports these days is all about how much sacrifice you're willing to make if you don't have the money it takes to attend the prestigious academies, camps, and hire private trainers, then pay to travel to attend qualifying tournaments.
Of course, lots of countries have national pipelines to provide financial support for rising athletes to attend prestigious academies, camps, hire private trainers, and travel to attend qualifying tournaments.
If you're from a poor family, isn't it easier to just learn how to code/hack and join/form a specialized crime ring? It's certainly a lot easier and cheaper to do than to attend private Georgetown Prep on your way to Harvard, where you'll eventually make your way to SCOTUS or some other prestigious but not-as-well-paying job.
Point being, tennis is not really worth griping about.
Georgetown Prep... sheesh, if you can't make it into St. Albans you might as well try to jump the line at Sidwell, or $diety forbid, Bullis or Landon...
The seasonlong leader on my fantasy baseball competition is a Sidwell grad, & given his age, his team is dubbed the Friends of Chelsea. Got nothing but love for Sidwell.
Bullis, meanwhile, is the alma mater of Henry Rollins, history's greatest Haagen-Daz manager.
I'll see your Henry Rollins and raise you one Clancy Brown and one Jeffrey Wright 🙂
What no love for Gonzaga College HS? Hahaha a bro I worked with who had rich grandparents went there. I went to the diocesan HS in Arlington, no rich grandparents but frugal old school Catholic parents.
As someone who loves to play tennis and did play in school, I agree.
In addition to the slowing down of the court to favor longer rallies, turning everybody into baseliners favoring older players, I think the GFC had something to do with it.
Raising a tennis pro is really expensive. The GFC might have made many parents think twice about making the investment in their kid's tennis careers. The juniors talent pool shrinks and the players don't develop the necessary mental toughness.
How about that French Open, huh?
That's not French griping! I mean, at least you could say something like "'Ow about zat French Open, hein?"
I guess things have not improved since 2019: https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2019/06/we-need-more-exciting-tennis/
Or 2011: https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2011/06/our-annual-post-about-death-tennis/
Or 2010: https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/09/end-tennis/
Or ...
Andy Murray & Simona Halep are uneven, but awesome.
Simona Halep. Sigh.
Djokovic is as juiced as Lance Armstrong or Serena Williams.
Prove me wrong.
So true: https://bityl.co/7K3U
Maybe tennis isn't as popular with people in their twenties as it was twenty years ago. That's my assumption. People would rather apply their talents elsewhere.
Even if the prize money is just as good, this isn't a frictionless economy we're describing here - you have to really like tennis a lot to get professionally good at it.
Maybe these guys are just generational talents upon us. Btw, ever notice Dojo often goes down 2 sets and wins the match? Ever notice Federer practically throws a set he knows he will lose? These guys are just so good and confident and know they can crush an opponent mentally and physically. I would not whine about seeing greatness.
Oops. Sorry it was supposed to be just a comment not a response. Seems the delete and edit functions are no more.
Ken Rosewall won 7 majors after he turned 30. He was 38 when he won the final one.
Maybe these guys are just generational talents upon us. Btw, ever notice Dojo often goes down 2 sets and wins the match? Ever notice Federer practically throws a set he knows he will lose? These guys are just so good and confident and know they can crush an opponent mentally and physically. I would not whine about seeing greatness.
The problem with the French Open is that clay courts are so different from 90% of the surfaces pro tennis players play on. It's legacy racism or some such.