Roger Federer Wins Record-Tying 7th Wimbledon

           It seemed that Federer was more or less outdated, and perhaps even irrelevant. Hard to believe that this was the popular perception, given that he was largely recognized as the greatest player in the world, yet there it was. Djokovic dominated last year, winning three of the four majors and grabbing the number one ranking by the throat, all the while dominating the one man, Nadal, who had finally broken through and started to dominate the Fed (that is Roger Federer I'm referring to here), when no one else was capable of so doing.

Nadal had been the first, the younger, strong armed champion, who had dominated easily on clay, and slowly expanded his abilities and achievements until he broke through on other surfaces. Eventually, he began to beat Federer regularly, and not just on clay. There was the epic victory over Federer in 2008, ending Federer's supreme, five year reign on the grass courts there. An injury in 2009 knocked him out of the French Open unexpectedly early, and would knock him out of real strong contention for nearly a year, during which time Federer stepped up with a historic run to solidly set him apart historically. He leaped on the obviously rare opportunity of the early Nadal exit at the French to finally break through with a championship there, solidifying the career Grand Slam. That tied him with the most all-time Grand Slam championships, so it was the biggest victory of his career. He followed it up with another Wimbledon championship, securing the record for himself with the most ever Grand Slam championships, and returned him atop the rankings. He seemed to dominate in the US Open, but lost unexpectedly to Del Potro in the final, but ended the year at number one. Then, he won the Australian, to get 2010 off on the right foot.

Yet, as soon as Nadal got healthy again, Federer began to fade away again, as Nadal returned back to top form, taking the French again, then reclaiming Wimbledon. Finally, Nadal broke through at the US Open, the one major he had not yet won, and suddenly, he had achieved the rare career Grand Slam, as well as returning atop the rankings. It seemed that he was fast catching Roger in terms of accomplishments, and already, people were pushing Federer aside. The question that seemed on the minds of many, although not often blurted outright, was this: How can Federer be the best ever, if Nadal keeps beating him consistently, and ranks higher than him? If Nadal keeps going, he will pass Federer, and be recognized as the greatest tennis player ever, right?

But then, right at the very moment when Nadal reached the height of his powers and looked to dominate the tennis world much like Federer before him, Djokovic suddenly stepped up his game. He had been on the court, on the wrong end of the historical 2010 US Open Final, losing to Nadal as he got the career Grand Slam. It was a crushing loss, and he had been there before. But this time was going to be different, and Djokovic turned things around completely following that major disappointment. He won the Australian Open to open 2011, only his second ever Grand Slam championship, and remained undefeated going into the French Open. He lost in the semifinals to Federer, who lost badly to Nadal in the final. But Djokovic returned back to top form, breaking through at Wimbledon, and defeating Nadal, the defending champion. He also won the US Open, and finished the year atop the rankings

Then, Djokovic successfully defended his Autralian Open title earlier this year to start off very strongly, seemingly owning the number one ranking – and Nadal.

Until the French Open last month. When they met in the French Open Final on the terre batu of Rolland Garros, Nadal won, and dispelled any doubts that he was not complete master on the clay courts, as he claimed a record seventh French Open championship. If Djokovic will join Federer and Nadal with a career Grand Slam eventually, it will have to wait, at least another year.

So, the pattern had been established. Federer had yielded his dominance to Nadal, and then Nadal had yielded his dominance to Djokovic. Both Nadal and Djokovic generally dominated Federer now, and so it was that the man who once was widely regarded as the greatest tennis player in history had been relegated to relative second class status.

That is how it was, entering this Wimbledon tournament. It would likely be either Djokovic or Nadal, with Federer clearly running up a distant third. Even if Federer would surprise everybody by defeating one, he could not possibly knock off both men in the same tournament, right?

As it turned out, he would not have to. Nadal lost a shocking match in the second round, and that seemed to open things up considerably for many. I do not want to take anything away from local favorite Andy Murray, who had a tremendous tournament to qualify for the final, but it is a safe assumption to suggest that he would have a tougher time qualifying for the final if he had been forced to go through a healthy Nadal in top form. I would suggest, in fact, that maybe Murray would not have won at all.

Still, Nadal obviously was not in top form, and that is why he lost in the second round. I wrote a few days ago about Wimbledon, and mentioned that when guys like Nadal slip up like that, even for one major tournament, it really makes you appreciate Federer's incredible streak of consecutive quarterfinals reached at such a high level. He also owns the most semifinal appearances, as well as the most consecutive finals appearances, all in Grand Slam events. Federer has played with such a level of consistency, and that, more than anything else, is why he will, indeed, likely be remembered as the greatest ever. Those other two guys, Nadal and Djokovic, can usually – usually – beat Federer lately, but they have yet to prove themselves capable of sustaining a level of consistency at that top level, like Federer managed to do.

This was underscored even further when Roger managed to survive long enough to take on the new beast of men's tennis, Djokovic, in the semifinal. It was a tough and tight match, but there came a point when Federer suddenly took the match by the throat, and Djokovic, who seemed set to dominate yet another year of tennis, suddenly folded, making mistake after mistake, and showing body language that showed he had largely given up, frustrated and unable to muster anything on the court.

Suddenly, it was Federer again at the Wimbledon final. Not only did he have another chance at yet another Grand Slam championship, which would make 17 overall and solidy his record that much more, but he could tie Sampras's mark of seven Wimbledon titles, specifically. Not only that, but he would return to the number one ranking, something that Paterick McEnroe repeatedly said he never expected Roger to be able to do again, in this era of Djokovic and Nadal. I will admit that I was in agreement with him there. It seemed like Federer was, in deed, a relic of a former age in tennis already, and not so much the master of the present.

Yet, with an awesome display yesterday, Roger Federer outlasted Andy Murray, who had the support of the home crowd and played actually remarkably well himself. Federer was not playing very sharp early on, and lost the first set. But he took the remaining sets straight, and got everything he wanted, in what is easily his biggest match in years, and arguably his biggest achievement since that huge French Open championship in 2009.

Suddenly, Federer is ranked number one once again, and both Djokovic and Nadal (as well as everyone else) are looking up at him, trying to catch him. Suddenly, Federer's persistence – as well as his consistency, has people wondering about the abilities even for either Nadal or Djokovic to really be considered on the level of the Fed. After all, Federer has not been dismissed – yet – in the second round of any Grand Slam tournament during this era of his dominance, like Nadal. Suddenly, we are reminded that Federer really did not lose any huge, head to head showdowns like the one that Djokovic lost to Federer in the semifinal, until Nadal finally came around and managed to defeat him in that historical 2008 Wimbledon Final – and that was an epic match, often considered the greatest tennis match in history. That is what it took to defeat Federere, and no less than that!

With this victory, you have to say that Roger Federer seems to have secured his place as the greatest tennis player ever, even more than he had before. He probably had that distinction before, but there were just a few things that he had not yet quite reached. Sampras still held a couple of records, including seven Wimbledon titles. Surprisingly, perhaps really fittingly, Sampras also owned the record for most weeks overall atop the rankings, but with his achieving the number one ranking now, Federer will tie this Sampras record as well. He seems capable of surpassing Sampras with that distinction, as well. Also, by adding a seventeenth Grand Slam championship, it makes catching his achievements that much more difficult.

Of course, around ten years ago, there was another champion who seemed to have secured a similar legacy, and had retired form the sport, assuming that nobody would challenge all the records that he had set. That was Pete Sampras, who had established a record 14 Grand Slam championships, and a record amount of overall weeks atop the ranking. There is only one more record that I can think of that Sampras still holds, and that would be having had the number one ranking at the end of a record six years in a row, which indeed, we will not likely see anyone surpass anytime soon. Federer could not do it. But then again, Sampras did not have Nadal to deal with, like Federer did. He had Agassi, but Agassi was not consistently great – especially against Sampras.

            Other than those six years in a row – which is a considerable achievement that Sampras can remain proud of, and secure with – Federer now has tied or passed Sampras in every other conceivable category. Yet, this is not what makes him so impressive. He just manages to hold himself with such a measure of class that has become rare these days. He is a legitimately likeable guy, it seems, and that is often rare in sports these days, unfortunately.

Sports, like almost every other aspect of our modern lives, has become loud, in your face, boisterous. Many of those who make the loudest noise are those who still have a lot to prove, just like small dogs often barking the loudest and acting the most aggressively. It really has reached a point where it just gets not merely distracting, but frankly very annoying, and can be a major turn off.

            In this day and age, when LeBron goes on national television to announce that he is bringing his talents to South Beach (although the Heat actually play nowhere near South beach itself), and when New York Jets coach Rex Ryan finally agrees, after a failed season, that his obnoxious prediction of a Super Bowl championship was perhaps not only a distraction, but a misguided mistake – one that he seems to make every season. Maybe he means it, maybe he will change, but if I have to put my money on it, I would honestly bank against it.

            Other men in tennis have held themselves in honorable manner like that. Nadal does, and Sampras and Agassi did, as well. However, Federer seems to go the extra mile in this regard, just as he goes that extra mile with his list of accomplishments, as well. It really is remarkable, when you think about it. It also makes you realize, as Roger often makes you realize, that it is indeed a privilege to see this man and enjoy his era in tennis, on so many levels. I know I am glad to have seen it, and look forward to even more, since he hardly seems to be slowing down or conceding to age much!

Wimbledon 2012

Maria Sharipova was eliminated from Wimbledon yesterday, only a few weeks removed from her French Open title, which secured for her the notable distinction of a career Grand Slam, as well as catapulting her back to the number one ranking in Women's tennis. But her loss yesterday might prove costly, as she will likely lose the top spot. Still, she surely cannot be too upset, after having had such a remarkable run, and seemingly returning back to top form.

Venus Williams was knocked out in the first round, and her sister struggled in the first round, as well. Since then, she has had a couple of scares, but has found a way to keep surviving to this point. You have to figure that Serena Williams could definitely be a factor later on, and possibly could earn another title. She has more Grand Slam titles than anyone else still active.

Azarenka is now the highest ranked player remaining at Wimbledon, and she has some Grand Slam championship experience to fall back on, to boot. She won the Australian Open title earlier this year, and is the world's number two ranked player, looking to overtake Sharipova to regain the top ranking, and earn a second Grand Slam title in the process. She is my favorite to do it, too.

On the men's side, of course everybody knows that Nadal suffered a shocking second round defeat here, making all sorts of headlines, and raising eyebrows everywhere. Just weeks after winning a record seventh French Open Title, Rafa found himself leaving Wimbledon much earlier than expected. He has played in the Final at Wimbledon in five of the previous six tournaments prior to this one, including last year, when he lost to current number one ranked Djokovic. He won two of those Final appearances, including the legendary 2008 epic battle against Roger Federer, which is often considered the greatest Grand Slam championship final ever. Going into this tournament, Nadal had absolutely been on fire in Grand Slams, seemingly taking over the mantle from rival Federer. He had made it to five consecutive Grand Slam final events in a row, winning both French Opens to begin and end the streak. The three final appearances in between were all losses to Djokovic, but he got a measure of revenge on the terre batu of Rolland Garros,  defeating Djokovic and denying him a career Grand Slam, as well as the distinction of holding all four Grand Slam titles at once, while Nadal secured his own immortality in French Open history, and probably earning him the distinction as the greatest clay court specialist ever. But none of that helped Nadal here at Wimbledon, traditionally his second most successful Grand Slam tournament.

With Nadal out, it seemed to open up the doorway for others, including his traditional main nemesis, Roger Federer. The loss by Nadal seems really to also allow you to appreciate just how incredible Roger Federer's  current Grand Slam quarterfinals streak is now at 33, although this time, he had to survive a scare against Xavier Malisse in order to do so. During that match, he started to have rare health issues, temporarily leaving the court to get treatment for his back. He returned to the court, and finally put Malisse away in four sets. He had jumped ahead two sets to none, although the first set had been very close, and Malisse had almost won it. But Malisse, who the commentators kept referring to as the "X-man", fought hard to break Federer in the third, and then held service the rest of the way to take the set. Then, he opened the fourth set by breaking Federer, and what had seemed like a quick win for Federer suddenly was looking like a tough and grueling match that he would need to survive. But he pulled through, as he almost always seems to do, and his quarterfinal streak survives to another Grand Slam tournament.

That said, his back problems would suggest that it might be very challenging indeed for him to win this Wimbledon title. He already has won a record sixteen Grand Slam titles, and has earned all of the accolades along the way, probably also earning the distinction of the greatest ever. But he is not getting any younger, and suddenly, with his health being a possible huge concern, nothing looks too certain.

It is hard to imagine anyone defeating Djokovic, in fact, who seems poised to rebound from the disappointment of losing the French Open Final by successfully defending last year's Wimbledon title, and taking home his sixth Grand Slam title overall. Plus, he would secure the number one ranking that much longer, putting some cushion between him and number two Nadal, who's early exit on the grass courts will drop him a bit in points. Djokovic is on quite the tear, having had an incredible, banner year last year, and having qualified for every Grand Slam Final but one since the US Open in 2010, which he lost to Nadal.

It is not impossible that the loss by Nadal, and perhaps even the injury by Federer, opens up the possibility of a first ever Grand Slam title by someone else. Perhaps Andy Murray can break through, and finally give the British fans what they have long been hoping for - a British man hoisting the Wimbledon trophy. But that is enormous pressure, and Murray, like Tim Henman before him. Past history would suggest that it will not likely happen, but you never know. Perhaps Frenchman Tsonga can break through, or someone else that is a little less obvious at the moment. But this Wimbledon looks like it will belong to one man, who is playing his very best tennis at the moment. I am hardly going out on a limb to suggest that Djokovic will win this Wimbledon title. it would come as a bit of a shock if he does not. But you never know what can happen, right? That's why they play the game.

A Tribute to Roger Federer

So, I mentioned in a recent post that I had been meaning to write a tribute to Roger Federer, who right now, still has to rank as the greatest men's tennis player in history, even if two men, Nadal and Djokovic, have surpassed him and taken his number one ranking.

The fact of the matter is that no other man has held the number one ranking for as long as Federer has overall, and no man has as many Grand Slam distinctions to his name. The list goes on and on. The most consecutive weeks as world's number one, at 237 consecutive weeks (that's approximately 4 1/2 years consecutive). He has won an unprecedented sixteen Grand Slam championships, which places him atop everyone else, and two ahead of the previous record holder, Pete Sampras, who managed to get fourteen overall. He reached 23 Grand Slam Finals overall, also a record, surpassing Ivan Lendl's old mark of nineteen Grand Slam Finals appearances. He is the only man in history to have gone to the Finals of each Grand Slam at least five times each, and one of still only seven men in history to have won the career Grand Slam - something that neither Pete Sampras nor Bjorn Borg managed to do. He made it to the Semifinals for 23 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, which means he won at least his first five matches for every Grand Slam tournament that he played in during that time, and at one point, from the Wimbledon Final in 2005 until the the US Open Final in 2007, he made it to every single Grand Slam Final during that span, ten in a row, and compiled an 8-2 record during that time in those Finals. Right now, having reached the Semifinal of the French Open this year (he lost to Djokovic), he has reached the quarterfinals of the last 32 Grand Slams -which is to say, eight consecutive years without once failing to win at least his first four matches  in any of the Grand Slam tournaments. There is simply nobody, not one single man in history, who has shown such an impressive measure of consistency. Even if Nadal and Djokovic have managed to surpass Federer presently, they have not reached numbers like those, and that is why you have to rank Federer as the greatest men's player in history. 

I wrote the following piece a few years ago, and received some favorable impressions by someone who loved to read, but who was not into sports, and that person commented that though she did not actually care about tennis, or usually about sports in general, she had enjoyed this piece, and I had captured the emotions and the story quite well. That made me feel proud, and so I wanted to share that with you, which is my tribute to Roger Federer, written at a point in his career when he was beginning to show some weaknesses, and the question marks that he had managed to avoid for so long were finally beginning to plague him. This focuses specifically on his rivalry with Nadal, the man who finally managed to wrestle away his number one ranking, and the only man, for a while, who seemed capable of defeating Federer with any kind of consistency:

Nadal seems to have a mastery over Federer that no other tennis player can boast. A few have managed an impressive record against him, but almost never in the Grand Slams and other matches when it counts the most.

Nadal, on the other hand, has a certain style that seems to be quite conducive to defeating Federer in the biggest matches.

We look at the history, and we see Nadal upsetting Federer in the 2005 Men's Semis at the French, en route towards winning his first ever Grand Slam at Roland Garros, at the ripe old age of nineteen.

They would next meet (in the Grand Slam) again at Rolland Garros, this time at the French Open Final, where Federer took the first set and seemed poised to win his first French Open, thus completing a career Grand Slam, only to see Rafel Nadal come storming back and take over the match in a big way. He would cruise to victory, and it was clear, with his second consecutive French Open title, that Nadal was already number two in the world behind Federer, and making strides towards improving his overall standing, to boot.

This was especially clear when he surprised everybody a month later by making it all the way to the Wimbledon Final, where he again met Federer. But this time, Federer was in his element where he was most dominant, and showed it, handing a convincing victory against his suddenly strongest nemesis. It was just another notch under Roger's belt, but everyone was very impressed with Nadal's play.

The next year would be when things would begin to show a pattern that clearly favored Nadal. After once again making it to the Final against Nadal and, once again, taking the first set, Federer dropped three straight, handing Rafael his third consecutive French Open Final. A month later, Nadal followed up on the tremendous promise of his previous trrip to Wimbledon by making it back again, then playing incredibly well, pushing Federer to a tough fifth set before finally succumbing to Roger, giving him his fifth straight Wimbledon.

Federer won, but it was clear that Nadal was catching up. It seemed a matter of time before Nadal would rank number one.

But there were some doubts, and the unprecedented dominance of Federer was, and is, obviously hard to dismiss. So people assumed that Federer was closer to winning the French Open, and in the process, presumably, solving Nadal on clay, than Nadal was to winning another Grand Slam outside of the terre batu.

But Nadal managed to sustain an impressive record against Federer and, unlike other opponents, this was also reflected in the biggest matches, like the Grand Slams. Except for Wimbledon, of course. At least for the time being.

And then, of course, came 2008. Nadal and Federer once again had a date with destiny at the French Open Final, for a third year in a row, and for the fourth consecutive time. By now, many people assumed that Federer, making his third consecutive French Open Final, was showing a mastery of clay that might, just might, top Nadal. He was showing persistence, if nothing else, with a third consecutive Rolland Garros Finals appearance, and looked to finally solve the mystery of Nadal. He had come so close before, it was just a matter of time, right?

Wrong.

In a rather intimidating display, Nadal won the French Open with one of the most dominant, and surprisingly easy, victories of his career. It was also probably the worst defeat the Federer had ever suffered. Nothing he did worked on that day, and he watched as Nadal hoisted the trophy for the fourth time, and third time particularly with Roger as his final opponent.

But could that translate to other surfaces?

A month later, we would find out.

Once again, Federer and Nadal met in the Wimbledon Final, for a third consecutive time. Many felt that Federer would surely get a measure of revenge for his embarrassing, even humiliating, French Open debacle, probably dominating Nadal en route to an unprecedented sixth straight Wimbledon title in the Open era.

Instead, we got a classic match. One that many people seemed to suggest was probably the greatest tennis match in history.

It went the full five sets, and then some.

A back and forth, see saw of a match, with both players showing their greatness along the way, to be sure.

But it was Nadal who persevered and pulled it out, in the end. Nadal, not Federer, who broke through against his arch rival on his surface, and thus managed, to do what no one else had done In over four year's span of time: unseed Federer as the world's number one. This would be extended further when Nadal got another prize that Federer longed for: the Olympic Gold medal. Suddenly, it looked like Nadal was the unbeatable number one in the world.

Federer did get a gold medal in doubles for Switzerland at the Beijing games, and he ended the year by winning the US Open for a fifth straight time, seemingly restoring order by actually winning a Grand Slam event for a sixth straight calendar year.

But Nadal finished the year with the number one ranking, and looked great early the next year where it looked like the past year was just extending.

In the Australian Open, once again, both men managed tor each the Final, their first meeting in a Grand Slam Final outside of Europe.

And it was another five set classic, with both men showing their mettle, with both men playing like champions.

In the end, however, Nadal managed to win his first Australian Open, which was his sixth overall Grand Slam championship, and getting people to discuss the previously unfathomable possibility, that someone might beat Federer to the punch in being the next men's player to win the career Grand Slam.

Federer, who a two years earlier had broken down in tears following his Australian Open Finals victory, this time broke into tears of an entirely different kind. At that moment, despite common sense dictating otherwise, it seemed entirely plausible that we were witnessing a washed up ex-champion coming to terms with relegating his incredible run of success to the past.

Suddenly, it looked like Nadal might be unstoppable, a la Federer.

Suddenly, it was Federer who looked old and restricted and unable to stop a seemingly unbeatable champion and number one player.

That was, of course, not to last.

Federer entered the 2009 clay court season having been frustrated a few times, and with people seemingly ringing a death knell on his era of dominance, now according to them relegated to the past. But it was not to remain there.

Nadal looked to be on the verge of a fifth consecutive French Open title, when something entirely unforeseen happened.

He lost.

Soderling came in and handled Nadal with surprising ease, and managed to move past him, on the way to an amazing and surprising run all the way to the French Open Final, where he met, to no one's surprise, Roger Federer.

By now, everyone was claiming that Federer had to find a way to win this one. He had won his thirteenth Grand Slam championship at the US Open, and one more would tie him with Pete Sampras for the most ever, and would also immortalize him as only the sixth man in history to win the career Grand Slam on all the different surfaces.

He was not going to let this opportunity pass him by, either.

He managed to win, and the celebration was intense thereafter. Federer was finally the champion of all ages, and his victory gave him new life, as Nadal, now injured, pulled out of Wimbledon.

Federer won that, going straight to the Final and then playing yet another unbelievable classic, the longest Finals match ever, against Andy Roddick, before finally finding the way to pull it out in the end, giving him his record setting fifteenth Grand Slam championship, and a sixth Wimbledon. Finally, he stood alone as the most accomplished Men's Grand Slam champion ever, no longer sharing it with Pete Sampras.

Federer regained the number one ranking, and stormed into the US Open, heavily favored to win his sixth US Open, which would also set him ahead of Sampras to stay at that event, as well.

He seemed to easily go through each round like a knife through warm butter, until he reached the Final.

There, he met a formerly virtually unknown in Del Petro, who managed to frustrate Federer en route to a surprisingly easy victory.

But Roger had managed to clinch the Number One ranking again, for the fifth time in six years, and the talk was once again about his greatness, as Nadal's injury seemed the start of a bit of quiet deterioration.

Still, the tennis world anxiously awaited Nadal's recovery, so that the two top players could contend once again for the status of greatest tennis player in the world.

And that is where we stand as I write this, in May of 2010.

On the Clay Courts in Paris....

Okay, so I seem to have gotten a bit distracted lately, and have not gotten around to the other parts of the patriotism/arrogance topic that was mentioned a bit earlier. That, plus I am about to go on a small hiatus next weekend, and so will likely not be adding anything at that point for a few days.

The thing is, it is a very exciting time in sports - more than usual! The Euro 2012 tournament just started, and this is probably the most exciting international tournament in the sport outside of the World Cup (for me, anyway). The Stanley Cup Finals are getting very interesting, although I will refrain from going to far in depth on that right now, for fear of bad luck. The NBA Finals match-up is now set, and I will write a preview on that one, most likely for tomorrow. Baseball is in full swing, although you may have noticed I rarely, if ever, write about that, since I'll admit to not being much of a fan. There were a couple of huge boxing matches recently, with undefeated and arrogant Mayweather winning in one, and Pacquiao having just lost a very controversial split decision this past weekend in a fight that (I heard) he apparently dominated - although I will have to be upfront and say that I did not actually see this fight, so cannot really weigh in with my own opinions on this matter.

Finally, there is tennis, and that will be the main focus of this particular article, because I think that this might be one of the most exciting times to be a fan of this sport. I have felt that way since perhaps 1999, when Andre Agassi (my personal favorite tennis player) won the French Open title after being long written off, thus completing a career Grand Slam (as well as the more elusive, so-called "Golden Slam"). That put him up with Pete Sampras among the most accomplished players of all time, and they were playing at the same time. It was in the year following Sampras's retirement that the Age of Federer began, and a few years after that, enter Nadal. Now, there is a new man who has entered and taken over, Djokovic. 

Last year, entering the French Open tournament, Djokovic started playing his best tennis and went into the tournament still undefeated. Djokovic ran into a brick wall in the semifinal against the great Roger Federer, but it was a bump in the road to glory last year, as Djoko (as he is affectionately called, or maybe people are just being lazy) enjoyed a banner year, en route to three Grand Slam titles, an incredibly dominant record, and the number one ranking in the world at year's end.  He had long been very good, and competed with Federer and Nadal, although usually getting the short end of the stick. But he started getting wiser, more patient. His whole approach to the game changed, and he managed to reach his life-long goal of being the number one ranked man in the world. This is a guy who grew up during the whole conflict in the former Yugoslavia, mind you, so his dedication to the game was certainly strong. 

Djokovic has now won three consecutive Grand Slam titles, and in all three of them, he defeated the same man in the final match to clinch the championship, Nadal. 

Rafa, as he is affectionately known, was the heir apparent to the great Federer, and having achieved two of three years atop the men's rankings, in 2008 and 2010, with the hiccup in between having been an injury laden season in 2009 that saw Federer reclaim his former dominance in the sport, finally achieving the career Grand Slam (only the sixth man to have achieved the feat, and the first since Agassi ten years earlier) with a French Open victory (although he did not beat the King of Clay, Nadal, to do it), and finally tying, and then surpassing, Sampras's Grand Slam standard of fourteen, en route to what now stands as a record sixteen Grand Slam championships to his name. Nadal's emergence in 2010, specifically, seemed to be a precursor of things to come, as he went on to dominate the French Open and Wimbledon, and finally won the elusive US Open title, which then gave him a career Grand Slam, becoming only the seventh man to achieve the feat, a bit more than a year after Federer finally did it, and becoming only the second man in history to have achieved the career Golden Slam the other being Agassi). 

So now, Rafa Nadal, who had expected to dominate the sport in the manner of his predecessor, Roger Federer, instead finds himself in the shadow of Djokovic, who defeated him in the final of the last three Grand Slams, which was reminiscent of the Williams sister rivalry, when they met four consecutive times (and five out of six overall) Grand Slam tournament finals, with Serene winning each and every single meeting. 

So, it was hardly a surprise when Nadal, who has won a record tying six French Open titles (Bjorn Borg also won six), is trying for what would be a record setting seventh French Open title, which would cement his status as the greatest clay court player in history. Nadal steamrolled his way to this Final, looking every bit as dominant as expected. 

In his way is Djokovic, the reining number one player in the world, and the man who has consistently beaten Nadal in the past year and a half or so. But clay is Nadal's specialty, and when Federer was atop his game and seemingly on the verge of overtaking Nadal on clay, Rafa managed to step it up and supress Roger, never losing to him at the Rolland Garros. Now, Djokovic has seemed to master Nadal specifically, but the clay courts of Rolland Garros are a different matter entirely. So, there is certainly no shortage of intrigue for this match up. 

Of course, this match has been delayed by rain, and will resume later today (1pm Paris time, 7am EST). Right now, Nadal is up, having easily won the first two sets, and grabbed an early advantage in the third, seemingly on his way to a straight sets victory. But then, very uncharacteristically, he suddenly faltered, dropping eight straight games, giving Djokovic the third set along the way, and a break in the fourth. Now, it's really intriguing! Let's see what happens the rest of the way, but they have my attention, for sure!

So, can Djoko come back and complete the career Grand Slam, and in the process, become the first man in over three decades to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time? Or will Rafa hold him off, and immortalize his status as the greatest clay court specialist ever?

Maria Sharipova managed to complete the women's final on Saturday, and in the process, reclaimed the number one ranking that she had lost some time ago, largely due to injuries. But she is back on top, and having become only the tenth woman to achieve the career Grand Slam, she immeasurably enhanced her own status as one of the all-time greats. All that, and she is seen as a virtual top model, a standard of beauty, with her long blond hair, long legs, and shapely figure. Wow!

After the clay court season, of course, comes the relatively short, but intense, grass court season, culminating in Wimbledon, of course. The most successful man on this surface among active players is Roger Federer, with six championships there (one short of Pete Sampras). Earlier, maybe a week or so ago, I wanted to do a tribute to one tennis player in particular, the great Roger Federer. Here is a man who dominated the sport like no one before. I will get to that, although this piece is starting to get a bit long for that now. 

"Image is Everything"

Back in the 1980's and early 1990's, rising tennis superstar Andre Agassi, then with a full head of hair and a colorful and sexy image, was a magnet for attention of all sorts, and he obviously received many willing and even eager sponsors. Among these were Canon, who wanted to promote their superior level of cameras, and who made Agassi do all sorts of things, showing him in action and then freezing the picture, with the accompaniment of a kind of clicking sound that a camera might make, showing him frozen in a picture forever. After several of these, the "rebel, rebel" Andre Agassi would smile at the camera and proclaim that, indeed, "Image is everything!"

It came to be ironic, because for a long time, Agassi was known as a tennis player more focused on his image off the court, then what he did on the court. He was a very talented tennis player, with perhaps more natural tennis ability than anyone else, but he always seemed to fall short of glory. This was never more obvious than when he engaged in one of the epic clashes against Pete Sampras, who, if anything, was the complete opposite: a guy who seemed to be bland and boring in terms of image, dressing without any flash or pizzazz at all, but getting the job done, time after time, on the court. The British initially did not like him and called him "gloomy", but he ended up winning Wimbledon in Britain seven times, a modern record that even the great Roger Federer has not yet equaled, let alone surpassed. He won those seven titles, and added seven others (five US Open and two Australian Open championships, respectively) to establish a record fourteen Grand Slam men's titles. He also finished with the number one ranking for six consecutive years, from 1993 until 1998, also a record that has yet to be surpassed by anyone (again including the great Federer). I personally believe that Federer was better overall, and although Sampras was not my personal favorite tennis player, you certainly have to give the man his due. Although many of his records fell to Federer, and although Federer's list of accomplishments may be greater or perceived as better overall, he was not able to overtake Sampras in every category. That's saying something.

Agassi was supposed to be like that, but he never quite reached that level. Now, mind you, this is not to say that he was not a great tennis player, or that his list of accomplishments on the court is somehow something to be scoffed at. Far from it, in fact. He ended up winning eight Grand Slam championships himself (not too shabby), and reached fifteen overall. He became only the fifth man ever to win the career Grand Slam (winning each of the different Grand Slams on each of the different surfaces), a record that Roger Federer and Rafel Nadal have both matched. He also become the first man to win the career "Golden Slam", winning all four major Grand Slams and the Olympic Gold Medal. He finished 1999 with the top ranking for men, finally ending Sampras's streak with a brilliant year, and if you combine all of the different times during his illustrious career that he reached the number one ranking, it amounts to just shy of two years overall, which places him quite high on the list of all time greats. He was the youngest man to ever reach the number two ranking at 18, and the oldest man to reach the number one ranking at 33. He won more majors than anyone in history at the time, a record that I believe still stands. In short, he enjoyed a storied career, and finished with some of the most incredible accomplishments of any tennis player, ever.

Yet, that early problem with his image was the one obstacle that he never really was to fully overcome. People expected him to just win, to sail to the top of the men's field and stay there for a good, long reign of the king of tennis. Yet, he kept losing his first Grand Slam appearances in the early nineties. He watched other men that seemed to come out of nowhere and win the top rankings, including Stefan Edburg, Jim Courier, and then Pete Sampras, who turned out to have considerable staying power of his own, as it turned out.

Agassi was able to break through, finally, by winning Wimbledon in 1992, but then he returned to his old form, and did not reach another major, let alone win another one, for over two years. Then he caught fire, winning two consecutive Grand Slams and reaching the umber one ranking for the first time in his career in 1995, staying there through much of the year. He faced a familiar opponent, Sampras, in the US Open Final, for what was in fact a battle for the number one ranking. Agassi lost, and pretty badly, and you could read the despair on his face. It was a loss, and a bad one, and he did not recover for over four years, with only one truly bright point between then and 1999, when he won the Olympic Gold Medal in the 1996 Games in Atlanta. Other than that, it was largely a disappointment. That was the early part of his career, and although he undeniably had enjoyed some great accomplishments, most people viewed him as an underachiever.

He managed to redefine himself to a great extent, breaking through with a miraculous run in the 1999 French Open, which he was finally able to win, after losing the first two appearances and after spotting his opponent in the 1999 Final, Andrei Medvedev, a two sets to nothing lead. Agassi came back from all odds to win, and he sank to his knees in tears after this match, glad just to reach such an opportunity again, long after many had written him off. From that point onwards, his career took an entirely different turn. He went to the Wimbledon Final a few weeks later, and although he again lost to Sampras, who by then seemed unbeatable on grass, he still seemed in relatively good spirits afterwards. He had a tremendous year the rest of the way, winning the US Open and culminating in the number one ranking. He hung onto it for over a year straight, and started off 2000 by winning the Australian Open for the second time. He did not repeat the feat of winning the year end top ranking, but he did win the Australian Open again in 2001, and a final time in 2003, by which point he was 33. He also made it to many Grand Slam Finals during that time, winning some and losing some, but he made it as far as the US Open Final in 2005 after a truly amazing run and some incredibly epic matches, eventually taking on red hot Roger Federer and seemingly having a chance to beat him midway through, until Federer was able to regain control and, eventually, turned the match into a rout. The next year, riddled with injuries, he decided to finally call it a career, and began what seemed to be an amazing run in the US Open, beating then young up and comer Marcos Baghdatis in a thriller. But it ended with him in tears, losing to, as he called it, "B. Becker of Germany" (no, not that B. Becker, this one was named Benjamin, and his list of accomplishments was considerably shorter than that other B. Becker). By then, he was viewed almost as an elder statesman of the game, and as a truly enlightened figure off the court, having opened up a school for disadvantaged kids in his native Las Vegas.

Ultimately, he proved to be more than merely about his "image", although some never really seemed to forgive him his lack of a work ethic or drive to win in those early years. This includes, most notably, Jimmy Connors, who went against the tide after Agassi won the French Open in 1999 by claiming that Agassi did not deserve to be mentioned "in the same breath" as other great tennis champions such as Sampras and himself (yes, he mentioned himself). Thus began a trend that would last literally until that final day of Agassi's career, when he made that last walk through the tunnel and into the locker room filled with other tennis stars who gave him a standing ovation – with one notable exception – Jimmy Connors. So, not everybody was won over, apparently.
Really, though, what does it matter that Jimmy Connors did not ever give Agassi his due. Maybe he was just bitter at having had his butt handed to him against the young and surging Agassi, he of the hair era, back in the late 1980's   The things that Agassi had accomplished, both on and off the court this time, were more than admirable, and he won the respect and admiration of many millions the world over. He had held himself in dignity, and showed a generosity of heart that he shared with his wife, another celebrity, but a considerably less flashy one this time – Steffi Graf. He wrote a beautiful book, an autobiography, that was inspiring and insightful to tennis fans (such as the one writing this piece). So, he had managed to finally change his trademark "image is everything" moniker that had haunted him earlier in his tennis career, even if a few people, apparently including Jimmy Connors, are not happy about it and still refuse to acknowledge this.