Will Roger Federer Bounce Back And The Myth of Age 30?

This Article was first published on 10sballs.com as : 

http://www.10sballs.com/2011/08/10/will-roger-federer-bounce-back-and-the-myth-of-age-30/

Written by: ApekshaHA on 10th August 2011

A friend of mine, who was getting married, told me an interesting fact recently:  for bachelors, marriage can be looked at in two ways: The end of journey or start of a new journey. As Federer enters the 30’s club, it’s the same case for him. For people, it might seem as an end of an era when he lost in Wimbledon Quarter Finals; but for me, it’s the start of a new journey for him. Why? Read on to know the reason:

Life is a sinusoidal curve with ups and downs, highs and lows ready to take us into new paths in life. Historically, there was a time when people thought that  Bjorn Borg would go down in the history as the greatest ever. Then Pete Sampras emerged and dominated Tennis during 1990′s. When he retired, many regarded him as the greatest. But he was surpassed by Federer in 8 years’ time. He, not only surpassed Sampras in Grand Slam titles but is also considered, by many, the one who changed the face of tennis with his charming personality. Just when Federer was thought of as invincible, Nadal came knocking on the door with a claim to the throne; and when Nadal was starting to establish his credibility on all type of courts, though too early to say, we might have another claim on the throne in future-Novak Djokovic – Who Knows?

The point here is that no one is invincible in his/her life. If there is a high in your life, you will also experience the opposite in your career. And that’s the fact of life. So the biggest question is will Federer be back in his career?

Yes. Every good player has a high and which is invariably followed by a low as he/she advances in his/her career. The difference between good and great is the ability to bounce back from this dirt. It’s not the age that matters, what matters is the person’s sheer will and determination to continue to move forward. Here are a few examples from history:

1) Rod Laver won 4 Grand Slams after the age of 30.

2) Pete Sampras (seeded 17th at that time) surprised everyone when he won his 14th Grand Slam at the age of 31.

3) Not to mention Ken Rosewall, arguably amongst the 5 greatest players of all time, won his last Grand Slam title at the age of 37 and after two years reached the Wimbledon Finals.

4) And there are so many others – Jimmy Connors who won US open at the age of 31, Andre Agassi who won Australian Open at the age of 32 etc.

If you look at the greats of the game, they had competition from the likes of John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, Jim Courier etc. during their time, but they managed to overcome all the odds successfully.

The simple rationale is – If you think you can, you will.

“I’ve won so much that you feel like if you put yourself in the right position and you do all the right things you’ll definitely get a shot of winning big tournaments.”

“My planning has always been long term. I’m looking forward to how much more I can achieve from this point on.” – Federer.

Here is a champion who has won more Grand Slams than anyone in history. He still believes in himself and knows that he can go that extra mile. For some, it might be the end of his journey but as I see it, it’s the start of a new chapter in his life. A chapter that he wants to write down in the history book as a successful one.   He has broken so many records; I won’t be surprised if he goes on to achieve the milestone of winning multiple Grand Slams after the age of 30.

So many greats of the tennis world have done it before, so can Federer!

For me there is no reason at all for Federer fans to panic or think that his era is over. The champion that he is, he will be back soon!

If you have any questions- You can mail me at apekshaha@gmail.com

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Also: Roger Cup Defeats: A boon for Federer, Nadal and Murray?

Jimmy Connors The Greatest?

By 'Prestige Score,' Connors Is Tops
FEBRUARY 28, 2011

Monday night's tennis exhibition at Madison Square Garden includes four all-time great players: Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl. But the best player ever won't be there.

No, we're not talking about Roger Federer. Or Rod Laver. Or Rafael Nadal. Jimmy Connors, the cantankerous American who played top-level tennis until he was 39 years old, is, according to a new study, the greatest of all time. Lendl finished second. In a major upset, Ilie Nastase finished ninth, in front of Bjorn Borg and Boris Becker.

The study, published this month in the scientific journal PLoS ONE, discards traditional methods, such as weeks at No. 1 and Grand Slam titles. Instead, it analyzes all matches played in men's tennis since the beginning of the open era, in 1968, and awards each player a "prestige score" based on matches, especially victories, against quality opponents.

"What's really important is not to win many matches, but to win matches against other good players," says Filippo Radicchi, a statistical physicist at Northwestern University who authored the study.

Connors won 178 quality matches, more than any other player. By Radicchi's measure, Federer has 39 quality victories. Nadal has just 21. However, Radicchi notes that his method favors retired players, because the historical stature of current pros has yet to be determined. "I'll run this algorithm again in 10 years and see if the ranking is still the same," he says.

See the ranking...

While I don't get into arguments of "best ever", I find this statistical analysis intriguing on many levels.

(Thanks, Moose)

"Unbelievable."

by Mad Professah


AP

Unbelievable.

That's the word that Roger Federer used over and over again in his on-court interview with Sue Barker of the BBC moments after he had won his 6th Wimbledon singles title in 7 years, and record 15th major overall to seal his place in history as the greatest tennis player of his generation, possibly of all time.

He used the word "unbelievable" to describe the play of his opponent Andy Roddick (as well as the "guy" himself) in the match he had just won minutes before, to describe the ending of the match itself, to describe this moment in his career, to describe the assembled crowd watching the match and, lastly, to describe his loss to Rafael Nadal in the 2009 Australian Open men's final after which the then 13-time major champion had dissolved into tears at the awards ceremony.

Roger Federer speaks four different languages, Swiss-German (first language), German, French and English.

The word "unbelievable" in French is incroyable and unglaublich in German. My first language is English but my husband is a professional opera singer who speaks English and Spanish fluently, and understands German, Italian, French (to name just a few languages) well enough to sing in them frequently. Consulting with him, I believe that when Federer is using the word "unbelievable" in English he is using the word that he thinks is closest to the word unglaublich in German. In both French and German the word is used more as an exclamation, not an actual adjective. Federer is almost definitely not using the word in its literal sense that he believes what he is describing can not be conceived of or believed to have happened.

Because it did. We all saw it happen and could not believe our eyes.

It is an odd choice of words for someone who must have believed that he would win this match and this tournament, since he walked on the court with a custom-made jacket which not only included the attractively stylized RF monogram but also the number 15, for the number of majors the bearer would own. Some people have indicated that they could not believe Federer would act so crassly, and see this as a measure of Federer's obeisance to his sponsors and an indication of the lack of regard he had for his opponent (or his opponent's feelings). To me it seems very natural for competitors who are going to pass a historic milestone if they achieve a certain victory that they have prepared for and worked years to achieve, to prepare beforehand also for how to commemorate that significant moment. It is as surprising to me that Federer would wear a piece of clothing with the number 15 on it within 5 minutes of winning his 15th major as it would be that the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant would appear in a post-game interview wearing a NBA Champions t-shirt.

However, in tennis "belief" is what is often at the heart of what transpires on the court.

I believe, that for the first time in a Grand Slam tennis match Andy Roddick believed he could beat Roger Federer, despite losing to him 18 times out of the 20 times the two have played and the 7 consecutives losses (3 times at Wimbledon, twice in New York and twice in Melbourne) in Grand Slam tournaments.

But Roger Federer could not believe it.

In the first set, after going up break point four times in the eleventh game of the final I believed (and am sure so did Federer) that he would win one of those points. In fact, on two of those points he missed the baseline by fractions of millimeters. What was unbelievable then was in the 12th game, facing his first break point on his own serve, Federer attempted an unbelievable forehand down-the-line pass that fell inches wide to suddenly lose the first set against the American in over three years at a Grand Slam (the second set of the 2006 U.S. Open final). Even then Federer did not lose his belief, after all in the 2004 Wimbledon Final, Federer had lost the first set 4-6 to Roddick and had won the match in four very close sets.

However, what Federer had not realized yet was that this was not the Roddick of the 2004 Wimbledon final or the 2006 U.S. Open final or even the January 2009 Australian Open semifinal. This was the newlywed Roddick who (thanks to a mostly uncredited Jimmy Connors and the excellent work of current coach Larry Stefanki) had toughened his physique, flattened out his two-handed backhand and stiffened his mental resolve.

This was a Roddick who believed he could win.

Even when he shanked a backhand volley meters wide of the doubles alley up 6-5 in the second set tiebreaker to lose his 4th consecutive set point, Roddick still believed he could win.

And he played like it. Despite losing the third set in another tiebreaker Roddick continued to hold his serve selfishly, despite facing a barrage of Federer aces, which eventually reached Karlovician proportions of 50 for the match. He relentlessly attacked Federer's serve and out-hit him from the baseline on both the forehand and backhand wings, finally earning another break in the 4th game of the 4th set. Federer saved his first breakpoint but lost the second and Roddick had his second and final break of the match.

And still Roddick believed he could win the match, especially in the fifth set, which lasted longer and contained more games than the entire Women's Final played the day before.

And why shouldn't he believe that he cold win the match? He had yet to be broken after four sets and nearly 3 hours of play.

So he served like it. 38 times Roddick held serve in the match, saving six break points of the seven he faced. Federer saved only three break points of the five he faced, but two of those saves were in the crucial fifth sets (when effectively those break points were match points) in the 17th game of that (seemingly) interminable contest.

Then, in the 77th game of the match, the 39th game he was serving, the tenth consecutive "sudden death" game in which he had to hold serve in order to stay in the match, Roddick faced his 7th break point of the match, which had the misfortune of also being a championship point for Federer in the 30th(!) game of the 5th set, hit a forehand on a bad bounce in the dirt that sailed yards beyond the other baseline and the match was over. The only break point he lost in over fours hours of play was also set point and match point. Game, set and match.

Unbelievable.

Arrested (Updated)

Jimmy Connors continues to promote his bad boy image.

UPDATE: Connors has released a statement via Bloomberg:

Connors, 56, issued a statement thorough his business manager Karen Scott Happer saying he was picking up tickets for the game with his son Brett when he was twice confronted by a man who made derogatory comments and physical contact.

An altercation ensued and when campus police arrived, they told Connors to leave the campus.

“Jimmy said he wanted to stay and wait for his son to watch the game, and as a result was taken into custody,” the statement said. “Police told Jimmy that he was being taken into custody for ‘being a non-student refusing to leave the campus.’ Jimmy is extremely disappointed and embarrassed about the way the situation was handled.”

UPDATE: Connors charged for altercation at basketball game.

Tennis great Jimmy Connors has been charged with a misdemeanor for an altercation last week before a basketball game between UC Santa Barbara and top-ranked North Carolina.

Connors, an eight-time Grand Slam champion, was charged Wednesday in Santa Barbara Superior Court with disrupting campus activities and refusing to leave a university facility.

His business manager, Karen Scott, says a man tried to pick a fight with Connors and his son before Friday night’s game and police asked him to leave. Scott says Connors was arrested after he said he wanted to wait for his son to finish watching the game.

She says he was “extremely disappointed and embarrassed” about the incident.

On Top of the World

It's official. Rafael Nadal is the best player in the world. With his 6-3, 6-2 victory over Nicolas Kiefer in the Rogers Cup final, Rafa has won his 12th ATP Masters Series shield (his fourth on hardcourts), surpassing Pete Sampras with 11 (only Andre Agassi and Roger Federer have more), won his 30th title, finishing behind only Jimmy Connors and Bjorn Borg for that many titles won at the ripe old age of 22, extends his winning streak to 29 matches and 5 straight titles.


He has won seven of the last eight events entered.

But what's most impressive? Five events, five titles, three different surfaces. Two clay, two grass, one hard.

In that run, he's defeated Raja and Novak Djokovic three times each.

The rankings say he could become the World No. 1 soon if he keeps winning.

The results say he's the best player in the world.



::



Out at the East West Bank Classic, Dinara Safina continued her fine form with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Italy's Flavia Pennetta.

Monica Seles

by Savannah

A lot of things happened this week but I want to take a moment and talk about one of my all time favorites, Monica Seles.

As every tennishead knows Monica, 34, officially retired this past week. There had been rumors about a comeback but even those faded as it became clear that Monica had other things on her mind.

We all remember the giggly screeching phenomenon who burst on the scene at the tender age of 15 with a game that revolutionized women's tennis and ushered in the Big Babe era in the women's game.

What was her record? Let me post excerpts from an article by Richard Pagliaro that quotes Jimmy Connors on her talent and heart:

The owner of a 595-122 record, Seles won concluded 1991 and 1992 as World No. 1. In a sensational, sustained span of dominance she won eight of the 11 Grand Slam tournaments she entered from 1989 to 1993. She inspired a legion of top players, including Venus Williams and Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic. In a past interview with Tennis Week, Hall of Famer Jimmy Connors said Seles' fighting spirit, willingness to play even closer to the lines on pivotal points and her aggressive baseline style made her the player that most reminded him of himself.

"Who reminds me of me? Monica Seles is the player I think who played the game the way I tried to play it." Connors told Tennis Week in a past interview. "She always played as hard as she could every single match and left it all on the court. I have tremendous respect for Seles."

A stress fracture in her foot caused Monica to step away from the game five years ago but it was the incident in Germany when she was nineteen that stopped Monica's march to what would have been uncontested greatness in the WTA. Here is a report from the New York Times with details.



Monica spoke about the incident in a radio interview before a recent appearance in California with Steve Hartman, Mychal Thompson and Vic "The Brick" Jacobs on "The Loose Cannons Show". Here are excerpts from that interview that appear in the Richard Pagliaro article.

On being stabbed at a match April 30, 1993 in Hamburg, Germany:
"I was only 19 when I got stabbed. It would never have happened in any other sport. I said to myself, `Why me,’ but I was proud of myself that I was able to move on and to get back to the sport that I loved and adore. That to me was the final triumph after a few bad years."

On the lack of punishment to her attacker:
"I really felt that I could not justify in my own brain someone stabs you in front of 7,000 people, admits that he planned it, and never spends a night in jail. I don’t feel safe playing there (in Germany) again after what happened to me."

On returning to tennis after her stabbing:
"I was lucky. My mom and dad had really strong personalities and supported me. At the end of the day, the love I had for the game I started at 7 years old motivated me to come back. I never imagined I would make a great living and travel throughout the world. I started playing tennis because I loved it. I tell kids, `don’t look at the fame and the money. Play tennis because you love it.’ I missed it."

On not hearing from other players after her stabbing:
"The women's tour is very competitive. There’s a lot of money at stake. It is what it is. It was very unfortunate. It changed my career and it changed Stefi’s (Graf). That’s life. It is a business."

On playing in the 1998 French Open after her dad, Karoly, died:
"My dad passed away a couple days before the French (Open). I thought, `What would my dad want me to do?’ He battled cancer. I thought, `follow your heart,’ and my heart told me to go out and play for my dad. He was a cartoonist. He always saw the lighter side of everything. Part of me said stay home, but I knew that was not what my dad would have wanted."

On her dad’s coaching philosophy:
"He saw the bigger picture of sports, instead of just win or lose. He was human. Sports is a business and cutthroat and people will do anything to win, but I was lucky I had my dad as my coach and he never put pressure on me. Win or lose, the love he gave me was the same. Sadly I see too many cases are the other way now."

On the state of women’s tennis:
"(Justine) Henin has on average dominated the (WTA) tour, but if you look at the championships in Madrid, you see Henin beat (Marion) Bartoli 6-0, 6-0. Those scores shouldn’t happen in the championships. You want to see the top players play each other. That’s the only way the fans will tune in."

On tennis players having shorter careers due to other distractions:
"It’s harder now. You have to be a multi-media athlete. You have to look good, speak well and do all the off the court stuff. In the old days, we did much less. Tennis is a brutal sport. We play 10 and a half months a year. It’s hard to stay injury-free. A lot of the top players struggle with that. Roger (Federer) has a different game. It doesn’t take as much out of him as Serena (Williams). Roger has played every Grand Slam since 1999. That statistic alone is amazing."

On becoming a U.S. citizen in 1994:
"It was the happiest day of my life. Playing in the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996 and representing our country was the biggest honor I’ve ever had. It surpasses all the tournaments I played in."

I was a novice tennis fan when Monica burst on the scene. I had been used to watching Chrissie and Martina, Gabriella and remember wondering who this kid was. I'm sure many younger fans can only imagine how intense the rivalry was between Monica and Steffi and how you were a fan of one or the other woman.

How high passions ran are symbolized by what happened in Germany. When you go to a major to watch the current crop of players and see all the security when a player enters or leaves the court you have to remember that this guy just walked up to Monica and stabbed her in the back. Conversations on fan boards get heated these days and maybe that's a good thing. We can virtually pummel each other and the players we don't like instead of trying to attack someone physically. If you get to a major and hang on the practice courts when a major star is around you see the security as well. Fans pushing and shoving to see their fave when he or she comes off the court may seem harmless to many fans. Unfortunately the player's security has to be taken into consideration first.



We are fortunate that someone of Monica's talent came along when she did. I don't think the image meisters of tennis would have allowed her to get the endorsements and publicity. She wasn't a babe, she wasn't rail thin, and her hair had a mind of it's own. It was all about the tennis.



In my opinion Monica was the greatest of her time because her effect on the game has lasted and made it impossible to go back to the genteel days of women's tennis. There were top players who did not play big babe tennis, Steffi Graf and Martina Hingis come to mind, but to me they were transitional greats. Their style of tennis won't get you past a first round in a Tier IV these days.



I hope Monica hangs around and decides to play an exho or two or three. I mean if Pete Sampras can still make millions playing exho's I don't see why Monica can't as well. I don't want to dictate to her what to do but it would be nice to see her on a court again.

Thank you Monica for all you gave this fan, and all of tennis.