Arena Federer/Nadal/Djokovic Era - Now 1/3rd Over

Maybe the Roland Garros crowd will actually like him for a change next year. They love Rafa at Wimbledon, and RG loves Federer, but it sure doesn't seem to care too much for Nadal.

 

Safarova beats Ivanovic in straight sets. Williams up next!

 

Thank you. I'll be ok eventually.

Meanwhile, Williams drops her opening set for the third time in the last four matches. Presumably this means she'll come back and steamroll Bacsinszky in the third set. Or maybe her luck will run out. Hope not.

 

Wawrinka all the way to the final. Wouldn't it be fantastic to see him win another major? I don't think it's going to happen for him this year.

The second most anticipated match of the tournament would have to be Djokovic-Murray, now playing.

 

is Djokovic going to take the French without dropping a set? So far the Djoker doesn't look like he's having a harder time with Murray than he had against 87th ranked Nieminen in round 1.

 

while I'm floating scenarios: 33 year-old-Williams and Djokovic both take calendar slams in the same year. Hopefully Serena feels better tomorrow.

 

I'd love to see Serena go out as an unstoppable category 5 hurricane. Take the whole thing, set a slam record, then exit.

 

Murray did well to get back into the match but let all the good work go to waste in the 5th. O well

 

Serena walks through the first set. This one ain't going to 3.

 

She's holding up well. Can't imagine how she must be feeling. What a rock star.

 

serena with a 2 break lead in the second set and still manages to lose it. Crazy.

 

Serena on 20. Equalling Graf at the U.S. Open? Wouldn't bet against it.

 

The greatest American tennis player of all time?

 

i think i would argue that steffi really changed the game, and that the williams sisters came into their own at just the right time to fit into that mold that she established. to me saying that serena changed the game is a bit like saying kareem changed the game, even though he came right on the footsteps of wilt. i will happily concede serena is the greatest ever when and if she gets to 23 majors, until then i will stick with steffi, who dominated the game unlike anyone else in my lifetime, as evidenced by the fact that she won her 22 in a timespan 4 years shorter than it has taken serena to get to 20.

serena is a great player, just not greatest ever yet imo.

 

I don't really want to mention it, but it has to be said-- the specter of what happened to Monica Seles is a shadow over Graf's career. Seles was terrific, including against Graf outside of Wimbledon. Their career numbers against each other are asterisked by Seles' career after her stabbing, which was not nearly what it was before that.

Having said that, Graf was a tremendous player and I have no problem with her being considered the best. She pretty much is, really. But, Seles deserves some mention in the conversation, if only because she burned so brightly before being taken out completely against her will. There's no way of knowing what would have happened if Seles hadn't been stabbed-- perhaps her career would have ebbed anyway. Graf certainly beat her on many occasions, and it's not like Seles had power over her the way Nadal came to dominate Federer. But, Seles also did well against Graf, and better than almost anyone else in their overlapping careers.

 

And that's why a lot of Tennis players get up in arms whenever there is a lapse in security and fans get onto the court (maybe not necessarily the streakers since, well, you know), as they all have knowledge of what happened to Seles, even over 20 years after the fact.

 

Wawrinka is on fire!

 

Wow

EDIT: Wow X2