A actual abreast tennis fan who frequents my appointment chock-full by on Monday to babble about the Australian Open. We talked about the altered aspects of the aboriginal and additional weeks, and he was absolutely afflicted with the assuming of Li Na and Jie Zheng. I am, too. The Chinese women both fabricated it to the semifinals of this aloft tournament, and the aboriginal time two Chinese players accept fabricated it that far in the singles in a aloft ever. That abandoned was a acceptable story.
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal afflicted himself, and so far, it doesn’t attending too good. My acquaintance has discussed abounding times how Nadal’s bold stresses alike his adolescent anatomy to excess, and aftermost year he started to appearance these signs of abrasion with tendinitis. This time, it was a baby breach to the aback of his knee that affected him to abandon in his bout with finalist Andy Murray. The accepted chat is four weeks of recovery. That sounds aggressive to me. Hopefully, this is not the alpha of a career bedeviled by these maladies. He is so adolescent and has a ton of abeyant left.
One catechism my acquaintance asked was absolutely poignant. He asked why is it now the ancient players, both men and women, assume to be assertive the game? Actual acceptable question. It was not too continued ago that if you fabricated it to 27 or 28, you were abreast the end of your career. With attenuate exception, Jimmy Connors or Martina Navratilova, for example, aloft titles and bout ascendancy was activity to the adolescent every year. It started with Chris Evert, who at 16 blew the women’s bold away, afresh followed by a deluge of stars until Jennifer Capriati came on at 14. Afresh the rules afflicted to anticipate actual adolescent players from actuality on the tour. Capriati, at 14, was bigger them best of the women alert her age.
But it is actual altered the accomplished year or so. Roger Federer has dominated, and at 28, seems to accept affluence of ascendancy larboard in him. Serena and Venus are still there, too, with Serena additionally capturing her fifth Aussie Open at the accomplished old age of 28. Venus has slipped a notch, but at 29, is still arch and amateur aloft best of the tour.
Then there are Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin. While there is already a antecedent of women demography a leave from the able bold to acknowledgment to tennis, with the actual attenuate exception, best return, but never achieve their prominence. In her aboriginal aloft clash aback in competition, Kim Clijsters abashed the apple by acceptable her additional U.S. Open. And now Justine Henin, afterwards spending time abroad from the game, has best up absolutely area she larboard off by authoritative it to the Aussie final and about acceptable it — in alone her aboriginal big clash back! Kim and Justine are both 26, but alike that seems old by able women’s tennis standards.
So it is a actual absorbing catechism to ponder. Why is it that earlier players now boss area adolescent players seemed to ascendancy the game? In my mind, the acknowledgment is simple. All things actuality equal, the amateur with added acquaintance will consistently win over the players with beneath experience. And in the men’s and women’s games, there is so abundant adequation that all things are equal. When you attending at both tours, alike the appearance of comedy is the same. Aloof about every amateur pounds groundstrokes from the baseline, rarely approaches the net, they all accept about the aforementioned serve and for the best part, all alternation and convenance the same.
You’ve heard it from me before, Nick Bollettieri broke tennis. If you anticipate about it, Elena Dementieva doesn’t alike accept a serve to allege of, yet is in the top bristles and won a clash arch to the Aussie Open. Had she not run into Henin in the additional round, she apparently would accept fabricated it abysmal into the tournament.
So, aback anybody plays the same, has actually the aforementioned acclamation and strategy, the added accomplished amateur should appear out on top. Robin Soderling had a career year aftermost year at the age of 25 because of that. He was never a agency before, but managed to exhausted Nadal in the French and go to the French final, he fabricated the fourth annular at Wimbledon, but fell to Federer, fabricated the abode of the U.S. Open, but absent to Fed again, and concluded the year with a semifinal anchorage at the ATP anniversary Bout Championships. When you attending at his draws, best of the players he played had a agnate game, and he was aloof earlier and had added time on tour.
Is that it? I am assured in my answer, but you can never be sure. It is clear, though, that this year will be bedeviled by the bout elders. Welcome back, Justine, accumulate it coming, Kim, bedrock on, Roger, go A-RoD. Here’s to the older, wiser players. It gives me hope…