Reflections on Wimbledon 2010

Wimbledon concluded with dominating performances in the finals by Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal, both seemingly a level above everyone else in their respective fields. As impressive as they were at the end of the two weeks, Wimbledon 2010 will be remembered as one of the most remarkable Slam tournaments ever in its entirety. I don't remember the last time I was entertained this much by a Slam tournament for its total duration.

Enough has already been written about the record-shattering match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, but what was not written so much is the fact that prior to playing the longest match (by a leg and an arm) in the history of the game, Mahut had to qualify just to play against Isner. Mahut accomplished that by winning a second-round qualifying match that went 24-22 in the third and final set, followed by a last round qualifying match in which he had to come back from two sets down to win in five sets.

Considering that he was fresher than Isner despite ending up on the losing end of the first round main draw marathon match that finished 70-68 in the fifth set, can we logically conclude that Mahut is most fit player on the tour? At least we can comfortably say that Isner distinguished himself by being the headline on every news agency in the world, by being on David Letterman, and by becoming an important name in the history of the game — not bad for a second-round loser.

That match overshadowed another "far out there" five-set fact during the first week: there were a total of 27 matches that went to the fifth set; moreover, eight of them were comebacks by players who won in five sets, coming back from two sets down. The top three seeds were all involved in five-set matches. Anyone with plenty of time on their hands should look back and see that many of the matches that went to fifth set just in the first week of the tournament were two-sets-down comebacks. I am willing to bet that those numbers, especially the amount of comebacks, are pushing the limits of records, if not second to none in the Open era.

On the other hand, after having three years in a row of spectacular matches going to the fifth set in the men's finals, we had a straight-set final and two straight-sets semifinals. However, can anyone who has witnessed Nadal's two performances in the semifinal against Andy Murray and in the final against Tomas Berdych think anything other than "spectacular?" Okay, maybe "inhuman" or "machine-like?"

I wonder if Justine Henin regrets her comeback decision. Never mind that she has had results that were surely below her expectations, but an injury that forces her to withdraw from a lucrative exhibition match and from the last Slam tournament of the year must be downright annoying for her camp. She should get ready to face the repetitive question, "Are you where you aimed to be when you began your comeback?" Usually when journalists ask that question it is because the player in question is not yet there.

Interestingly, not too many people asked what happened to the two women's finalists from two weeks ago at Roland Garros. Perhaps it was because the two ladies did what most expected: go out in the first week. They took it a step further and left the tournament after the first round.

For the sake of absurdity, let's throw in the two side notes that Novak Djokovic appeared in warm-up suit to meet the Queen of England and that there were zero rain delays during the whole tournament. In fact, the roof has not seen much use since it was added to the Centre Court, but it's nice to know that the option is there and to speculate tongue-in-cheek that had it not been there, the tournament would have seen plenty of rain delays. Anyone remember Robin Soderling vs. Nadal in 2007?

I wish some of the top figures in tennis would throw out there the idea of extending the women's semifinals and finals matches to best-of-five sets. Men's finals have been overshadowing women's finals for several years now, and this year was no exception. Although Serena would have probably won another set against Vera Zvonareva and still triumph in straight sets, the difference in the value of the ticket between the men's finals match that went three straight sets and the ladies' match that went two straight sets is quite wide. While the crowd that watched Williams beat Zvonareva on Saturday may have left the court after little over an hour feeling hungry for more tennis, Sunday's crowd may feel satisfied despite witnessing a straight-set finals match.

But since Nadal was the one to close the curtain at the end of the two weeks, let us finish with a reflection on the number one men's player in the world. I maintain that Soderling, Murray, and Berdych could not have played better against Nadal in the last three matches. Let's keep in mind that these are three players who have given trouble to Nadal in the past. They serve big, they can hit big flat shots, and have shown in the past that they can keep Nadal off-balance when their games are ticking. Yet they managed to win a total of one set.

Outside of the first set against Soderling, Nadal was extremely dominant, although he served fewer aces than all three of his opponents and hit fewer winners than two of them (only two more than Berdych in the finals). Somehow he managed make it look like he was hitting more winners by a large margin. But one statistic stood above all, and perhaps tells the tale of Nadal's successful career so far: he converted 63 percent of his break-point chances, while his three opponents remained at 28 percent on their break chances. Simply put, Nadal is consistently the better player on the tennis court when the big points arrive.

The last Slam of the year will play a major role in 2010's verdicts. For the first time ever, Rafael Nadal should be the overwhelming favorite going into the U.S. Open, despite never having won the title. Last year's winner, Juan Martin Del Potro, will not be there, but the forms of Nadal, Berdych, Soderling, and Murray, coupled with question marks surrounding Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, and Djokovic are enough to make a tennis fan wish that U.S. Open was not two months away.