With a thunder of applause, and a bit of ale-driven cheers, the 2010 professional tennis year came to an end yesterday. Roger Federer stood tallest, defeating nemesis Rafael Nadal in three sets at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. It was a good match, and I for one am glad it's over.
This is the latest I've ever had a tennis season go. It's just a day before December, and I actually had my fill of turkey here over three days before I got to see the last serve of the season. On the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour, 2010 was a year where they began to introduce measures to add excitement to the season and begin to shorten it. The men's tour, on the other hand, wanted to hold on to 2010 as long as it could.
I can't necessarily disagree with the championship itself, as it drew, by most accounts, a quarter of a million fans over the eight-day tournament, which, by just about any account, is a smashing success, pun intended. For most of the world, this time is devoid of a lot of professional sports, so it is easy to view and it is a welcome change to soccer. Here in America, however, it had to compete with the Thanksgiving holiday, a full professional football schedule, and some of the best college football games in years.
This year's men's finals matches were all top-notch, with very good performances by Robin Soderling, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray. The tournament got its top two seeds for the final, as well. It's the way I guess you would want 2010 to end, with the two top men playing for the last title of the year.
Federer won the match mostly on the fact he was well rested, having not been truly tested in all his round robin matches. Nadal had a marathon semifinal with Andy Murray and came into the final with about three quarters of a full tank. Federer and Nadal traded shots and games over the first two sets, but in the third and final, it was clear Nadal had run out of steam.
As I sat watching some of the match replays online, I couldn't help but flash back to matches between legends Bjorn Borg and Guillermo Vilas. Federer and Borg are cool, had incredibly complete games, and moved quickly, but with the grace of a ballerina. Vilas and Nadal, well, have the muscle and spin and are like bulls on the court, bludgeoning you with every lefty forehand and every huge backhand. As with Borg/Vilas, in the end, grace beats bulls, and Federer came out on top of Nadal.
One thing I will agree with the English tabloids is that while this is a rivalry, it's the most civil rivalry I've seen since Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall. The tennis was great, but there was at times a missing excitement. You could not feel any fire in the belly. Only blue, icy flames.
So now the season is over. The WTA season changes did little to really help performance of its top athletes and didn't help guarantee the big players, either. Injuries still played their part, including a six-month disappearance of Serena Williams due to an off-court foot injury. Venus, Maria Sharapova, and Justine Henin also suffered physically. This left the game to the young girls, and while it's nice to see the next generation, season-ending No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki still isn't a complete player yet. I'm happy to see Kim Clijsters take another U.S. Open title and also to win the season-ending tour championships over Wozniacki.
I'm still left feeling a little cheated by the women. Serena Williams finished 2010 fourth in the world, although she only played six tournaments all year. That just isn't right. Players like Sammy Stosur and Francesca Schiavone played a full season and their hearts out, both making the French final (Schiavone winning it). Finishing in the season-ending rankings below both Venus and Serena just seems wrong.
Overall, 2010 was a good year internationally for tennis, but the effects of the world financial crisis and the state of the global economy are starting to be felt. I'm glad now that the season is over. Congratulations, Roger. Happy holidays, Kim, Rafa, Caroline, Vera, Andy, Andy, Novak, and the rest of both tours. See you all in six weeks down under.
In the coming weeks, it's that time again: my annual tennis Christmas wish list for 2010. Can you guess what will be on my list?
November 30, 2010
dave:
It’s incredible that sports writers keep making excuses for Nadal’s losses to Federer. If Nadal was tired and ran out of steam, then he is a wimpy athlete compared to Federer. Tennis players are pro athletes who train for several tough matches in a row (e.g., one Wimbledon match lasted 11 hours between the two lesser athletes Isner and Mahut).
At the World Tour Finals, Nadal had to play only five 3-set matches. Nadal got a day off after his round robin matches (except his last RR match). In his semifinal, the slow-playing Nadal played only 223 points against Murray. Then young Nadal had five extra hours to recover as Federer, who is five years older, played the second semifinal.
In 2006, Federer was also 24 years old. Here are just two tournaments Roger played that year:
- At 2006 Rome: In the final, Federer narrowly lost a five-set battle with Nadal that exceeded five hours (Federer had two matchpoints in the fifth set). This one brutal Rome match on Nadal’s favourite clay was much longer than Nadal’s WTF match with both Federer and Murray put together. In Rome, Federer played six matches in a row in six straight days, no rest. Both Federer’s quarterfinal and semifinal matches were long three setters (each match took 229 points!). The fatigue that Federer faced was three times worse than what Nadal suffered.
- At 2006 Toronto: Federer won the title despite going the distance to three setters in the last four of his six matches.
It is the older Federer who should be tired from the amount of tennis he has played, not young Nadal in his prime. The 24-year old Nadal played only 81 matches this year (in 2006 the 24-year old Federer played almost 100 matches, while this year Federer played 78 matches). Since Wimbledon, Nadal played only 29 matches (the 29-year old Federer played 39 matches). Nadal took 5 weeks’ break to practice before the WTF, so he did not waste energy playing tournaments. Federer played five tournaments in the last seven weeks.
Tennis writers who invested their credibility in cheerleading Nadal’s ascension, are worried that Federer is upstaging him. Although Nadal is ranked No. 1 for te overall 2010 season, the fact is that Roger Federer has been the best player on tour since Wimbledon. Since July, Federer has gained over 1,300 ranking points than Nadal, has a better win-loss record (39-4 to Nadal’s 24-5), more titles (4 from 8 tournaments to Nadal’s 2 from 7 tournamnents), and has reached deeper rounds in tournaments than Nadal has (e.g., 4 titles from 6 finals and 2 seminals in the 8 tournaments played after Wimbledon).
December 1, 2010
Janie:
I agree with much of the above - Federer had the second semi final, not stepping onto court until 8 pm, and is five years older than Rafa.
They are both great champions and we should treasure and applaud them both, it is however really irritating that Rafa is always tired or injured if he is beaten - he is pretty awesome, but not invincible.
As for Fed - he has been phenomenal and so consistent for 8 years - Sunday showed he is far from done yet, and I wish him all the very, very best.
December 4, 2010
Bobby Mac:
Andy Murray is Scottish not English or “British” just thought i would let u americans know that