Tennis

I'm a huge tennis fan. Up until about three years ago I would watch non-stop coverage of Wimbledon and as much as I could of the US Open. I would even get the strawberries and cream out on Saturday and Sunday morning. My favorite US Open moment was back in 1991 when Jimmy Connors had his last run and made it to the semi-finals. In recent years the Australian Open, which broadcasts in the wee hours of the morning, has been more of a draw for me, since I keep weird hours. I never did pay much attention to the French Open, but I suspect that's because Pete Sampras never did well there and he was my favorite player.

This year I watched an average amount of tennis. Unfortunately, this year's US Open was a particular disappointment. No Americans made it into the finals on either the men or women's side. Usually, that's okay from a fan standpoint, though, because there are a lot of great players that aren't American. But the finals (both) could not have been more anti-climatic. The All-Russian women's final was pretty one sided and the men's final (which pitted Australian Lleyton Hewitt against Swiss star Roger Federer) looked great on paper but was a complete blow-out. In the middle of the third set, I was hoping that Hewitt would quickly fold just to end the misery. (And, I NEVER usually give up hope for the player that's behind, even on match point.) It reminded me of the final between Hewitt and Sampras a few years ago when Sampras had a great tournament but totally didn't show up to the final and Hewitt embarrassed him.

Federer was the first man to win three majors in one year since 1988. He was the first man to win back to back US Open and Wimbledon titles since Sampras did it in 1995. Where was Hewitt today? Federer is a great player, but it would have been much more satisfying to see both players play at their best.

In the end, perhaps unpredictability is good for athletics. If in all athletic competition both sides always were able to play their best we'd never know the joy of rooting for the underdog. After all, we like an underdog; we like when the underdog wins. But when opponents seem to be evenly matched and then one just doesn't "show up"...it's really disappointing. I think the victory is that much sweeter when you know that your opponent was at the top of his game. Some might say, a win is a win, and while that is true, I suppose, as a fan, I like when the competition is high and the players are all doing their best.