Question to all you self-proclaimed "sports nuts": How many sports do you actually look forward to sitting and watching on TV? Question 2: Where does tennis fit in on your list?
I used to stop channel surfing if I noticed Andre Agassi was playing, but that's no longer the case. These days my answer to question 2, admittedly, has everything to do with whether the televised tennis is in the second week of a Grand Slam tournament, and usually whether an American is playing, or if it's just another Federer-Nadal clash. Well on a beautiful Sunday morning between church services, all the criteria fell into place, with the instant classic that became Federer-Roddick for the Wimbledon men's (oops -- Gentlemen's) singles title.
Five sets, 16-14 in the fifth, and from what I saw, very few games even going to deuce. I haven't watched Andy Roddick play a whole heck of lot over his career, since he does tend to slip up from time to time before that second week of those Grand Slams, but what I saw of him on Sunday was nothing short of amazing against probably the greatest tennis player of all time now, after Federer won a record-breaking 15th Grand Slam. Roddick is the hardest server in the game, but to not lose a game to serve against Federer until the one that clinched the match - I think that has to be one of the coolest things the sport of tennis has ever seen. I'm willing to bet that wasn't unprecedented, but I would imagine it hasn't happened much in a match where one player (Federer, of course) came in with an 18-2 overall advantage over the other in 20 all-time meetings.
All in all, if you're a "sports nut" like me, but you still have those sports you don't get into as much, try to take note of the times when these instant classics might be happening. Here's hoping Andy Roddick can use this experience and really springboard his career into a multiple Grand Slam tournament champion.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment