Wimbledon II

[David Jimerson]

More or less.

Interesting rematch of the same competitors from only four weeks earlier, on the same court, for the title match.

Only this time the native crushed the other guy and brought home the gold on home turf.

THAT'S a story. Andy's definitely a Brit tonight.

[Barry_Green]

Federer played lousy the last two matches. If he'd played against Nadal, or Murray, or Djokovic the way he played against Del Potro, he would have been blown off the court. I don't know how he reaches the pinnacle match of his career running two or three cylinders short...

I thought Murray played about the same as he did in Wimbledon (which is to say, extremely well), but Federer just didn't show up to the Olympics.

However -- Serena -- now THAT was a performance. That was one of the best performances I've ever seen on any tennis court at any point in history. I've always said Steffi Graf was the GOAT, but I doubt even Graf would have won more than a few games off of Serena in that match...

[David Jimerson]

When Serena feels like bringing it, she brings it.

[David Jimerson]

So where does Murray go from here? That's got to be the last of his confidence block. No match he plays will ever carry the pressure of the W final; it's got to be liberating.

[Barry_Green]

First stop is #3 in the world... he's only about 900 points behind Nadal now.

And where does Djokovic go from here? Is he headed to Safina-land? He didn't even medal... Novak Djokovic, the absolutely overwhelmingly best player of all of 2011, didn't even win a medal at the Olympics. It's like Djokovic and Murray have exchanged confidence now, Djoko's back to pre-2010 Djoko.

To me the big question is what happens at the US Open? Nadal's been better in 2012 than 2011, but he's out with injury. Djoko's lost in head-case land. Federer ranges from extraordinarily brilliant (up until tanking at the Olympics he was playing better than all the top 4 all year) to pathetic. Murray's been consistently excellent. So is the US the tournament where Murray finally breaks through to a major win? I would have a hard time arguing against it...

I still can't get over Serena though... I mean, it's not like Maria had a bad day. She's frickin' Maria Sharapova, was #1 in the world not too long ago, the reigning French champion, she'd beaten Serena at Wimbledon before, she played very well the whole tournament, and then Serena defined what it means to be an Olympian (i.e., from Mount Olympus) -- forget Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps and Gabby Douglas and the Chinese divers, this was the most Olympian performance I think I've ever seen. And she's almost 31! In addition to Murray, I ask: where does Serena go from here? It seems hard to imagine she could get any better, but obviously she's got enough game to win any tournament she wants to, for the foreseeable future...

[Barry_Green]

Actually, Murray could pass Nadal in the rankings this week. They both played a terrible Toronto Masters last year, so neither has any points to defend, but Nadal's not playing. Nadal's 800 points ahead, but Murray can pick up 1000 points if he wins this tournament.

[Colonel Panic]

Just posting to see if tennis threads are limited to just you two guys.

[Barry_Green]

Seems like it at times, doesn't it?

[David Jimerson]

We used to have more.

[Barry_Green]

So where does Murray go from here?

Well, we now have an answer: To the pub, apparently. He certainly hasn't showed up on the court in his last two big tournaments, crapping out in the third round of two Masters 1000 tournaments... he'd even won Cincinnati last year. He could have easily moved up to #3 by now, but even with Nadal out, he's done nothing.

Federer, on the other hand, whipped up a 20-minute bagel and served that to Djokovic(!) That had to hurt. I mean, sure, when a 23-year-old gives a 28-year-old a bagel (N vs. F in 2008 french) that hurts, but when a 31-year-old takes last year's far-and-away best-player in the prime of his career (at 25) and embarrasses him with a bagel at the finals of a Masters 1000, that has to smart just a little bit more.

US Open shaping up to be interesting. Nadal is out. Murray is off on a three-week bender, will he have his game and his head together in time? Djokovic is ping-ponging all over the place, he disappeared at Wimbledon and didn't even medal, then he stormed back to win Toronto, then he got bageled in 20 minutes at Cincinnati, then he fought back the next set to a tiebreaker. Which Djoko will show up in NY? And then there's a resurgent DelPo, who actually beat Djoko for the bronze, will he make a triumphant return to the scene of his greatest victory? And then there's Federer, who wins the big one, then three weeks later on the same stage he craps out, then he comes back and wins a Masters to tie the all-time record... which Fed will show up for the US?