Kolek planning to go pro
Angie Kerber has won 3 Grand Slams, she’s been to 15 Grand Slam Round of 16’s. She has been top 10, 8 times in her career including year end number 1 twice. She came in winning one of the biggest tune up grass events. 6-4, 6-4 over Coco Gauff. Tremendous defense, angles, placement in windy conditions. Gauff had plenty of chances, but needed a bit more patience to play extra shots, and forehand let her down a bit at times. Few would have defeated Kerber today. Big in big points, crafty. Good experience. To lose 6-4, 6-4, not playing your best against an elite opponent playing their best, is pretty good.Ons Jabeur has defeated 3 straight Grand Slam winners into the Quarters over Swiatek. All court game and variety. Sabalenka, Barty, and quietly, Pliskova moving forward. In particular, Sabalenka has turned a corner in grand slams after being one of the best players who hadn’t had much success at one. High level with Rybakina. Barty takes out the French Open winner Krajcikova. Disappointment from Madison Keys who lacked patience in her loss to Golubic. Opportunity missed there. Muchova comes from behind over Badosa. Quietly solid in slams.
From the AP:https://apnews.com/article/europe-wimbledon-tennis-sports-53bd9e520b452c3347741a8e052ebb96?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=July8_MorningWire&utm_term=Morning%20Wire%20SubscribersWIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Roger Federer has been feted by plenty of ovations at Wimbledon’s Centre Court. None quite like this one, though. This was not a celebration and didn’t come at the end of the match.Instead, it delayed the beginning of what turned out to be the last game of his quarterfinal loss and felt more like a “thank you” or — just in case — a “goodbye.” And Federer acknowledged afterward he isn’t sure whether he’ll be back.It's already pretty obvious that Federer's days of winning majors are over. He wants to resist retiring, though, in part because he still loves competing and in part because of his huge endorsement haul, but it's clearly the end of an era. It was a hell of a run, one of the best in sports history.
Two topics:1) Can the player still win titles? In Federer’s case, yes.2) Does it matter if they keep playing but can’t? In every case, no.If one can make the Quarterfinals, having played so little match play, one can win the tourney. And, of course, one doesn’t have to win tourneys to keep playing tourneys. A lot of tennis players, golfers, etc otherwise wouldn’t be playing their sports.They said Federer was done years ago, until he kept winning. Sampras was done until he won the U.S. Open. Is Nadal done since he lost in the French semis? No. Will he play another French? Yes.Federer didn’t say it was his last Wimbledon. He said he wants to play again next year and he takes things year by year considering a variety of factors, including health, training, prep, family. etc..He gave straightforward, thoughtful answers to some good and some not so good questions. We have previously discussed that somewhat similar to the Super Bowl, you get all kinds of media you normally wouldn’t at a major.It didn’t feel like a goodbye. It didn’t feel like he is or isn’t coming back. it felt like he lost to a good, top level, in form player, in the Quarters of Wimbledon. He will regroup as he has in any defeat, and, he said as much in his presser and he will bounce back to the next events on tour. Rafa Nadal for example, hasn’t made the Finals of Wimbledon since 2010. None of these are easy to win. Making the Quarterfinals of a major is an accomplishment at any age, and, at any stage of a career. I realize there are casual observers and even casual media that only count slams, but, even for some of those people, this is a bit knee jerk extreme. Why is Angie Kerber playing in the Wimbledon Semifinals right now? Someone please let her know she was done a few years ago. Serena Williams has made at least one grand slam semifinal or better every year since 1999, including this year, yet some have wanted to retire her many years ago. I hope Federer and the like play 10 or 20 more years, perhaps more doubles, mixed doubles too. Whatever he likes. Good for him. The list of players on tour that have made a slam quarters isn’t all that long. Venus Williams keeps playing. What a fun, thrilling mixed doubles match for her this year at Wimbledon, one of the better matches ot the event.
Yes, Federer "can" win another major. IMHO, he will not.Nadal is not Federer. I'd give him a decent shot, at least in the French.If Djokovic stays healthy, he will own every meaningful record before he's through, and like it or not there will be only a few who dispute that he's the best ever. You, of course, are welcome to be one of the few.
Federer lost in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Nadal hasn’t played in a Wimbledon Final in 11 years. He went 5 straight years not even making the quarterfinals. Should he stop playing Wimbledon by your standards? No, of course not. I am not one of a few actually who don’t believe it is realistically possible to compare eras. It isn’t a small group. If comparing eras is something you want to do, go ahead. But it’s just a subjective personal preference as opposed to any all era fair objective measure. For me, I have no desire to pick one best player or team or …of all time because it’s subjective, and, often related to personal bias of personal like and personal experience. Saying who or what you like isn’t the same as saying who is the best. That’s different. It’s more realistic to compare players within the same era and overlapping eras. Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic are all at the top of their overlapping eras. Taylor Fritz made a great run this year at Wimbledon, just a few weeks after torn meniscus surgery. That modern medicine wouldn’t have been possible in other eras. Players didn’t play for slams and count slams in other eras. Slam money was nowhere near it is now. In today’s game, for example, it’s a big deal for a fledgling player to make it the main draw of a slam to get that bigger check. Sponsor money wasn’t the same either. Players couldn’t afford to skip events, rest, injury, recovery in the past. Travel was also different as was the schedule. Many players didn’t even begin playing Australia until the later 1980’s. Monica Seles was stabbed on court as she was dominating the tour. She had chances to win many more majors, also taking some away from others. We’ll never know. Hence another example as to why picking one player isn’t possible. Chrissie Evert won 125 straight matches on clay, yet, she missed 3 straight French Opens during her peak. She also missed 13 Australian Opens. Today’s players can afford to pay for coaching, training, nutrition, private lodging at tourneys. Some players retired to start families. Rod Laver went 5 straight years during his peak, not playing any slams at all. 20 opportunities.Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic have been the best players of their overlapping eras. But that’s as far as it goes. And, that’s great. Some of the others mentioned were the best in their eras. And that’s great too. The fun part is not having to pick just one player or era. I can enjoy them all equally just as I would in any other sport.Sports records get broken all the time. But what matters is what that player or team did in their era at that time. Are we really going to compare eras in football when the game has changed and evolved with different points of emphasis etc…? Nah. And of course, playing is about so much more than whomever wins at the highest level. It’s like soccer, the Euros have been great fun. But so have the June and July U13-U19 boys and girls USYS, Academy League, MLS next, ECNL, etc…They have also been a lot of fun too. And of course practice is where the work is put in, the incremental improvements click in when no one is watching, the good stuff. You are certainly entitled to your interests. You are interested in two things in tennis. One particular current player, and counting slams. That’s it. And that is perfectly fine. We like what we like. But, the actual sport of course is about so much more than just that. And, with that is a recognition that different eras are played under very different circumstances, and, therefore cannot be objectively compared. And playing and story lines are about so much more than the singles title winner in a major.Rafa Nadal has entered the upcoming August, Washington D.C. Citi Open. Why? He’s never been to Washington D.C. and he’s always wanted to go there. Rock Creek Park, 50% capacity. Several good players are playing. It isn’t a major, and, he may not win it, but, he’s going to play anyway.
I didn't realize how good Evonne Goolagong was back in the 70's. Her record was very impressive and she seems to get overlooked historically. Her story is also quite inspiring.
Was a featured player in the 70s and got a lot of publicity for her Aboriginal roots.