2017 Wimbledon

[Don Wassall]

Bethanie Mattek-Sands, an American who excels at doubles, blows out her knee in a singles match. Her agony following the gruesome injury is difficult to watch and listen to.

With no Brutus the women's side is wide open again. Djokovic, Federer, Nadal and Murray are all cruising so far on the men's side.

 

[Quiet Speed]

Bethanie Mattek-Sands, an American who excels at doubles, blows out her knee in a singles match. Her agony following the gruesome injury is difficult to watch and listen to.

With no Brutus the women's side is wide open again. Djokovic, Federer, Nadal and Murray are all cruising so far on the men's side.

Terrible knee injury.

Federer and Djokovic rolled today and the 4th round is set now. Slammin' Sam Querrey took out Tsonga, good win for him.

 

[Quiet Speed]

The youngsters, Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem, are still in. Both have a real test next round. Zverev takes on Raonic, and Thiem plays Berdych.

 

[La France Blanche]

The way they've been playing so far, any one of Murray, Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer not being among the four semi-finalists would be a surprise. On the good news front, African and faux-Frenchman Gael Monfils, who I can't stand watching, was eliminated by real Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.

Former ladies No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, currently unseeded, has made it to the fourth round, where she'll face No. 2 seed Simona Halep. Surprise French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko is still in it as well.

Venus Williams has not been eliminated yet. Her conscience doesn't seem to be giving her too much trouble.

 

[Don Wassall]

Looks like the Williams sisters era will never end. Brutus is off having a child but now Venus makes her first Slam final in 7 1/2 years and will meet Garbine Muguruza of Spain in the final. Not sure if Venus's revival is all on her at the age of 37, or an indictment of the women's game as it's been a number of years now since we've had any consistent White challengers. Maria Sharapova was the closest until her recent persecution, but Brutus always had her way with Maria after the '04 Wimbledon final.

 

[La France Blanche]

It's irritating to see Venus make the finals, especially after the bait-and-switch the media pulled by initially proclaiming that she was responsible for the car accident that killed a 78-year-old White man, Jerome Benson, then changing the story to she dindu nuffins. Hope the White Hispanic Muguruza can pull off the victory.

 

[CrazyFinn]

Looks like the Williams sisters era will never end. Brutus is off having a child but now Venus makes her first Slam final in 7 1/2 years and will meet Garbine Muguruza of Spain in the final. Not sure if Venus's revival is all on her at the age of 37, or an indictment of the women's game as it's been a number of years now since we've had any consistent White challengers Maria Sharapova was the closest until her recent persecution, but Brutus always had her way with Maria after the '04 Wimbledon final.

Bolded part is the answer to your question. After the premature retirements of Hingis, Clijsters and Henin, (the only 3 white women who consistently challenged and beat the sisters), there has been no one else to rise up and challenge them. Sharapova is literally Serena's b*tch. There's a never ending list of one-and-doners who seem to completely disappear once they win their first major. We have had so many false hopes about the sisters being "done", but like villains in a cheap horror movie that you just can't kill off, they are back making deep runs in majors and in Serena's case, winning them. Venus making the Wimbledon finals is inexplicable.

At this rate, they play and probably keep winning into their 50s, and when they are finally done for good this time, it'll probably be some other negress or two at the top of women's tennis.

At least the men's game is safe for now. Federer is enjoying a late resurgence and the big 5 (3-time major winner Wawrinka must be included) should be around for a few more years. From what I can tell, though, men's tennis is also in store for some time in the wilderness after these legends are done. There are some talented white youngsters waiting in the wings, but none yet appear be the same caliber as these all time greats.

 

[white is right]

Looks like the Williams sisters era will never end. Brutus is off having a child but now Venus makes her first Slam final in 7 1/2 years and will meet Garbine Muguruza of Spain in the final. Not sure if Venus's revival is all on her at the age of 37, or an indictment of the women's game as it's been a number of years now since we've had any consistent White challengers. Maria Sharapova was the closest until her recent persecution, but Brutus always had her way with Maria after the '04 Wimbledon final.

It seems like tennis has a figurative lost generation of players on the women's side as nobody that's under 25 as emerged as clear cut future superstar. The Spaniard/Venezuelan has a chance with 3 finals and one win(pending Saturday's result).

All of the challengers to the Williams sisters have been veterans who only have had a few years left near the top.

PS Venus looks like an iceberg with no mobility out there. You would think somebody could make her run and take away her stamina.

 

[northwinds]

And the lovely Spaniard, Garbine Muzugura, crushes Venus Williams in straight sets!

 

[CrazyFinn]

YES!! There's a God!

All it took was for someone to take a stand and fight back, as Muguruza did in the first set facing two set points. As soon as she tied it 5-5, Venus was broken and did not win another point.

One thing I forgot to mention above is the mental weakness of some of these white players who have faced the sisters over the years. But as was demonstrated today and on a few occasions before, those who didn't give up and punched the bully in the mouth were often rewarded.

 

[McCaffrey Dude]

I used to love Wimbledon as a teen and played a lot of tennis but then Agassi came along and the giant graphite rackets and the higher tension on the strings ruined the sport. I used to love Boris Becker come to the net and do his thing. Other than Roger Federer no one does this anymore. When serves start reaching the 130 mph speed the game has got to be slowed down. So much fun has been taken out of it due to increased technology.

 

[Heretic]

I used to love Wimbledon as a teen and played a lot of tennis but then Agassi came along and the giant graphite rackets and the higher tension on the strings ruined the sport. I used to love Boris Becker come to the net and do his thing. Other than Roger Federer no one does this anymore. When serves start reaching the 130 mph speed the game has got to be slowed down. So much fun has been taken out of it due to increased technology.

And one of the few "gender neutral" sports where the woman's side has become more worthy of watching, IMO. That wasn't the case 30-40 years ago, and certainly not when Billy Jean King was on the court. The Björn Borg, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe era was the best time to watch the men's side, hands down.

 

[GiovaniMarcon]

Tennis is okay to watch; I think the men's version is superior gameplay in general but the woman's side is okay, too, especially if the players are attractive.

The Williams sisters kind of ruined women's tennis, not necessarily because I object to Black tennis players (I don't) but because they come in with all their ghetto-assed, ratchet race-baiting nonsense and the media falls all over that crap.

Volleyball is a different matter entirely. Men's volleyball is obviously the superior sport with superior athletes, but I much prefer to watch the female version, both beach and regular, for obvious reasons haha.

 

[Don Wassall]

And one of the few "gender neutral" sports where the woman's side has become more worthy of watching, IMO. That wasn't the case 30-40 years ago, and certainly not when Billy Jean King was on the court. The Björn Borg, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe era was the best time to watch the men's side, hands down.

I'm the opposite; I really enjoyed watching Connors, McEnroe and Borg, but the last decade in men's tennis has been the best ever with Federer, Djokovic, Nadal and Murray, whereas the women's game has sucked in recent years, a pale shadow of what it was when Evert, Navatrilova and Graff were dominating. Wasn't a Martina fan for obvious reasons (lesbian and militant feminist), but she was still preferable to Brutus and Venus.

Also, Connors and McEnroe were first class ********. Both needed to be punched out, it was sickening the crap they pulled on the court for many years with no one standing up to them.

 

[Heretic]

I'm the opposite; I really enjoyed watching Connors, McEnroe and Borg, but the last decade in men's tennis has been the best ever with Federer, Djokovic, Nadal and Murray, whereas the women's game has sucked in recent years, a pale shadow of what it was when Evert, Navatrilova and Graff were dominating. Wasn't a Martina fan for obvious reasons (lesbian and militant feminist), but she was still preferable to Brutus and Venus.

Also, Connors and McEnroe were first class ********. Both needed to be punched out, it was sickening the crap they pulled on the court for many years with no one standing up to them.

Fair enough, especially with Serena and Venus dominating the women's scene and the fact that any of those men you mentioned, Federer, Djokovic, Nadal or Murray, would destroy Borg, Connors, or McEnroe today, each at their prime...but that's the case in most sports due to the advances in sports science, training and medicine over time.

You're right, I've witnessed some incredible matches over the past 10-15 years with those guys, but I really do concur with McCaffrey Dude that the short game has been sacrificed by the modern use of the giant graphite rackets and the overabundance of "aces" due to the use of them. As far as the antics of McEnroe and Connors goes, yeah, they could certainly be jerks at times, but it added another layer of intrigue to the event and some of it was justified by horrible umpire calls. Of course, that's no longer an issue with the technology they have today to get it right every time. Also, one more thing, at least there were some White men that represented the U.S. in tennis back then.

 

[white lightning]

I couldn't agree more. This trio of men in tennis currently of Federer, Nadal & Djokovic are as good as anyone
that has ever played the game With out a shadow of a doubt Roger Federer is the best. Even better than Pete
Samprass and I didn't think I would ever say that. I love the game and most of the players.

I think the women are just as fun to watch as the men or very close. It's the only womens sport I will watch other than some volleyball occasionally and women in track & field.

 

[La France Blanche]

36-year-old Martina Hingis reaches the mixed doubles final with partner Jamie Murray. Growing up, Hingis was my favorite player to watch and it's good to see her still going strong. I still remember her beating Venus in the '97 US Open final. Good times.

20 years!

 

[Claimjumper]

36-year-old Martina Hingis reaches the mixed doubles final with partner Jamie Murray. Growing up, Hingis was my favorite player to watch and it's good to see her still going strong. I still remember her beating Venus in the '97 US Open final. Good times.

20 years!

Hingis' 2015- present renaissance had been a pleasant surprise and hope it can continue on for a few more years!

90s women's tennis sure was fun to watch! Lots of great players in the primes Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Mary Pierce, Jennifer Capriati, Gabriella Sabatini ...

 

[Shadowlight]

MONUMENTAL NEWS out of England. In front of Theresa May, Rod Laver and tennis fan Princess Kate to name just a few of the luminaries the GUIDING LIGHT otherwise known as Roger Federer bagged his unprecedented 8th Wimbledon and extends his Grand Slam record to 19!! And the whole event as usual reeked of class. No tattoos no this or that just well dressed fans. Some men were wearing a suit and a tie and the women were decked out in very fine summer wear. This is the first bit of sports happening that curbs what I thought in my mind was turning into my very own "summer of hate."
I have more to say about Roger and the posts above but for now just a CNN piece on his pervasive popularity around the world.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/14/tennis/roger-federer-fans-wimbledon-tennis/index.html

 

[Westside]

ATG Federer!!!!

 

[Jack Lambert]

It's great seeing Federer win! I got up early to watch the match early this morning, and it was worth it! He dominated Cilic. His semi-final against Berdych with also fun to watch. Truly the Greatest of All Time!

 

[La France Blanche]

Federer really cruised...I don't think he lost a single set in the whole tournament. And all that at 35 years old.

Hingis and Murray win the mixed doubles title in straight sets over a half-Papuan "British" woman and her White partner.

The ladies' doubles title was won by two White Russians, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, who completely dominated their opponents, a mixed White-Chinese team, 6-0, 6-0. I like to think of that as a big middle finger to the fake news media, who are trying to stir up the Trump/Putin/Russia hysteria again.

 

[Shadowlight]

At this point there is a legitimate argument to be made that Federer is the greatest athlete of this last half century or at the very least belongs in the discussion. And while this was not a classic Wimbledon, in general terms on the men's side pretty dull stuff apart from the Muller/Nadal match, the mere fact that Federer won for the 8th time puts this one in a time capsule anyway.
When Federer beat Sampras ( for the record I could not stand Sampras and preferred his rival Agassi) at Wimbledon in 2001 I thought very little of it and it wasn't until his run there in 2003 on his way to the championship did I latch on to him. I remember rooting very hard for him against Roddick in the semifinals and then was overjoyed to see him win the whole thing which was his first Grand Slam title. From the very start I collected newspaper pressings and sensed, like many others , he was going to be a special player. I loved the way he moved on the court and his classic and elegant tennis strokes. And he could unleash a powerful wicked forehand like a boxer lets rip a left hook. He was TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!!!
The next Wimbledon was even more memorable. Maria stunned the tennis world by beating Serena at the age of 17 and Roger came back on Roddick to win again. The press was in overdrive as everything got amplified. What was the gorgeous Maria going to wear at the Wimbledon Ball? Between Wimbledon and the US Open that year everything was turned up twenty notches. I went to see Maria play a night match in New Haven one week before the US Open and there was delirious madness in the air. By the time she took to the courts in crazy town USA the world was shaking. The photographers were clicking a mile a minute every time Maria made a move. She petered out early in the 2004 US Open to the chagrin of many but it was a moment in time to remember.
But after the 2004 Wimbledon the big question was which player would grace the cover of SI? Before Maria the last tennis cover star was Serena after the French Open in 2003 and before that a puff piece on Kournikova in 2000. They chose Maria and either way they couldn't go wrong. So the next big question was when would Roger make the cover of SI? Most likely after his next Major at the US Open but it never happened. During his PRIME Roger never made the cover of SI and when they finally decided to put him on the cover it was after his epic loss to Nadal at Wimbledon in 2008. Not only was it an unflattering picture of Fed, a rear shot which made him look like a puppet, only Nadal's face was turned towards the camera. Essentially it was a Nadal cover with Federer playing the role of the loser.
They did manage to put Roger on the cover after the French in 2009 which to date is his one and only true SI cover.
Because SI does not always print an issue every week now I have no idea if an issue is being released for this week but if it is does it not stand to reason that Roger gets another cover?
Five years ago Roger won his 17th major and 7th Wimbledon title. At that point most everyone expected him to pick up at least one or two more Grand Slam titles but the slippage started showing. At the majors he could look brilliant for several matches but suddenly falter. His consistency was wavering and the new upstarts and his nemesis Nadal were beating him at crunch time. Fed came close to winning but couldn't leap the final hurdle and it seemed as if the magic to win the big ones was lost for good. He lost in the Wimbledon finals to the machine like Djokovic in 2014 and 2015. And as a Fed fan it was painful and jarring to watch him start losing on the biggest stages with such regularity. He was also firmly in the shadows of Nadal a man that had his number after that 2008 classic Wimbledon brawl.
After Roger limped out of tennis after 2016 Wimbledon it was pretty much assumed there were no more majors left in his body.
So a good four plus years after his last Major Roger returned to tennis after an extended rest and stunned fans by not only winning the Australian Open but did it by coming from behind against his bete noir Nadal!!
The only other athlete I can compare Federer to is Michael Jordan. But Jordan towards the end lost his formidable leaping ability and started showing his age. Jordan looked mundane which was weird to see.Federer against all odds is still a buttery smooth athlete that glides around the court like a young panther and is winning the big ones in what is essentially a young man's sport! This is what you would call the surprising second act of Roger Federer and talk about putting a cherry on top of such a great career. He is what you would call a natural born athlete blessed with talents most athletes could never dream of having.

 

[DixieDestroyer]

I don't really care for tennis, but Roger is the best (hands down). I'm glad to see him dominate.