Possibly the official French Open Thread...

I think it's the lack of Americans at the top. If Roddick or Blake were as dominate as Federer, I think there'd be more interest. If Serena can stay uninjured, it would help interest in the women's game here. Big if though.

That said, we still get phone calls if we leave it out from the evil tennis fan. "You Will Put The Tennis Results In The Paper" Grrrrrrrrr.

 

Actually I think tennis is on a slight rebound. Especially thanks to two men who are far and away better than everyone else on tour. All of the Federer-Nadal finals garner strong ratings and manage to pull in casual fans. Having a strong American in that mix wouldn't hurt, but with every Federer-Nadal final another group of casual sports fans turn it on.

And the biggest women stars are a pair of African-American sisters and a six-foot blonde Floridian who happened to be conceived in Russia. So that's not a problem either.

 

Are the Williams sisters still the two biggest stars? I don't know, Serena seems to be bouncing back some but it has been an awful long time since they dominated women's tennis.

 

If Federer wins the French, and that's a distinct possibility, the possiblilty of a Grand Slam would certainly raise interest in tennis, even if Federer has less personality than Pete Sampras.

The williams sisters and Sharapova might be the biggest stars, but I don't think you can call them the top players right now. The sisters haven't competed regularly because of injuries and Sharapova has something going on with her serve that isn't good. That foul evil creature (Henin) is probably the top player right now, and she's not quite evil enough to root against yet.

 

I think that's her point. He doesn't have great ability, at least not like Federer or Nadal do. He can't make it look easy, because he's not that naturally gifted ... as a tennis player.

Part of it has to do with his mind-set, sure, but a big part of it also has to do with his pure ability, and he's just not on that level, and he'll never be on that level, no matter how hard he works or who he has as a coach or how great his mind-set is.

He's a great athlete, and he has a great serve, and it's good enough to get him into the top 10, but while we keep waiting on him to reach "the next level" ... there is no next level for him. It has nothing to do with his spirit. It's just not there; it doesn't exist.

 

Here's my measure for disagreement:

Pretend there is no service advantage for either player. Every point starts out from a neutral position.

Given that, would Roddick ever win more than a game or two off Federer or Nadal? I doubt it. When he doesn't get two or three free points per game on his serve, Roddick can (and often does) lose to anybody.

Neither Federal nor Nadal needs those free points on their serve to dominate.

 

I was hoping someone would mention Henin. She's a hell of a player. I'd take her over the other three any day because it just seems to beat her you'd have to take the racquet out of her cold dead hand(s) - if she uses both on the backhand.

 

Henin also hasn't won a Slam on a non-red surface since the 2004 Aussie. I think she's a great player but she's doesn't have the game that translates to victories on all surfaces. She's a bad Wimbledon and U.S. Open appearance away from being a clay court specialist.

I hope Serena and Henin meet in the later rounds, haven't checked the draw not sure if they are slated to meet in the finals or what. I still say that if Serena wants it, there isn't a woman on any surface at any level that can beat her. It all depends on her mindset.

 

That foul, evil creature would met Serena in the quarterfinals.

 

Might be the best time to catch Serena.

 

Bingo.

Roddick was no surprise, but I was very disappointed to see Blake bounced so early. When he's on, I love watching him play almost as much as I do Federer.

 

If she makes it that far that is. And by then I'm sure she'll have to design some shirt or maybe get fitted for a new catsuit.