Twenty years ago I was in Newport, Rhode Island to watch my first professional tennis tournament. I saw Javier Frana beat Brian MacPhie in the quarterfinals. My wife was pregnant with our first child and it was our last vacation without kids. We drove from Grosse Pointe, Michigan to Freeport, Maine. We went to LL Bean after midnight. (It is open 24 hours) We ate $9 lobster dinners at roadside stands. We made a last minute decision to drive to Newport to watch the tennis. It was a great venue. Greg Rudeski won the event over Frana just as we were pulling into our driveway.
Why do I mention this?
Because Michael Russell, native Detroiter, has made to the semifinals. Let's keep our fingers crossed that at age 35, he makes it to his first major tour final.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Monday, July 8, 2013
Weird Wimbledon 2013
Well, that was weird. After two weeks of craziness, the men's final that we all expected came to be.
I am of Scottish decent so I should be happy that Murray won Wimbledon today. I was rooting for the Joker, but hey, the Brits have been waiting 77 years for a local winner, so why shouldn't I feel good about the the outcome?
I can tell you this, the Scotts do not consider themselves to be British. I would be interested to be in my ancestral home town of Barrhead, Scottland to hear the pub talk tonight, I am sure that the ale is flowing as they toast their Scottish champion, not their British champion. I used to work for an Englishman, who reported to a Scotsman. They did not see eye-to-eye on anything. The Scotsman has a major chip on his shoulder, with hundreds of years of history on his side to back up his dislike of the English. I do not believe that one day went past in the seven years that I knew him that he did not disparage the English in some way. The Englishman was very prim and proper, with a stiff upper lip and all that. He never let the Scotsman draw him into a scrap about incidents that occurred hundreds of years ago. Of course, he had hundreds of years of superiority and culture behind him to strengthen his resolve.
Don't forget that the Brits were so eager to have a local Wimbledon champ that they adopted the Canadian, Greg Rusdski as their own. His mother was born in England, but Rusedski was a Canadian citizen. Not to mention that just as it appeared that the Canadians would have a legitimate Top 10 player on their Davis Cup Team, he 'defected' to England. I am sure that the Canadians were thrilled about that.
Since I was in Northern Michigan for the week and did not have television reception, I was not able to watch the final, But, I did listen to it on Wimbledon radio. I was surprised that the match was won in straight sets. I was sure that the weight of the moment would get the best of Murray. The English announcers tried their best to not appear to be too one sided. They had their hearts in their mouths as Murray lost the first three championship points. You could hear the crown erupt with every point that Murray won from the beginning to the end. In the end you have to take your hat off to Murray. That was a lot of pressure and a lot of history to overcome, along with the #1 player in the world on the other side of the net.
It was also interesting to think that Ivan Lendl helped Murray win the one major event that eluded him during his career.
All in all, it was an interesting Wimbledon. There were a few faces (Janowicz and Kubot) and old lions (Verdasco and Haas) that made some moves.
What can we say about Federer and Nadal? I hate to say that Federer's best days are behind him, but he has now fallen to #5 for the first time in ten years. Will we see Nadal for the rest of the year? If so, not before Montreal or Cincinnati.
By the way, after losing in the first round of Wimbledon, the hardest working man in tennis, Michael Russell, hopped a plane to Ecuador and ground out a victory in the Manta Challenger. This was worth 80 ranking points and $5,000. In contrast he collected about $32,000 for losing at Wimbledon. Michael has now won 14 Challengers in his career. The victory should keep him in the Top 100 for the rest of the summer. He is playing in Newport, Rhode Island this week. That is a lot of travel for three weeks. Good luck this week Michael.
I am of Scottish decent so I should be happy that Murray won Wimbledon today. I was rooting for the Joker, but hey, the Brits have been waiting 77 years for a local winner, so why shouldn't I feel good about the the outcome?
I can tell you this, the Scotts do not consider themselves to be British. I would be interested to be in my ancestral home town of Barrhead, Scottland to hear the pub talk tonight, I am sure that the ale is flowing as they toast their Scottish champion, not their British champion. I used to work for an Englishman, who reported to a Scotsman. They did not see eye-to-eye on anything. The Scotsman has a major chip on his shoulder, with hundreds of years of history on his side to back up his dislike of the English. I do not believe that one day went past in the seven years that I knew him that he did not disparage the English in some way. The Englishman was very prim and proper, with a stiff upper lip and all that. He never let the Scotsman draw him into a scrap about incidents that occurred hundreds of years ago. Of course, he had hundreds of years of superiority and culture behind him to strengthen his resolve.
Don't forget that the Brits were so eager to have a local Wimbledon champ that they adopted the Canadian, Greg Rusdski as their own. His mother was born in England, but Rusedski was a Canadian citizen. Not to mention that just as it appeared that the Canadians would have a legitimate Top 10 player on their Davis Cup Team, he 'defected' to England. I am sure that the Canadians were thrilled about that.
Since I was in Northern Michigan for the week and did not have television reception, I was not able to watch the final, But, I did listen to it on Wimbledon radio. I was surprised that the match was won in straight sets. I was sure that the weight of the moment would get the best of Murray. The English announcers tried their best to not appear to be too one sided. They had their hearts in their mouths as Murray lost the first three championship points. You could hear the crown erupt with every point that Murray won from the beginning to the end. In the end you have to take your hat off to Murray. That was a lot of pressure and a lot of history to overcome, along with the #1 player in the world on the other side of the net.
It was also interesting to think that Ivan Lendl helped Murray win the one major event that eluded him during his career.
All in all, it was an interesting Wimbledon. There were a few faces (Janowicz and Kubot) and old lions (Verdasco and Haas) that made some moves.
What can we say about Federer and Nadal? I hate to say that Federer's best days are behind him, but he has now fallen to #5 for the first time in ten years. Will we see Nadal for the rest of the year? If so, not before Montreal or Cincinnati.
By the way, after losing in the first round of Wimbledon, the hardest working man in tennis, Michael Russell, hopped a plane to Ecuador and ground out a victory in the Manta Challenger. This was worth 80 ranking points and $5,000. In contrast he collected about $32,000 for losing at Wimbledon. Michael has now won 14 Challengers in his career. The victory should keep him in the Top 100 for the rest of the summer. He is playing in Newport, Rhode Island this week. That is a lot of travel for three weeks. Good luck this week Michael.
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