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Sports & Recreation > Chasing Borg
 

Chasing Borg

Chasing Borg

Bjorn Borg, not Locutus of Borg. Sorry, Trekkers.

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is ready to open the gates and begin the 2006 Championships at Wimbledon. The defending Men’s Singles Champion, Roger Federer starts his tournament on the verge of history.

Federer is one win away of breaking Bjorn Borg’s record for most consecutive victories on grass (41). But in his typical modest fashion, Federer is quick to point out that Borg’s 41 all took place at Wimbledon. Some of Federer’s came at tune up events where the field isn’t as deep. Regardless, how often do you see an athlete calling for an asterisk on their own record?

It’s what we’ve come to expect from Roger.

When he won his first Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2003, he showed signs of brilliance that are so often seen for a flash, just to disappear moments later (see: Roddick, Andy). But Federer remained solid, going on to win six more majors in three years. Despite the fact that he’s making a career out of beating my favorite American players, I always have to respect him.

Putting aside the fact that he’s the most skilled tennis player I’ve ever seen, he’s genuinely a good person. He treats those around him as he would like to be treated. Even his vanquished opponents have said “I’d love to hate him, but he’s such a nice guy.”

His extensive charity efforts for children around the world through the Roger Federer Foundation as well as numerous other charitable efforts were recognized this April when UNICEF granted him the position of International Goodwill Ambassador.

Federer is a complete champion, which is probably why you won’t see him jumping for joy if he makes it 42* in a row. Somehow I doubt that he’s concerned how many times his name appears in the grand book of obscure statistics.

From what I’m hearing, the only record of Borg’s that Federer is chasing is his 41 straight at Wimbledon. Federer has 21 right now, that represents three consecutive titles. Borg’s 41 is five titles and a runner up. The way Roger sees it, he’s still 2 years and 2 weeks away from breaking Borg’s record.

If he hopes to keep the dream alive, he needs to be more focused than ever. The rest of the field may not have the same fear of Federer that they used to. Last week at Halle, Roger needed all three sets to defeat Gasquet, Rochus, Haas, and Berdych. He fought off four match points against Rochus in the quarterfinals. He faces Gasquet in the first round this week.

Assuming Federer gets past Gasquet (who beat Federer at Monte Carlo last year), his projected second round match would be against Britain’s favorite son, grass court specialist Tim Henman. Despite being unseeded, Henman looks in shape and primed for a solid run at the trophy. Henman’s unforgiving serve and volley attack can make life on grass difficult. If Federer isn’t playing his best, the homers at the betting booth might be buying drinks.

Looking ahead to the round of 16, he could face Tommy Haas or Tomas Berdych, both of whom gave Federer something to think about last week at Halle. Haas hasn’t beaten Federer since January 2002, but took him to five sets in Australia this year. Berdych first landed on people’s radar when he upset Federer in the 2004 Olympics, and with the velocity he generates, Berdych could be extremely dangerous on grass.

Things aren’t getting easier for Federer as he heads into the quarters, with his likely opponent being the seventh seed, Mario Ancic. Armed with a devastating serve and an almost impassable net game, the 6’ 5” Ancic is a haunting presence on the road to 42. Federer enjoys a 3-1 head to head record, but that “1” was the last time he lost a match at Wimbledon, when he was exited in the first round in 2002. Federer will need to be firing on all cylinders here, or he may have to start the streak over again.

If things turn out as they’re drawn, Federer should face David Nalbandian in the semis. The hard hitting American James Blake may challenge for the spot, but Nalbandian has more experience on grass and is a superior volleyer. Nalbandian has always been a tough matchup for Federer, as illustrated by their 6-6 split record.

It’s tough to say who will be waiting in the other side of the draw. The second seed, Rafael Nadal probably won’t make it past the round of 16. I’d give him better odds to win a golf tournament. His only chance is if they tear out the grass and resurface the courts with play-doh.

Lleyton Hewitt enters the tournament seeded sixth. He won the whole thing in 2002. He hasn’t won very much since then. In fact, his victory last week at Queen’s was his first title in 18 months. It’s not that he hasn’t had good showings, but he often runs into Federer during week two and is sent packing. Federer has ended Lleyton’s Grand Slam aspirations five times in the last two years.

Andy Roddick would be a three time Wimbledon Champion, if only someone else could take out Federer for him. Andy plays his best tennis on grass, but Roger plays better. Roddick’s 150 mph serves will brush aside most of the field, but as Federer showed the last three years, just get the ball back and the point is as good as yours. Roddick comes into this tournament every year saying that his net game has improved, but every year comes up short against Federer.

As if things weren’t bad enough, Roddick is having his worst year since he came on the tour. His record to date (24-10) is sub-par at best for a top 5 player, and he has yet to hoist a trophy in 2006. Until last week, he hadn’t lost a grass court match to anyone other than Federer in four years. Last week at Queen’s, he fell to Blake in straight sets.

Roddick needs to do something to finally right the ship, because his rankings are headed due south. If he fails to defend his runner up points from last year, he could find himself outside of the top 10. It might be easy to go out early, he could face Sebastien Grosjean in the round of 16, and Lleyton Hewitt in the quarters. The good news is, he went out of the U.S. Open in the first round last year. Any points he gathers in New York will be like found money.

Last year, it seemed like a given that the Federer would meet Roddick in the final. It looked like they’d play the finals for the next five years. This year I’m not so sure, about either of them.

Finally, I have to take a moment to observe the announcement of Andre Agassi’s retirement. Yesterday, the eight time Grand Slam champion told the media that this would be his last Wimbledon and that he would retire after the U.S. Open in September.

Going into the tournament at number 25, Agassi is in a favorable position to find himself in week two. Other than a third round match with the second seed Rafael Nadal (who honestly might not make it that far) and a potential fourth round matchup with the fifth seed Ivan Ljubicic...

[off topic tirade]

Wait a minute, Ljubicic has only made it out of the first round twice in six attempts. He doesn’t even know what the third round looks like yet. How is he seeded fifth? Nikolay Davydenko is the ninth seed. He has been to the second round once since his first attempt in 2002. Does this make sense? Grass courts are like Kryptonite to these guys. They don’t even unpack their suitcases all the way.

Wimbledon claims that it takes previous performances into account when seeding the players. Sorry, I’m just not seeing it. Nadal has gone out in rounds 1, 2 and 3 in the three years that he’s played Wimbledon and he’s number two. Andy Roddick has two finals and a semi since 2003 yet he’s ranked third. What a joke. Change your system, Wimbledon.

So anyway, Andre Agassi has a fairly easy section of the draw to go through. He has to play someone from the Roddick/Hewitt bracket in the quarterfinals, but he has the return skills to deal with Roddick’s blistering serves and he’s patient enough to hit all afternoon with Hewitt.

It should be a great tournament. Though I’ll probably watch a lot of it on the DVR. The first round match hits the airwaves at 5 a.m. Pacific.

posted on Jan 14, 2008 9:04 PM ()

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