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Wimbledon 2008 poem from Allen. Thanks.

ALLEN

wimbledon 2008 jaallen

enduring in dull, fading light as the sun finally sinks away…
pain flickers…
surfacing momentarily in shimmering eyes,
in a steely-set jaw
trying to smile,

regret trumps satisfaction after an epic struggle;
victory was close enough that
he feels its phantom embrace
and longs to draw it inside
where it belongs…

the distant dance mocks his sorrow
as he follows the familiar rhythm of triumph
so long his leading lady…now in the arms of another;
the vision haunts…as sorrow rips a corner
of his soul and the shudder of loss is almost overwhelming…

in the fading glow, he bows to his opponent
praising his ability and his will,
stepping aside, bending his light, as the roar of the crowd
honors the winner…

millions watch his nobility with wretched understanding….
familiar with devastation and defeat,
sensing the invisible scars and the silent tears
of the inestimable champion…

as we weep for him, we cry for ourselves;
for all of us who suffer defeat
daily in lethal doses,
we, who will never soar nor embrace perfection…

for he has carried us all in his graceful dance
along baselines;
where we dig, dip, chip and slice,
creating implausible angles and breathtaking shots
with agility, dignity and spell-binding ability…

we who lead paltry lives devoid of fame and glory
cling to this champion,
shamelessly sharing his glory and fortifying our self-worth
as he lifts each trophy and gently kisses it…

if the lefty spaniard who
bludgeoned his way onto center court
purloined the trophy, he will never capture our hearts
for he does not elevate or skirt the surface of lawns…
he grinds and pounds and bullies until there is nothing left
but red dust and the death of artistry….

Madrid Masters draw – 2008.

Click freaking here.

M

*waves*
Hi, everyone!

Thanks so much to everybody for making me feel like a part of the Tennis Planet family. Some of you all are like the brothers and sisters I never had – they thump you on the head and push you around at home, but whenever you go out into the Real World, you can hang and tussle with anyone.

(I’ve done some major RL beatdowns on trash-talking tennis peeps with just Jenny’s analyses alone. Hee.)

Most who read my comments know:
- I live in New York (U.S. Open, yay!)
- I’m a hardcore Roger and Rafa fan (their finals are, IMHO, the Platinum Standard of tennis – although this last DC final runs a close second)
- I also love El Armada, Les Mousquetaires, “Stone Hand” Gonzalez, and Polito del Potro
- I hope when Roger gets his 15th slam that the GOAT debate will die a well-deserved death
- I wish Pete and A-Rod would follow in Andre’s footsteps and either open their own schools or help him recruit for his, so we don’t look up one of these days in men’s tennis and say “Where did the Americans gooooo ..?”
- I love Venus and Serena
- I think TP should just go on and propose to JM and leave those goats alone!!!

Hope everyone is having a great opening to their holiday season!

Australian Open announces purse increase? In this fiscal climate?

With the way things are going, by the time Australian Open rolls around, they will be happy they were able to offer those stupid tea party trays to the winner, in exchange for the players’ clothes.

Granted a typical tennis fan is better educated and financially ‘sounder’, but when even Ed McMahon is close to living under the freeway underpass these days, how can you be so irresponsible to advertise the overflowing bank account. Isn’t it time to do your part to reign in spending and ask everyone’s cooperation to that end, if you are planning to keep the game alive?

It’s not that tennis is the bread and butter of the sporting world. When times get tough, the luxuries and the frills are the first to get the axe. This is the time you should not only be holding back that $1.5 million for a sure shot rainy day, you should be adding more revenue streams to fill that fund.

Reduce the ticket price, cut down on the expenses and demonstrate responsible mature behavior in keeping with the times to gain respect instead of envy and ridicule from the sporting and every other world.

Will No. 14 work for or against Federer in the finals?

No one, except Wawrinka and worshipper Blake, wants Federer to get to No. 14. It’s called professional jealousy. And if you are the one he has to beat in the finals to tie Sampras’s record, will you be even more motivated to deny Federer the accolade? You bet!!!!

But it could also engulf the match with heavy historic halo to seem like you are playing at your first Grand Slam final – even if you are a Djokovic or a Nadal. Consequently, you could become the deer with the headlights creature, anti climaxing the whole freaking game.

Federer too should feel that extra tug, despite having been in Grand Slam finals numerous times. With titles now in short supply, leave alone majors, Federer knows his chances of reaching the finals at majors are not a given for obvious reasons. So it’s not like old times where you get taken out by Safin in the semifinals at the Australian Open, but you carry on as if you didn’t even miss a beat by conquering majors like you are winning Basels.

Missing a title after reaching a final now, except for Roland Garros, will prove devastating evoking frustration, anxiety and stark fear. Clearly Wimbledon still is Federer’s best venue to pull even with Sampras, despite Nadal’s showing there in the last three straight years.

What’s the evidence? Well, if he can have the kind of run he had from Halle to the Wimbledon final in a year like this, you can bet the surface and those events bring out something special from Federer’s racket. He has not had that run prior or after that short grass season this year – yet. Add the miserable Roland Garros final with a bagel and it may shine even brighter.

If the seeds hold their own, Federer now has to play either Djokovic or Murray before facing Nadal in the finals irrespective of the surface, considering how Nadal’s been playing lately on hard surfaces. Based on this year’s showing there appears to be very little separating Djokovic and Murray on hard courts.

With that a given, it will now boil down to whose game is a bigger mismatch to Nadal’s on hard court to extend Nadal to at least a gruelling four setter before facing Federer in the finals, thereby giving Federer the best shot at the title. With endurance and health issues hounding Djokovic, Murray should be the clear choice, probably by default.

Why? Because for an in-zone Federer, it doesn’t really matter whether it’s Djokovic or Murray in the semis, but for an in-zone Federer it DOES matter if a ’not fatigued’ Nadal is across the net irrespective of the surface, mainly due to the excess baggage he’s been carrying in his rivalry against Nadal.

Due to the fact that he is a lefty and has that top spin nailed down, Nadal is the only player who can force Federer to use his backhand despite Federer standing to his left to avoid it. No other player currently has the ability to consistently place the ball with enough power and angle to leave Federer with no choice but to engage his backhand.

Murray tried at the US Open but was not able to generate enough pace on the ball, even if he did get the angle right. Consequently Federer was easily able to run around to fire his deadly fearsome forehand. Rest was like they say all history. Even if Murray did get the pace occasionally, the angle was not acute enough to deny Federer the forehand dagger.

Not even Djokovic can achieve that pace-angle combo so consistently to make any difference to the bottom line.

Only Nadal can. Realizing that, Federer has moved even more to his left against Nadal. But this year, Nadal has been able to control the ball so well when changing direction that he fires the next shot to the open court, forcing Federer to use his forehand without being able to plant his feet, essentially taking away all the sting and venom from the shot.

A right hander has to have a forehand-like control on his backhand to be able to duplicate what Nadal does over and over and over freaking again.

Bottom line: For Federer to bag No. 14 next season, he has to avoid a ‘not fatigued’ Nadal in the finals, even on hard courts. Why? Because that will be double whammy bound to hound Federer for the rest of his life: Nadal, of all people denying that history making major and accomplishing it on hard or worse, grass.

That moment for Federer will be close to winning his first Wimbledon title, specially after what all has been written all over the media about him this year, thereby giving birth to a whole new herd of butterflies. Add Nadal to the equation and he might as well be a freshman.