Movies: Tennis - Summer 2013

Summer Tennis Season

With good new film releases looking to be sparse for a few weeks, I thought it would be a good time to look back at the summer's tennis season.  For my purposes, this will be the span from Wimbledon, at the end of June, through the U.S. Open, which concluded just last weekend.  I'll give a recap of those Grand Slam events, then give a little summary of the top men's and women's players.


Wimbledon 2013

This year's tournament was one of the most bizarre in a long time, with upsets and injuries galore in just the first few days.  Rafael Nadal:  out in the first round (in straight sets!).  Serena Williams:  overwhelming favorite, out in fourth round.  Sara Errani:  #5 seed, out in first round.  Maria Sharapova: out in second round.  John Isner, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Victoria Azarenka:  retired in second round due to injury.  And most shocking of all by far:  Roger Federer, seven-time champion, lost in second round.  Unbelievable.  Without the top players around (especially for the women:  #4 Radwanska was the highest seed to make the quarterfinals), Wimbledon was significantly less fun this year.

Meeting in the men's final were top-seed Novak Djokovic and second seed Andy Murray.  After not dropping a single set in the tourney, Djokovic was taken to five sets by powerful del Potro before prevailing.  Murray also was brought to the brink by unranked Verdasco.  In the Finals, it was all Murray as he won in straight sets (6-4, 7-5, 6-4).  No one knew what to expect from the women, which ended up seeing #23 Sabine Lisicki and #15 Marion Bartoli in the Final.  Lisicki got there by beating the top remaining seed Radwanska in a 9-7 third set.  Bartoli got there with little trouble, beating young American Sloane Stephens among others.  It was all Bartoli in the final, winning 6-1, 6-4 (she would announce her retirement after the tournament).

U.S. Open 2013

The U.S. Open went much more according to plan.  The biggest surprises may have come before it even began, with Tsonga and Sharapova withdrawing due to injuries, and legend Roger Federer getting his lowest seed in years at #7.  The seed seemed appropriate, however, when Roger went down in the fourth round, ending his worst summer of tennis in probably more than a decade.  Other surprises included former #1 ranked Lleyton Hewitt making the fourth round after taking down del Potro.  American men's best hope Isner flamed out in the third round.  Errani, Wozniacki and other top 10 women's players lost before round 4, but nothing too shocking happened here.

Djokovic ended up in the Final again - he appeared in each of the Grand Slam finals this year - where he faced Nadal.  After #9 seed Wawrinka shocked last year's champ Murray in straight sets, he took Djokovic the distance in five sets before losing.  Nadal cruised through in straight sets (never having to face rival Federer).  In the Final, Nadal was dominant, winning 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.  On the women's side, we also ended up with #1 (Serena) versus #2 (Azarenka).  Serena torched her way to the Finals, losing three total games in the quarters and semis.  Azarenka played a little more against unranked opponents, but still beat them in straight sets.  The Final ended up being one of the most competitive in recent women's Grand Slam history - at least in the first two sets, before Williams shut down Azarenka in the final set, 6-1.


Player Notes (# in parentheses is player's current rank):

(1) Novak Djokovic:  my favorite player had another strong year, getting to the Finals of each Grand Slam though "only" winning one of them.  He started the year at #1 and still is, but Nadal is closing fast.  It speaks to just how dominant he was in 2011 that this is considered a somewhat disappointing year, coming up just short at several tournaments, especially the Grand Slams.  Djokovic is still great, no question, but even I could tell that he just wasn't playing with the same confidence against top players (esp. Nadal) that he had in that historic 2011 season.

(2) Rafael Nadal:  after an injury in the summer of 2012, Nadal missed months and many, including myself, questioned whether he could return to top form.  Well, consider that answered.  After missing the Australian, Nadal won just about everything, especially on his favored clay surface.  Wimbledon was disappointing, but he played better than ever on hard courts, winning master's level events in Canada and Cincinnati before taking the U.S. Open.  Remarkable come back season.

(3) Andy Murray:  it was an up-and-(mostly)-down year for Murray.  After losing to Djokovic again in Australia, Murray struggled in the clay court season, missing the French with an injury.  He did win Wimbledon, the first Brit to do so in decades.  When the season returned to the hard courts, Murray began to struggle again, though, and his defense of the U.S. Open title ended with a whimper in the quarters.  2012 was his break out year, and Murray will need to continue to stay hungry.

(6) Roger Federer:  shocking to see this low a number beside Roger's name.  Rumors of his decline have been floating (incorrectly) for several years now, but in 2013 they were warranted.  Getting to the semis and quarters in Australia and France was OK, but losing in the 2nd and 4th round respectively at Wimbledon and U.S. Open, historically his strongest tourneys, was shocking.  Not only have Djokovic, Nadal and Murray separated themselves from him, but Roger is increasingly vulnerable to non-elite players, too.


(1) Serena Williams:  not surprisingly, my least favorite player remains the dominant one in the women's game.  Williams had a somewhat slow start to the year, which isn't unusual.  She won the big tourneys leading up to and including the French, however.  After a shocking loss at Wimbledon, she came back with a vengeance on hard courts, winning Canada, Cincy, and the U.S. Open with little resistance.  Azarenka is the only player who can even challenge Serena when she's focused, even at age 31.

(2) Victoria Azarenka:  as opposed to Serena, Azarenka got off to a great start in 2013, winning in Australia and some other tourneys.  She played well but not great in the clay court season, then got injured at Wimbledon.  Azarenka managed to return in the hard court season, getting to the final of both Cincy and the U.S. Open where she lost both to Serena.  Azarenka is finally getting more consistent, and has the power and skill to become the top player assuming Serena retires some day.

(3) Maria Sharapova:  the first half of the year was strong, just short of great, but the second half has been an utter disaster.  From Australia through the French, Sharapova routinely got the the semis or finals - but only managed to win one tourney (Miami), with Serena usually defeating her.  Then she lost early at both Wimbledon and on the hard courts at Cincinnati.  An injury kept her out of the U.S. Open so, as opposed to Azarenka, Sharapova faces a lot of questions for the rest of the year and 2014.