Sports: 2014 tennis season

2014 Tennis:  French Open, Wimbledon

Before I get started on tennis, I have to say that I'm very excited about the news that LeBron James is coming back to Cleveland.  It makes it a lot easier to forgive him for The Decision and the Miami years (btw, the number of Heat fans probably just dropped 75%).  I'll be watching the Cavs closely - and since they're the closest NBA team to me, that includes in-person!

But back to tennis.  It's been yet another interesting year, thanks mostly to the phenomenal, all-time talent at the top of the men's game.  We've had some surprises and glorious victories in the past couple months.  Here's a recap.

French Open:
This is old news by now, so I won't go into too much detail.  The men's top 20 thinned out fairly quickly, most notably #3 seed Stan Wawrinka losing in the first round.  The quarterfinals featured a typically unusual clay court mixture, such as Monfils back from who-knows-where (losing in 5 sets to Murray).  Clay court bulldog Ferrer had the misfortune of running into the Nadal meat grinder in the quarters; Nadal would go on to humiliate Murray even worse (6-3, 6-2, 6-1).  On the other side, Djokovic cruised to the final without much trouble, either.  No surprise, though, that Nadal won it, claiming his ninth French Open title in ten years (the other year, he was injured).

The women's draw was a crapshoot, as it has frequently become these days.  Only three top 10 players made the quarters, after five of them bowed out in the third round or earlier (including Serena in the second).  On the positive side, Canadian Eugenie Bouchard continued her rapid rise, making the semifinals; and Simona Halep got to the finals, and looks poised to be a fixture (but will she simply be yet another very solid player who can't reach greatness?).  Perhaps most impressive was Maria Sharapova, who fought through many three-set matches to claim the title.  While Sharapova may be a bit inconsistent, I admire her fierce competitive spirit.

Wimbledon:
Ah, the best tennis tournament in the world.  From seeing the nice, fresh green lawns to some of the most exciting tennis to the many traditions (e.g., everyone wears white), Wimbledon can't be matched.  And the men's draw certainly lived up to that standard in one of the best tournaments in recent memory.  This time, the only true surprise was Nadal missing the quarters (didn't get to see the match).  The quarters saw Federer and Wawrinka battling fiercely in an all-Swiss match; Djokovic taken to five sets by fringe star Cilic; and Dimitrov shellacking defending champion Murray in a quick three sets.  Every tennis fan could see it coming (or hope that it would come):  the best player of all-time on his best surface (Federer) trying for perhaps one last title, against arguably today's best player, Novak Djokovic.  In five very close sets, I was thrilled when my favorite player, Djokovic, captured the title.  Despite suffering a melt down in the fourth set, losing it 5-7 after being up 5-2, he rallied to win the fifth set, 6-4.  To be honest, it wasn't as thrilling of tennis as the score suggested, since there was a lot of brilliant serving that kept points very short, mostly.  But still, it was great to see such high-level tennis.

The women's draw?  Just as much confusion as in the French Open.  Once again, just three top-10 seeds made it to the quarters, and many top players lost early (again, Serena among them).  Interestingly, three women from the Czech Republic made the quarters (including the champion).  Last year's finalist Lisicki made it, too, but got crushed by rising star Halep - who was then stopped by the other rising star, Eugenie Bouchard.  Many predicted the winner of that match would win the title, but Kvitova unleashed one of the nastiest beatdowns in recent memory on poor Bouchard.  It wasn't even that Bouchard played badly, but Kvitova's shots were so fierce that almost every point was over within two to three shots (she won 6-3, 6-0).  Interestingly, 2011 Wimbledon saw Djokovic and Kvitova as champions - just like this tournament, three years later.

Top Players:
(1) Novak Djokovic:  As was entirely appropriate, Djokovic recaptured the top seed with his soaring Wimbledon title.  Sure, he's not the flashiest player (tennis experts can surely see his brilliance better than me) but he is the most reliable in the game.  Add to that a great sense of humor and a humble, respectful, classy character, and it's easy to root for him.  Here's hoping for many more Grand Slam titles to solidify his all-time status with peers Federer and Nadal.
(2) Rafael Nadal:  After winning two Wimbledons, Nadal has actually struggled there, losing early each of the last three years.  But he certainly isn't in decline.  He remains dominant on clay (only Djokovic has a chance against him), and he is up there with the other Big Four on hard courts.  Another humble, hard-working guy, I root for him, too.
(3) Roger Federer:  The number of times Fed has been prematurely declared finished is now almost as high as his Grand Slam title total.  He had a sensational tournament, no doubt about it, with one of the most dominant serving performances of all time.  Only a gutsy showing by the game's best overall player could barely take him out.  That said, Wimbledon has always been his best, so it will be interesting to see how he fares this summer.
(10) Andy Murray:  After failing to defend his Wimbledon title, Murray took a tumble down the rankings.  It's still hard for me to gauge his true level.  He may have already peaked, with his previous Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles.  Taken at their average levels, Murray is simply a tier below the other Big Four - without them, he likely has at least five Grand Slam titles already.
Other Players:  Stan Wawrinka is still a big threat; losing to Federer was no letdown... Milos Raonic is working his way up, a big Canadian server, but I haven't seen him play enough to know how good he is... Grigor Dimitrov seems to living up to the hype he's been getting - another baseline athlete, who whipped Murray at Wimbledon.

(1) Serena Williams:  Not to beat a dead horse, but... ugh, I hope this is finally the beginning of the end for Serena.  All through her career, she has been one of the most petulant (top) athletes I've ever seen.  She often lacks class when winning, and when she loses - look out.  There's no denying that she's an all-time great in the women's game.  But I won't be sad to see her go.
(6) Maria Sharapova:  Although she's ranked sixth, I think she's probably the second best player in the women's game right now.  If she can avoid injury, she should be in contention in every tournament due to her competitiveness and skill.  Of course, we've also seen that she can lose quite easily to lesser players when her inconsistent game isn't on.
Others:  Yes, everyone else qualifies as "other".  The other top seeds are a wild grab bag.  Li Na, Jankovic, Azarenka?  They've had their share of success, but whether it's injury or age, none of them should be considered favorites in any tournament.  Kvitova or Kerber?  They have big games but are also very up-and-down; Kvitova should likely just count herself lucky for her two Wimbledon titles.  Halep or Radwanska?  Basically the opposite of the previous two, these players will likely make it deep into most tournaments, but also usually fall to whomever happens to have the "hot hand" because they don't have any powerful weapons.  Bouchard is about the only player right now who seems to have the potential to become the next superstar:  she's mentally and emotionally stable, and her game is both potent and reliable (thus far).  We'll see!