The women’s final between Serena Williams and Dinara Safina turned out to be a real clunker. It took less than an hour, with Serena winning the first set 6-0. She probably should have lost earlier in the tournament—especially against Victoria Azarenka, but was fortunate to get past her when Azarenka had to retire because she was not feeling well.
I’m not a fan of Serena, so this may sound like sour grapes, but what has happened to the women’s game? Ana Ivanovic is imploding. Jelena Jankovic, the number one player in the world, who oddly has no majors under her belt, was ousted in the fourth round. Safina is number three and she has no major titles. Elena Dementieva seemed poised to finally break through at a major but she crumbled when she faced Serena.
Serena will be ranked number one now, justifiably so—she just won her 10th major. But in the past, she hasn’t even taken the game seriously. She doesn’t play enough events and her ranking drops, and then she wins another major or two and it goes back up again.
I miss the days of Chris Evert, Steffi Graf (she won 22 majors), Monica Seles, Mary Pierce, Jennifer Capriati, Martina Hingis, and Kim Clijsters. With the exception of Evert and Graf, I’m not sure any of these women had the raw talent that Serena has, but they played hard and respected the game.
The men’s game, on the other hand, has sustained itself thanks to the rivalry between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. People are still talking about the incredible Wimbledon final they played last summer—the five set duel that last into the dusk. Ever since Nadal won it, every commentator uses the phrase “changing of the guard” every time they talk about these two players.
Two things make this rivalry interesting to me.
1. Nadal has been crowned king, but Federer doesn’t like it one bit. He won the US Open and he has even objected to being introduced as the number two seed at the Australian Open. So, he has something to prove. That always makes for an interesting story line.
2. Both of these guys have the utmost amount of respect for each other and the game. So many rivalries in sports are fueled by hatred—not so with Federer and Nadal. Nadal still says that Federer is the best player ever, even though he has defeated Federer 12 of the 18 times they have played. Federer is a student of the game and is always aware of the historical context he is playing in—which tells you how he feels about the game.
You get the feeling that if these two weren’t competitors, they’d be pulling for the other guy to become and stay number one in the world. I don’t know if that can be said about any other rivalry in sports.
