French Open Tennis: Contemplating a Roger Federer-Less French Open

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: June 2, 2010

commentComment        

A Grand Slam event without Roger Federer in the last weekend could be compared to seeing a movie where the protagonist dies three-quarters of the way in; kind of like seeing Neo killed off before the last act of The Matrix.

But I actually think that metaphor sells Federer’s position in the game short; it’s more like the event has lost it’s central plot device, kind of like The Matrix with no Matrix. Federer had been in the semis of every Grand Slam since Wimbledon of 2004, making for record 23 in a row.

Second place? That’s a tie between Ivan Lendl and Rod Laver, with 10 consecutive semis apiece.

Before Federer began his ridiculous streak, observers had generally calculated tennis greatness according to the number of majors won or the time spent at No. 1. Federer is remarkable in those categories, holding the record of 16 majors won and spending an unprecedented 237 weeks straight at the No. 1 ranking.

But the semifinal streak may be the true measure of his greatness because, impressive as the other records may be, there are other players in the ball park. In terms of the semis, no one comes close.

Going into the last four RGs, the question was, “Can Roger finally win here?” This year, early in the week, there was the question of “Can Roger finally beat Rafa here?” as well as “Can Roger win the complete Grand Slam this year?”

Now that those have been answered in the negative, other questions have taken their place.

 

Why couldn’t Federer continue his streak?

This was the first time since Federer became a Grand Slam champion that he entered Paris without having won a tournament between the RG and the Australian Open. In virtually every event he played leading up to Madrid, he drew a very tough opponent making a push for greater results this year—be it Marcos Baghdatis in Indian Wells, Tomas Be...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

Latest News


Comments

Comments are closed.

Sponsors

Bruins Tickets The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Red Wings Tickets The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League.

Penguins Tickets The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New York Rangers Tickets play their home games at Madison Square Garden, they are one of the oldest teams in the NHL, having joined in 1926 as an expansion franchise, and are part of the group of teams referred to as the Original Six.

San Jose Sharks Tickets The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States.

Toronto Maple Leafs Tickets The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New Jersey Devils Tickets The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Washington Capitals Tickets The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C.

Buffalo Sabres Tickets The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League. Get the Sabres and all of your NHL Tickets here.

NASCAR season is on of the most attended sports in the world. NASCAR Tickets to the best tracks is a must every year. Some of these tracks are: Talladega Tickets, Lowes Motor Speedway Tickets, Pocono Raceway Tickets, located in Ridgeway Virginia you have Martinsville Speedway Tickets and southern US you have two of the most popular Atlanta Motor Speedway Tickets and Texas Motor Speedway Tickets. Don't miss all the racing events this year!

Boston Red Sox Tickets The Boston Red Sox are a member of the Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Since 1912, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park. This is one of the hottest MLB Tickets sales of any team in the major league.

New York Yankees Tickets The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division. Get tickets to one of the hottest games of the season Yankees Red Sox Tickets.

Chicago Cubs Tickets The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League.

Phillies Tickets The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883.

Orioles Tickets The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Do you love wrestling? Get your WWE Tickets and WWE Survivor Series Tickets today!