The Grass is Too Strong for Uncle Sam

Mardy Fish is the lone American still alive across the pond at the All England Club. After a dreadful tournament for the Americans, Fish faces world #1 Rafa Nadal in tomorrow’s quarterfinal match with hopes to keep the Stars and Stripes flying at the All England Club. Can he pull of the upset? Barney thinks he’s got a better shot than most people think.

As things have been slow at the office lately, I’ve been taking advantage of the Watch ESPN app on my iPad to watch this year’s “The Championships, Wimbledon” (as if Wimbledon wasn’t good enough).  I’ve always been a closet fan of tennis, and given the nature of the game, it’s a great sport to watch in the office while you’re pretending to do work that doesn’t really matter anyways. My interest in this year’s tournament peaked at the onset of the third round, which found three American gentleman players still alive and looking to extend their stay at the All England Club. Naturally, given the current state of American tennis, two of the three bowed out; literally, their play was so uninspiring they might as well have just bowed to their opponents at the beginning of the match and carried on with their seasons.  Alex Bogomolov Jr., who had dominated 25^th ranked Juan Ignacio Chela in their second round encounter, was, as expected, dispatched with effortless ease by 6^th ranked Tomas Berdych, who made a surprising run to last year’s Wimbledon final before falling to everyone’s favorite Spaniard Rafa Nadal. And then there was Andy Roddick. Seeded 8^th in the Wimbledon draw, Roddick looked strong in his first two matches. He was out to prove that the injury that kept him out of the French Open wasn’t going to have any lingering effects. He cruised through the first two rounds, and with a favorable draw in front of him, it seemed as though he would breeze into the quarterfinals. But of course that was not to be. Facing heavy serving Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, Roddick lost in straight sets and was sent back to the U.S. pondering what could have been. But, as the say, the third time is always a charm. And in this case, it certainly was. American Mardy Fish, ranked 9^th in the world, was fortunate to have his third round opponent Robin Haase retire, and then pulled off the upset against Berdych, playing one of the best matches of his career. So now Rafa Nadal awaits in the quarterfinals. Can Mardy keep the Stars and Stripes flying at the All England Club? I really think he’s got a shot.

Rafa Nadal is no doubt the best player in the world, and one of the greatest players to ever step onto a tennis court. Be it grass, clay, or Har-tru, it doesn’t matter, this guy can flat out play. His forehand will go down as one of the games best ever, and he is a freak of an athlete. But if there was ever a time that he is upset-prone, it would be now. In his fourth round match against Juan Martin del Potro, he felt something “crush” in his left foot, and initially thought that the foot may be broken. He admitted after the match that at one point he contemplated retiring from the match. But he received treatment from the trainer, came back out, and showed why he was the best in the world, dispatching del Potro in four, hard-fought sets. MRI’s after the match were negative, but did show swelling around the peroneal tendon in his ankle. While hitting today, many noted that he hardly moved around the court, causing speculation to rise that he is not 100%. This, combined with the fact that Fish has been playing his best tennis arguably ever, could potentially lead to a major upset at Wimbledon. The American from Edina, Minnesota, has been serving and playing better each match. He put on a serving clinic against Berdych, never losing serve once, and in fact has held serve in 64 of the 65 service games he’s played in during the tournament (which, for tennis, is a ridiculous statistic). Now, at the end of the day, Rafa is the far superior player. Fish is 0-5 in his career against the Spaniard, the odds heavily favor him [Nadal] to move on to his fifth straight Wimbledon semifinal. But if there as an ever an opportunity for an American tennis player to make a major statement on a major stage, it is now. With the days of Agassi, Sampras, and McEnroe far in the rearview mirror, American tennis fans (the few still out there) are waiting for the next big moment, the next big happening in American tennis. And it could be tomorrow. Be sure to tune in.