You know me, I’m a sucker for a Swiss with a one handed backhand. Wawrinka put in a true top tenner performance today, stretching the World No. 3 to three sets, and showing off a fluid, fun-to-watch style. He may not be holding the trophy, but he achieved something quite remarkable this week: for the first time in history there will be two Swiss men in the top ten. When the other player happens to be your good friend Roger Federer, that’s really something to be proud of.
Ah, but I almost forgot about the champion! Novak Djokovic continues to push forward in the rankings and I continue to feel ambivalent about it. I still prefer his hilarious impersonations to his game (although he wisely refused to perform any during today’s trophy ceremony.) Feel free to send me all sorts of nasty comments about how my Federer worship is blinding me, and how I’m a hack who can’t appreciate the modern game, etc.. But when you’re done cursing me, please tell me what makes Novak’s tennis so special. (His being fluent in Italian doesn’t count.)
SIDE NOTE #1: I can’t believe the D.J. played the Village People’s Y.M.C.A. during a changeover – just add the Chicken Dance and the Macarena and you have a bad junior high dance circa 1995.
SIDE NOTE #2: Did anyone else find all those Swiss flags waving in the crowd rather poignant?
SIDE NOTE #3: Meanwhile, on the WTA tour. . .Safina topped Dementieva to take the Qatar Telecom title – will we see either of these two in the F.O. final? Justine pulled out of Rome, strengthening suspicions that she’s crashing out, big time. I really hope she can get her act together in time for Paris – it’s so fun to watch her contend with Maria, Serena and all the other Amazons.
SIDE NOTE #4: With the men and women circling each other around Europe these past couple months – just missing each other in Portugal, Italy and Germany – why can’t the tours figure out a way to create at least one combined, two week tournament during this time? It would keep both the fans and the players from developing Tennis Fatigue Syndrome.
SIDE NOTE #5: Kudos to the Tennis Channel for finally getting it right – the commentators, depth of coverage and broadcast quality were all top notch this week.
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