The Tweener

Esther Vergeer retired today. I AM SADZ.

The vast majority of people have never heard of the wheelchair tennis player, but they should. I’m aware this will sound like complete hyping/Kool-Aid drinking but she was the most dominant athlete of her sport and probably ever other sport as well.

Some facts:

She won all 21 Grand Slams she entered. For perspective, Federer, widely considered one of the most dominant athletes of our generation, ‘only’ won 17 of the 55 slams he’s entered.

The last time she lost a match was 10 years ago, a 470-match winning streak. The top song on Billboard when she last lost was ‘Lose Yourself’ by Eminem.

She has been the world number 1 of her sport for over 12 years, from April 6 1999 to January 21 2013 (668 weeks!). Willow Smith wasn’t even born when she first climbed the rankings to world No. 1.

She won 169 singles titles and 158 doubles titles. I don’t really need to qualify how absofuckinglutely ridiculous this is, right?!

Good. Esther Vergeer (also, awesome fucking name alert!) is a league apart, and rather than go the tired, trite route, saying ‘how inspiring she is’ (which is a condescending argument to people with disabilities), I just want to say that her achievements are unbelievable, unforgettable and will likely go unmatched by anyone else, in any other sport, for many years to come. 

Love you, Esther. Kick retirement’s ass!

—

(fun fact from the AP: “Vergeer’s retirement means she will not surpass what is widely believed to be the longest run of consecutive wins in sport - 555 by Pakistani squash great Jahangir Khan from 1981-6).

photo credit: WTA

POWER SQUATS: They do a body good. 

A lot of ink gets spilled (just kidding, no one writes with pens anymore because internetz!) over Djokovic’s ridiculous shotmaking. The way he spanked a forehand winner match point down against Federer at the US Open in 2011, for example. 

But during the Aussie Open finals, even when he was down a set and three break points to Murray, I never thought he was out of it. I fully expected him to come back, simply for the reason that while his shots weren’t landing, he wasn’t overplaying. 

If anything it looked like he was biding his time, like he knew he would only get better as the match progressed.

At Nole’s best, he makes the game look metronomic, all his forehands and backhands crisply struck and rhythmic. Not a shot wasted, no movement made out of turn. 

Compare this with some of the flashier but much less accomplished players in the game (I’m looking at you, Monfils and Gasquet!), and their tennis starts to look silly, contrived—masturbatory. 

Novak thankfully lacks all of these flourishes.

Some folks would argue that’s a bad thing, that Djokovic’s baseline harmonics don’t compare to the improvisational brilliance of Federer in his prime, or Nadal’s ruthless athleticism on the clay. 

I think there’s a place for each of these styles but don’t take it from me. Take it from the top players. Djokovic has the Aussie Open while Nadal holds the French, Federer Wimbledon and Murray the US Open. 

It’s unfortunate that the final with Murray couldn’t match last year’s five hour 53 minute forced march of a match, or the giddy level of play Nadal reached in 2009. Even so, there is something appealing about watching someone go about his business at the height of his career, swatting aside his greatest rivals on his favorite court.

Hell, it’s why we watched Federer for all those years.

And though the Djokovic-Murray rivalry hasn’t hit the dizzying heights of Nadal-Federer or McEnroe-Borg, it’s still worth watching because both of them are evolving how to play on the tour today, both of them play unbelievable offense and defense, and yes, both of them are pretty rad fellows in their own right. (I mean, Murray is this pale wonder of the world. How does he stay so damn white in the sun all day?!)

But this post is really about Djokovic. If there were any question after his titanic fifth set win over Wawrinka in the fourth round, it’s been answered. 

He’s still master of his domain.

And with that, I’m going to sleep forever. 

BEL = Belgium

BLR = Belarus, where Azarenka actually hails from.

Guess this means she just has to win it next year. 

Well played Vika to get your second Slam, staving off a thoroughly unfriendly crowd and a hard-hitting opponent (It’s ok, Li Na. You’re still awesome).

Now what would be really great Vika is if I never had to see this again:

hungry4danish asked: What tennis coverage are you watching? I've never heard Li Na referred to as "that Chinese girl" but I totally agree on the condescension/sexist part.

In this tourney, I’ve heard it on Eurosport the other day, and one of my Russian-speaking friends heard it on a Russian broadcast of her semi with Pova. Also, have heard it in the past from American outlets and Eurosport/Sky Sports.