TOP 10 STORIES OF THE DECADE:
1. THE DAWNING OF THE AGE OF FEDERER: One decade, 15 Slams.
2. THE WILLIAMS CLAN: Divine secrets of the Venus and Serena sisterhood.
3. THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION: From Siberia with love.
4. RAFA AND THE REIGN IN SPAIN: No bull, this Armada’s all but unsinkable.
5. OUR DECADE WITH ANDRE: A journey like no other.
6. SERBIA, CROATIA ROCK: These Eurocats swing ‘n purr ‘n scratch.
7. WITHER AMERICAN TENNIS?: Okay, the Red, White & Blue sky ain’t falling, but…
8. TECH STUFF: Hawk-Eye, The Tennis Channel, power strings, Facebook, Twitter and the Internet.
9. THE BELGIAN BUNCH: Brussels sprouts are served.
10. SWEET PETE: A sublime player. Nothing less, nothing more.
PLAYERS OF THE DECADE:
THE MEN
1. Roger Federer: Despite losing record to Rafa is Greatest of All-Time. Won 37.5 percent of Slams in decade.
2. Rafael Nadal: Refused to be typecast as merely a dirtballer.
3. Andre Agassi: Still Slammin’ as a confessional thirtysomething sage.
4 (Tie). Lleyton Hewitt/Marat Safin: With two Slams and two Davis Cups each, the Aussie and Russian posted nearly identical results. The head-to-head is an even 7-7. Safin had more Masters titles (5-2), while Hewitt was No. 1 for far longer (80 weeks-9 weeks).
6. Pete Sampras: Czar Peter the Great ruled the ‘90s and walked away a winner in ‘02.
7. Andy Roddick: Incredible consistency and Davis Cup record boost stock.
8. Gustavo Kuerten: Fab on clay. Not bad on hard courts (except in NYC).
9. Novak Djokovic: ‘Tis a burden to toil in the fields of Fed and Rafa.
10. Goran Ivanisevic: Sorry, J.C. Ferrero, GI’s ‘01 Wimby gave us such big-stage sizzle.
THE WOMEN
1. Serena Williams: Lights out best player. But could she have been better?
2. Justine Henin: Wimbledon only feather missing in considerable Grand Slam cap.
3. Venus Williams: Second best player in the family, third best of the decade.
4. Maria Sharapova: Loud ‘n lovely leader of The Russian Revolution.
5. Jennifer Capriati: Poster child for burnout had up and down career (and three Slams).
6. Amelie Mauresmo: Wilted in Parisian spotlight, but bagged two Slams in ‘06.
7. Kim Clijsters: Two years removed from game proved she still has it with mother of a win at USO.
8. Lindsay Davenport: Wins first Slam of decade. Has fab run. Camps at No. 1, but wins no more Slams.
9. Svetlana Kuznetsova: ‘09 RG champ no longer a one-Slam winner.
10. Ana Ivanovic: Sorry, Hingis, Pierce, Myskina and Jankovic — AI reached No. 1, won RG (and our hearts).
BEST PLAYERS: Federer and Serena.
BEST MEN’S MATCH: Nadal over Federer in the riveting ‘08 Wimbledon final.
BEST YEAR: 2008.
BEST WOMEN’S MATCH: In ‘05 Venus survived a championship point to beat Davenport to win Wimby. But we pick tennis’ classic Friday night fight, Henin’s ‘03 U.S. Open Semis win over Capriati 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4), in a packed, less than sober, Ashe stadium.
BEST MEN’S DOUBLES TEAM: The Bryan Bros.
BEST WOMEN’S DOUBLES TEAM: Virginia Ruano Pascual/Paola Suarez posted numbers, but the Williamses imposed dominance.
MOST CURIOUS MATCH: So many candies. But we’re going with the masses-gone-wild People’s Monday Wimbledon final of ‘01, when the Lords of Wimbledon allowed the riffraff onto the All England Club’s hallowed grounds to see Goran Ivanisevic top Pat Rafter.
BEST MATCHES ‘NOBODY’ SAW (EAST OF MELBOURNE): Andy Roddick’s marathon 4-6, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4, 21-19 ‘03 Aussie Open win over Younes El Aynaoui, which ended after 2:30 a.m. and the ‘09 Sweden/Israel Davis Cup tie.
MOST OVER-HYPED: Anna Kournikova, Monique Viele and Donald Young.
BEST NEWCOMERS: Nadal and Sharapova.
SHOT OF THE DECADE (Men): The (YouTube approved) airborne overhead passing shot Federer unleashed off a Roddick overhead in Basel in ‘01.
SHOT OF THE DECADE (WOMEN): Far off the court in the ‘00 French Open semis, Mary Pierce overran a deep Monica Seles shot, so all she could do was offer a gazelle-like leap and hit a desperate between-the-legs crosscourt lob over her stunned opponent.
BEST MEN’S COACH: Player-coach Federer had decent results, but Brad Gilbert got three A’s on his report card: Andre (Agassi), Andy (Roddick) and Andy (Murray).
BEST WOMEN’S COACH: Since ‘00 Richard Williams’ students won 24 Slam singles and doubles titles and five Olympic golds.
UNDERACHIEVER OF THE DECADE (MALE): Apologies to Guillermo Coria and Greg Rusedski, but this one belongs to Mark Philippoussis.
UNDERACHIEVER OF THE DECADE (WOMEN): In ‘02, Alexandra Stevenson said, “Everyone is always talking about the power of the Williamses, Davenport and Capriati. In six months, it’s going to be Alexandra Stevenson.”
FAREWELL TO: Round robins in ATP events; tournaments in Vegas, Indy, Carson, Scottsdale and Houston; Wimbledon’s Alan Mills, Court 2 and curtseying; Arlen Kantarian, Jim Baugh, Jim “Mattress Mac” McIngvale and Larry Scott (all of whom transitioned to other pursuits), the USA Network’s U.S. Open coverage, the AO’s Rebound Ace surface, James Blake’s hip hair, American men regularly winning Slams, the domination of men’s college tennis by Stanford (and Americans); retirees Sampras, Agassi, Chang, Rafter, Henman, Ivanisevic, Martin, Navratilova, Seles, Davenport, Capriati, Kournikova and Mauresmo; and the departed Jack Kramer, Don Budge, Althea Gibson, ‘Tennis Week’, writers Barry Lorge and John Parsons, John Gardiner, Alan King, Joe Cullman.
GO FIGURE: In the end, for Andre, “emotion was everything”…The Williamses, who were criticized for their lack of commitment, are crafting lengthy careers…Neither Agassi nor Venus have the best tennis records in their families…In ‘06, Fed got the closest of any guy to win the Grand Slam since Laver in ‘69…In ‘02 and ‘03 Williams won the Serena Slam…Borg put his Wimbledon trophies and rackets up for sale…Mahesh Bhupathi’s wedding drew 6,000 guests, but his split from Leander Paes was the most bitter on-court divorce of the decade…Lleyton Hewitt — the most feisty and litigious player of the decade — was once engaged to Kim Clijsters, who, with Ana Ivanovic, was the sweetest star of the decade…Just as tennis was working to quiet fears of gambling, numerous casinos sponsored or hosted tourneys.
RIVETING (AND NOT SO RIVITING) REVELATIONS OF THE DECADE: Agassi admitted he hated tennis, did meth and lied about it…Serena was in therapy…Dmitry Tursunov claimed he was into dancing, knitting and collecting walnut shells…Davis Cup captain Pat Mac claimed, “My job is to open the balls and let them practice”…In Flushing Meadows, Shea Stadium (RIP) and Ashe Stadium have the same four letters… President George Bush I revealed he once inadvertently left the keys to our nuclear arsenal at a tennis tournament…The driver of the bus Civil Rights pioneer Rosa Parks was on when she refused to give up her seat was named James Blake.
STRONG WORDS: John McEnroe said the domination of the Williams sisters is “the greatest story in sports history”…Agassi said that Michael Chang was as great a competitor in all of sports…Roddick claimed he was “the best bad tennis player of all time.”
‘INFINITIVELY’ INSPIRING PHRASES: Vince Spadea claimed Agassi was “infinitively inspiring; Dick Enberg noted that Lleyton Hewitt had “scamperability”; Mary Carillo assured us that the returning Guga Kuerten “hadn’t lost any of the surfer-dudeosity.”
LETTER OF THE DECADE: Chris Evert cautioned Serena not to be sidetracked by “pet projects and indifference,” claimed she was “too good not to be winning two Grand Slam titles a year,” and that designing clothes couldn’t possibly “compare with the pride of being the best player.”
BEST SPEECH: Agassi tapped his inner-Lou Gehrig to say goodbye in NYC.
MOST PROVOCATIVE CHATMEISTERS: Brad Gilbert, Justin Gimelstob and Pam Shriver. (Still, our favorite commentary relating to a broadcasting newcomer was The Guardian’s unsparing observation that Boris Becker was “charming and wonderfully earnest, [but has] a habit of saying, ‘Dat voss a luffly liddle chip’ while flicking his blond bouffant.”
PREDICTIONS:
• When, on June 9, 2002, Serena and Venus became Nos. 1 and 2, the must stunning prediction in sports history (Papa Williams’ claim that his two kids would top the rankings) came to fruition.
• Sampras said, “I strongly believe in destiny. And I think one day I’ll win in Paris.”
• After he lost to Sampras at the U.S. Open in ‘02, Greg Rusedski said Pete was “not playing that great…I’d be surprised if he wins his next match.” Pete powered on to win the title.
• Jonas Bjorkman said that the changes in the doubles game were “going to destroy doubles completely.”
• While IT predicted that Anna Kournikova would “nudge the likes of Olga Morozova and Natasha Zvereva into a certain gulag of oblivion,” Nathalie Tauziat predicted that if the Russian “gets results as impressive as her beauty, she will be the most adored player in history. But if she fails, the system will crush her.”
• Justin Gimelstob claimed that WTA players live in a “bizarro” world in which they are in competition with “the 1 percent most beautiful creatures in the world” who date ATP players. He added that players who looked like “beached whales” should keep their clothes on and predicted that as there were more and more skimpy outfits, “courts will resemble volleyball courts, with G-strings and bikinis.”
• After beating Henin in Berlin in ‘08, Dinara Safina said Justine would only “take a little breather” and would come back more eager than ever. Indeed, just three days later Henin abruptly quit. Now she’s back.
• Mary Carillo contended that Sharapova will someday “screw it up…the way Capriati and Kournikova did. Phenoms tend to get their lives screwed up, whether they want to or not. [But] she’ll come back.”
• Navratilova contended that Serena “is wasting time. She cannot get back…She’ll be a supernova who burst onto the scene, and then was gone.”
• Don Black — the father of Byron, Wayne and Cara — reflected on the turmoil in Zimbabwe, saying, “They can take your farm. They can take your home. But they can’t take your backhand. In any case, I’ll die here, whatever happens.” A few months later, he died of cancer.
• McEnroe said that 14-year-old Donald Young would be in the top 15 in three or four years. Six years later, Young is No. 194.
WHY LET TRUTH GET IN THE WAY OF A CLEVER INSIGHT?: As the excitement of one tournament reached a fever pitch, Pam Shriver explained that the animated fans “would be going through the roof if the stadium actually had a roof…Christopher Clarey noted that Nadal “wears his emotions on his sleeve, which would have been an appropriate metaphor if he had not worn a sleeveless shirt”…Wimbledon broadcaster Eleanor Preston noted that a match was “tapering into a climax, [but] you can’t really taper into a climax, which is really why I should be unemployed.”
CROSSOVER BLUES: Bios by Mac and Agassi were bestsellers, but none of tennis’ other efforts to cross over really sizzled. The tennis-related films ‘Wimbledon’, ‘Match Point’, ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ and ‘The Squid and the Whale’ fell short of mass popularity. The Broadway play ‘Deuce’ was dismissed as a “moldy comedy” that had “all the grace of a McEnroe tantrum.” Plus, neither Mac’s reality show, ‘The Chair’, nor his talkshow, ‘McEnroe’, were must-see TV, and critics dismissed Mark Philippoussis’ ‘Age of Love’ as a “cheeseball of a show,” warning viewers to “say goodbye to your brain cells.” Amidst all the gloom there was some good news: both the Williams reality show and Monica Seles’ sad appearance on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ were mercifully brief.
ROMAN ROULETTE: James Blake collided with a net post in Rome and broke his neck…Roddick helped seven people escape a hotel fire in Rome in ‘04…Speaking of Rome, commentator Jim Rome praised Venus and Serena’s careers, but then dissed their dad: “Hey, Rich, you’ve been vindicated. You knew exactly what you were doing…Now go away. Find something else. Go start a stamp collection.” Rome also noted that tennis was hip again, saying, “What’s not cool about match fixing, players doing blow and players getting poisoned? That’s a good sport.”
CELEBRATIONS: The Bryan Bump, Agassi’s four corner bow, Radek Stepanek’s “Worm” gyration, Fed’s on-court victory collapse, Rafa biting trophies, Hewitt’s “Vicht” salute, Guga Kuerten collapsing in the outline of a heart he drew on the Roland Garros clay, Venus’ verticle Wimby leap, Jonas Bjorkman hugging himself four times after reaching the Wimby semis.
SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS (AND SCANDALS): Aside from the Agassi and Serena brouhahas of ‘09, numerous drug-abuse charges and assorted scares about match fixing, there was the $1.2 billion (greed-gone-wild) collapse of ISL (the ATP’s marketing partner), Justin Gimelstob’s disparaging remarks about Anna Kournikova (he called her a bitch, blurted out that he wanted to blast a serve into her body and said he wouldn’t mind if his brother “nailed” her), Tara Snyder’s claim that coach Joe Giuliano (who was banned because of sexual improprieties) “had a middle seat on the express train to hell,” Jelena Dokic’s dad, Damir, unleashing meltdowns and rants, and threatening to bomb authorities from Australia to Serbia, Dubai’s refusal to allow entry to Israel’s Shahar Peer, Tommy Haas’ claim that he was poisoned in Russia, Sharapova’s “Bananagate” incident at the USO and Johnny Mac’s “still implosive-after-all-these-years tantrums.” (Flash: one ump actually booted him out of a tourney at the Hall of Fame).
JAILBIRDS: Roscoe Tanner, Damir Dokic, L.A.’s tennis-playing Menendez brothers, Peter Pearson and Northern California teaching pro Henry Germain, Frenchman Christophe Fauviau (who drugged his children’s foes).
WORDS TO REMEMBER: Globalization, C’mon!, New Balls, Please.
COMEBACKS: Kim Clijsters, San Diego’s WTA tournament, Corina Morariu, Martina Navratilova and Jennifer Capriati, whose comeback, according to a Dutch reporter, was “the best since Lazarus.”
VENUES: Madrid’s La Caja Magica and Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas; Shanghai; Beijing; Dubai; Wimbledon’s roof and Court 2; a Harare hockey rink; a Seville soccer stadium with 27,200 in attendance.
BEST SELF-ANALYSIS: Goran Ivanisevic divided his psyche into three parts: regular ol’ Goran, crazed Goran and heroic “911 Goran,” who often had to intervene and sort the psychic mess.
NOT TO GET TOO POLITICAL, BUT: Time magazine claimed that winning the ‘00 Presidential election was like “winning a tennis match on an overrule”…The first President George Bush admitted, “I’m a tennis-name-dropping freak”…Hillary Clinton once won a mixed doubles tournament in Fayetteville, Tenn.
LOOKIN’ FOR MOJO IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES (AND OTHER AD FORRAYS): As American Express launched a massive ad campaign that focused on Roddick’s considerable mojo, Andy lost in the first round of the ‘05 U.S. Open, prompting one critic to note: “AmEx had Roddick looking for his mojo when he should have been looking for his backhand”…The ATP’s “New Balls Please” ad campaign raised eyebrows…1,50O British billboards pictured Kournikova in a bra with the admonition “Only the Ball Should Bounce”…A WTA promo ad proclaimed, “I’m your worst nightmare — a bitch in a headband”…In a Swedish commercial, Borg completely loses his temper and is consoled by an understanding McEnroe.
MOST PROBLEMATIC STROKE: Steve Bierley suggested that Elena Dementieva’s serve was like “the struggle one has to scrape the skin off one’s rice pudding.”
CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET A LONG?: The lingering wound tennis suffered after an Indian Wells crowd extensively booed teen Serena in ‘02 has yet to heal.
DAVIS CUP PERFORMANCE OF THE DECADE: Ivan Ljubicic’s three-day, three-match romp through Americans Agassi, Roddick and the Bryan Bros. in Carson in ‘05.
JUST WONDERING: Agassi’s on-the-brink-of-defeat 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(6) comeback against James Blake in the ‘05 U.S. Open quarters was thrilling, but will tennis history be limited to just three truly transcendent/ bigger-than-life wins for American men in the Aughts: Roddick’s ‘03 U.S. Open triumph; Sampras over Agassi in the ‘02 USO final, and America’s Davis Cup win in Portland in ‘07?
SAY IT ISN’T SO: Sesil Karatantcheva bragged that (long before Hingis) she was the first WTA player to be suspended for two years…When asked about changes in the landmark law that had altered the landscape for female athletes, Jennifer Capriati said, “I have no idea what Title IX is”…Former pro Lisa Bonder asked her ex-husband Kirk Kerkorian for $320,000 per month in child support, including $14,000 a month for parties and playdates for her three-year-old…Navratilova said she stopped meditating because she “got too mellow.”
ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL: Vince Spadea slept through the burglary of his hotel room…Amidst a nightmare, Canadian Peter Polansky fell three stories…Lindsay
Davenport tumbled out of bed and suffered whiplash and a concussion.
TIP OF THE DECADE: After it was said that all Fed had to do to beat Rafa at Roland Garros was hit all of his shots on the lines, Mary Carillo countered, “That’s quite a strategy — don’t hit the clay.”
FINE WINES: Navratilova became the only player to be ranked in doubles over four decades and in her last match won the U.S. Open mixed with Bob Bryan…After McEnroe won the dubs in San Jose with Jonas Bjorkman, Jim Courier said no one “has ever played tennis as well at 47.”
WHAT’S NORMAL GOT TO DO WITH IT?: After a reporter claimed that it was not normal for Navratilova to be playing at her age, Martina replied, “What is normal but a cycle on a washing machine?” (BTW: Bill Dwyre noted that Lleyton Hewitt had “the game and persona of a washing machine.”)…Lindsay Davenport was asked, “Have you ever felt cursed by being normal?”…Speaking of Davenport, she was once asked what it was like to autograph one of those oversized balls, to which she answered, “Oh, it’s so much easier. I always gravitate toward them. The [regular] ball is so small. It’s hard to get your grip on it. Those big ones are round, no problem.” Realizing what she’d said, Lindsay cracked up in disbelief.
FATHER DOESN’T NECESSARILY KNOW BEST: Damir Dokic inexplicably claimed that the abuse he dished out was good for his daughter Jelena…When Mirjana Lucic was 14, her dad beat her for 40 minutes in a bathtub, then gave her money for ice cream…The parents of New Zealand’s Anastasiya Korzh, 8, hooked her up with an earpiece to give her on-court tips…A Chicagoan landed his plane on a golf course so his son wouldn’t be late for a tennis lesson…Dmitry Tursunov, the son of a Russian nuclear engineer, joked, “While other dads were working on their classic cars, my dad was down in the basement working on a nuclear bomb and was pointing it at you guys”…In his autobiography Open, Agassi dissed his dad big-time, but seemingly without effect as things seem to be just fine between them.
UNLIKELY WINNERS: Gaston Gaudio, Thomas Johannson and Albert Costa, Olympic singles and dubs Olympic gold medalist Nicolas Massu, Anastasia Myskina, ‘05 Wimbledon doubles champs Wesley Moodie/Stephen Huss, ‘09 U.S. Open mixed champs Carly Gullickson/Travis Parrot. BTW: Dutchman Martin Verkerk, who had never won a Grand Slam match, reached the ‘02 French final.
TATTOO OF THE DECADE: Janko Tipsarevic’s Dostoyevsky-inspired tattoo “Beauty Will Save The World.” (The Serb beat out Mark Philippoussis and his Alexander the Great ink.)
GRUNT AND BEAR IT: Mary Carillo said Sharapova was “not hitting as hard as she’s sounding. She’s overgrunting”…In the ‘08 Aussie Open final, Sharapova out-grunted Ana Ivanovic: 209-151…An IT reader proposed that “a player who squeals on two consecutive strokes should lose a point…One headline suggested “A Good Grunt Is A Terrible Thing to Waste.”
IN RETROSPECT THAT WASN’T SUCH A GREAT IDEA: The prime question young Martina Hingis posed to her WTA mentor Chris Evert was, “How do you handle men?”
HEAD CASE?: After netting a standard shot in Miami, Mikhail Youzhny brutally bashed himself in the head three times with his Head racket.
SIGNS OF THE DECADE: As Clijsters was about to retire in order to embrace the joys of domesticity, Aussie fans held up a sign that read: “Our dishes are dirty, too, Kim.”
A SURE WAY TO UPGRADE TENNIS JOURNALISM: During a dispute between the USTA and the Writers Association over a (sign-your-rights-away) security form the USTA forced upon the media, Bud Collins asked, “If everyone refuses to sign [the form] will the FBI cover the Open?”
HOAX!: After Sports Illustrated published an article touting the future of Simonya Poponova — a drop-dead-beautiful/can’t-miss Euro prospect (who was completely fictional) — an agent asked author Jon Wertheim if he could possibly steal Simonya away from her current management.
COMEDIANS OF THE DECADE: Mime Novak Djokovic, zingmeister Roddick, Marat Safin and Goran Ivanisivic (who’re both grads of the Rodney Dangerfield, “can’t get no respect” school), and Dmitry Tursunov.
THE POWER OF DOUR: Marcello Rios (the grumpiest guy of the decade) was fined $10,000 for bad behavior at a party.
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR: In ‘05, Roddick said, “I want another crack at Federer — until my record is 1-31.” He’s now 2-19 vs. Roger.
POOR LITTLE RICH FOLKS: Serena complained how tough it is to shop for chandeliers…After losing his bags in China, Jan-Michael Gambill was asked the eternal post-Maoist question: “Have you ever tried to find Calvin Klein underwear in Shanghai?”
REDEMPTION — PLANE AND NOT SO SIMPLE: Bob and Mike Bryan, Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor averted a tragic death when the small plane they were on lost cabin pressure.
THERE’S STILL HOPE: Kim Clijsters’ baby stares in wonder, Oudin inspires, Justine’s back, Wayne Bryan remains a tireless pied piper, still Roddick fights — a true warrior, Muslim Aisam Qureshi and Jew Amir Hadad played Wimby dubs joyfully in ’02, Federer’s grace continually astounds, Agassi confides, gives back and grows on, Indian Wells sunsets.
ODD-COUPLE: USTA prez Judy Levering (a mix of Hillary, Doris Day and Mother Teresa) sat next to the (can’t be-much-more-despotic) dictator Robert Mugabe during America’s Davis Cup tie in Zimbabwe.
BEST EXHIBITIONS: The nomadic Fed vs. Sampras matches; Fed vs. Nadal on a half clay/half grass court; Mac vs. Borg before royalty at Buckingham Palace, which prompted the BBC to say that “old terrorists always land up having tea with the Queen.”
