This week Mr Ed examines two comebacks of a very different kind: Goran Ivanisevic's return to prominence, and Juan Ignacio Chela's return from disgrace. We also take some time to explore some disturbing "injuries" amongst the women.
Ivanisevic ? miracle worker or symptom of Wimbledon's decline?
Goran Ivanisevic, in his first tournament action since his amazing Wimbledon title, had mixed success in Cincinnati this week. After vomiting his way to a gruelling three-set win over Francisco Clavet in the first round (extreme heat brought about nausea in Goran's system), the unpredictable Croat decisively took out Frenchman Nicolas Escudé. This set up an intriguing third-round duel against another of this year's Grand Slam heroes, Gustavo Kuerten.
The match was no contest, however, as French Open champion Kuerten blew away Ivanisevic, 6-2, 6-1, in just 41 minutes. While Goran blamed his loss on the difficulty he was having seeing the ball in the twilight conditions, the difference in class between the two players was obvious.
Goran Ivanisevic's Wimbledon title was uplifting to an entire Croatian nation, and carried with it immense personal gratification to Goran himself, who had finished second best at The Championships three times before. Many fans who were charmed with Ivanisevic's wacky sense of humour and sympathetic to his repeated runner-up finishes were thrilled that the Croatian finally got to hold the winner's trophy.
But Goran's success in England also pointed out how anachronistic Wimbledon has become, at least in terms of men's tennis, and how out of touch Wimbledon now is with the rest of the tennis calendar. Ivanisevic's fading skills earned him no better than a 126 ranking coming into this year's Wimbledon, but Goran was able to take advantage of the uniquely slick English grass courts to essentially serve his way to victory.
Given the diatribe that Ivanisevic directed at John McEnroe after the American player-turned-commentator made a similar assessment of Goran's service-centric game, Mr Ed might be advised to look warily over his shoulder for the next few months! But anyone who doubts that the better player lost the Wimbledon final need only glance at the match statistics (which are still viewable at the official Wimbledon web site). Patrick Rafter led in every statistical category but
three: aces, percentage of points won on first serve, and the score.
A tennis connoisseur of my acquaintance calls the style that prevails at Wimbledon "serve and nerve" ? blast the big cannons and hold your serve and your nerve until the end. Pete Sampras (who has won 4 Wimbledon titles but no other major crowns since January 1997) did "serve and nerve" best in the 1990s. Ivanisevic (whose ranking was so poor prior to Wimbledon that he owed his presence to a generous invitation bestowed by the tournament) was most proficient at it this year.
Wimbledon bills its Championships as the most prestigious tournament in the sport. While many fans and players still agree with this description, we are also starting to see a certain Wimbledon weariness. For example, world #1 Kuerten essentially skipped Wimbledon this year, essentially to rest for the hard court season and especially the U.S. Open. Regardless of the drama afforded by this year's wild card winner, I fear that Wimbledon's star will continue to decline as long as the big serve is the road
to success. Goran Ivanisevic's personal popularity and the "miracle" story line may have served only to mask this decline.
Who is this Chela kid?
Juan Antonio Chela, recently suspended for three months for a doping infraction, has come back to the tour showing no sign of rust. He qualified for an ATP tournament in Amsterdam the first week of his return, reaching reached the quarterfinals. And in subsequent weeks he won two Challenger events in succession. His ranking, in the 800s after his suspension, has quickly moved up to the top 300.
Curiously, the official ATP reports from the Amsterdam event made no mention of the fact that it was Chela'a first post-suspension tournament. The Argentine, a former top-fifty player, was described only as "Argentine qualifier Juan Ignacio Chela". The wire services, which rely heavily on tournament data supplied by the ATP, didn't pick up on the import of Chela story, usually referring to Chela as an "Argentine qualifier".
Did that positive doping tests make the ATP so uncomfortable that they no longer want to allude to them? Or was Chela's quick return to action after a lenient suspension the cause of embarrassment? Regardless, ATP appeared to be carrying news management too far in Chela's case.
Anticipated injuries ? the new craze in the WTA
World #1 Martina Hingis and #3 Lindsay Davenport raised eyebrows by pulling out of next week's Toronto tournament the week before the event, claiming injury. Injury withdrawals are not surprising in themselves. What was special in these cases was that both Hingis and Davenport were playing a tournament in Los Angeles at the time, and in fact went on to win their respective quarterfinal matches after announcing their upcoming injury incapacitation.
Such actions show evident contempt for tour commitment lists, tournament organizers and the ticket-buying public. Furthermore, this is not the first time we have seen the "anticipated injury" card played on the women's tour. Earlier this year Venus Williams withdrew from Rome several weeks before the tournament. She was competing in the Hamburg event at the time, a tournament she went on to win, and even played in Berlin the following week, prior to the Rome event from which she had withdrawn. And those
with long memories will recall Lindsay Davenport's withdrawal from the 1996 Canadian Open, announced hours before she played and won the gold medal match at the Atlanta Olympics.
In light of these odd goings-on, Mr Ed has two suggestions. First, the WTA should do away with the commitment lists, since they obviously mean virtually nothing. Second, any advertisement for a tournament promising the appearance of top stars should be accompanied by the following message: "If you actually believe that all these players will show up, please contact our real estate department to discuss the purchase of prime Florida swampland."