Showing posts tagged: us open

theparisreview: “Sports broadcasters are guiltier these days than sportswriters of the ‘grand metaphor’ approach where tennis is concerned. Following the major tournaments this summer on television, I’ve heard again and again of the history about to be made: Raphael Nadal’s seventh French championship (history made), Djokovic’s career Slam (history not made), Murray’s becoming the first Brit to win Wimbledon since 1936 (nope). Even Federer’s thirty-first birthday was seen as historic, according to a certain fan site: ‘God is too an imaginative word, rather I would call him a ‘Prophet’ / Someday the prophet will make Tennis the most loved sport, I bet.’ The language of ‘bravery and heart’ was applied particularly to Murray, whose loss to Federer in the Wimbledon final was vindicated first with Olympic gold, and then with a victory over Djokovic in the U.S. Open final. With Andy Roddick’s retirement during the Open, we were also treated to any number slow-motion montages of the American’s days in the sun. (Even Roddick remarked during one interview how moving those montages can be.) “Magazine writing doesn’t do montage well. Instead, we’ve lately gotten storylines, and sometimes whole stories, that explore the quasimetaphysical existence of what has been variously called, among other things, ‘the kinesthetic sense’ (David Foster Wallace on Federer) and ‘physical genius’ (John Jeremiah Sullivan on the Williams sisters)—the very thing slow-motion replay is meant to reveal on television.” —Scott Korb on the art of the sports profile.

theparisreview:

“Sports broadcasters are guiltier these days than sportswriters of the ‘grand metaphor’ approach where tennis is concerned. Following the major tournaments this summer on television, I’ve heard again and again of the history about to be made: Raphael Nadal’s seventh French championship (history made), Djokovic’s career Slam (history not made), Murray’s becoming the first Brit to win Wimbledon since 1936 (nope). Even Federer’s thirty-first birthday was seen as historic, according to a certain fan site: ‘God is too an imaginative word, rather I would call him a ‘Prophet’ / Someday the prophet will make Tennis the most loved sport, I bet.’ The language of ‘bravery and heart’ was applied particularly to Murray, whose loss to Federer in the Wimbledon final was vindicated first with Olympic gold, and then with a victory over Djokovic in the U.S. Open final. With Andy Roddick’s retirement during the Open, we were also treated to any number slow-motion montages of the American’s days in the sun. (Even Roddick remarked during one interview how moving those montages can be.)

“Magazine writing doesn’t do montage well. Instead, we’ve lately gotten storylines, and sometimes whole stories, that explore the quasimetaphysical existence of what has been variously called, among other things, ‘the kinesthetic sense’ (David Foster Wallace on Federer) and ‘physical genius’ (John Jeremiah Sullivan on the Williams sisters)—the very thing slow-motion replay is meant to reveal on television.”

—Scott Korb on the art of the sports profile.

(via heysportsblog)

Now Everyone Is a Racket Diva

This is a polite way of saying they can be total divas about their rackets.

But today, as the U.S. Open kicks into high gear, tennis experts say the tweaking is getting out of control. As sponsor deals and prize purses grow richer, more top pros have money to burn on seemingly tiny advantages. And recent leaps in racket technology allow them to tinker with an increasingly preposterous list of variables, including width, length, balance, handle dimensions, string combinations and patterns, and variations in the placement of thread holes. They even get worked up about something as simple as paint: Stringers say some pros prefer a glossy finish to a matte finish because it makes the racket look like it’s moving faster.

“If we eliminate what bothers them most about their rackets, then they just notice something else,” said Nate Ferguson of Priority One, a company that modifies and strings rackets for many top pros. “It’s gotten crazy,” added John McEnroe.