End of an Era

The Nadal-Federer Wimbledon final was one of the all-time classics, ranking right up there with Borg-McEnroe 1980 (the 18-16 tie break match). The quality of tennis right up to the end was phenomenal. Federer on his favourite surface, threw everything he had at Nadal & still lost. I wonder whether he will win another major title. It seems the younger generation of Nadal, Djokovic, even Murray, will now thwart Federer's attempts to win another Slam. He will still have a great chance at the US Open, where Nadal's previous best is 'only' a QF. Nadal plays with both knees strapped & hard courts put the most strain on the joints. Nadal's coach & uncle, Toni Nadal, has expressed his concern at the possible long-term damage of playing on hard courts.

There are parallels between Borg & Federer. Borg beat Mac in 5 sets in Wimbledon 1980, but lost to him in the 1981 final. Now Federer has lost his title having prevailed over Nadal the year before, again in five sets. Borg never won another major after losing to Mac in the 1981 final & retired the next year. However he never won the US Open, whereas Fed has won it four times. Tennis fans need not worry that Federer will follow Borg by retiring in his prime. He promised after the Wimbledon final that he would return next year, & has even spoken about trying to emulate Agassi & Connors by playing on for another ten years, well into his thirties.

At the start of the the year I tipped Roger to finish the year as world no. 1, that now looks unlikely. Federer would probably have to win at Flushing Meadows & match Nadal's results at the other hard court events.

No Country For Old Men

Once you get past a certain age, reflexes & stamina begin to diminish. The tipping point is typically considered to be 30. At the top level of sport, any such weakness is usually ruthlessly exposed. Outfield footballers rarely play on in the top divisions past the age of 35(Stanley Matthews excepted). Ryan Giggs, at 34, is one oldie still going strong having played over 30 times to date this season for Man Utd. One-on-one sports like boxing & tennis are interesting cases. Tennis is perhaps the ultimate example of top level sport being a young person's game. It's rare to win a Slam past the age of 30, and success is possible at a young age- Becker was 17 when he first won Wimbledon, Hingis won there & in Australia at 16. Sampras won his last Slam aged 31, as did Connors (both US Open). Some notable exceptions: Navratilova was 33 when she won her last Wimbledon singles title, & even won the mixed at age 46 ! Agassi was no. 1 in the world at the age of 33, when he won his last Slam in Australia.

Boxing is also generally considered a young man's game.Normally though, it takes time for young fighters to build up their stamina gradually, starting with four-round contests & eventually working their way up to 8, 10 or 12 rounds if they reach championship level. In boxing, a good young prospect on the rise will nearly always beat a veteran who has suffered the effects of too many gruelling ring battles. However, fighters with good defensive skills, who can avoid taking too much punishment, can prolong their careers-Winky Wright springs to mind (age 36, a former champ, currently ranked 3rd at middleweight). Two outstanding champions fight each other in two weeks time. Joe Calzaghe is universally recognised as the best super-middle in the world, Bernard Hopkins is considered by most experts to be the best at light-heavy. Calzaghe is 36, Hopkins is 43.

Roger Federer must be on the slide-he lost to Roddick this week. Before the defeat, Federer had a 15-1 win-loss record against the American. Is this age-related, or just a run of bad form ? Federer is only 26 after all. Probably only with the benefit of hindsight at the end of the season will it be possible to make an assessment of whether its a decline or a blip. I favour the latter.

Man United

Man U are looking ominous for both the Prem & the ECL. Ronaldo must be a leading contender with the likes of Messi & Kaka for the European & World player of the year awards. His scoring record as a winger this season is sensational. No Premiership player has ever won the World Player award, if Ronnie gets the nod it would be further evidence of the growing strength of the world's richest league. Unless Roma pull off a miracle at Old Trafford, their likely opponents in the CL semi are Barca, who looked very shaky in the second half against Schalke. Chelsea should be able to overturn their one goal deficit against Fenerbahce at Stamford Bridge, & Liverpool are slight favourites v the Gunners after nicking the away goal at the Emirates. Liverpool were fortunate not to concede a pen for Kuyt's tug on Hleb, but Arsenal should have created more chances from their dominance of possession.