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Earlier this year I had written an article spelling out the names of the most conspicuous underachievers in the tennis world. Two names that featured prominently on that list were those of Tomas Berdych and Vera Zvonareva. And what have these two devils been up to since then? Berdych has put together a neat little season for himself, reaching the finals in Miami, the semis at the French and the semis again (and there’s no telling where he’ll stop this time) here at Wimbledon. There’s also the small matter of him having defeated Roger Federer twice along the way, even saving match points against him in Miami. Zvonareva, meanwhile, has made a stunning comeback from the post-injury doldrums that she had been languishing in since last year. After getting past rising Belgian Yanina Wickmayer in the 3rd round, she set the tournament on fire yesterday by defeating the much-fancied Kim Clijsters in the quarters. So basically, two of the players that I had so unceremoniously labeled ‘underachievers’ have been quietly but authoritatively putting in results that go against the very definition of the term. Call it the analyst’s anti-jinx, if you will.
I must admit that I had my doubts about Berdych even after his win over Federer in Miami, because in that match Federer was clearly struggling for timing and form – the result seemed attributable more to Federer’s poor play than to Berdych’s stellar fighting skills. But then he turned up in the Roland Garros semis against Robin Soderling, having walloped Andy Murray on his way there. Berdych and Soderling are perhaps the two most appropriate prototypes of the modern power baseline game – these two can REALLY crush a tennis ball. And yet, while watching the French Open semifinal, I was struck by how much topspin and loop Berdych was putting on his shots; maybe this was just the effect of the cannon-fire quality of Soderling’s flat, booming forehand, but Berdych actually seemed to be playing ‘safe’ throughout the match, and he even seemed to be getting reasonable success out of his consistent, off-pace shot-making . Eventually, Soderling’s power proved too tough to handle for Berdych, but you wondered whether Berdych’s relatively stable, consistent approach was better than Soderling’s brazen go-for-broke mentality in terms of long-term success. In his match today against Federer Berdych kept going for his shots, but he also seemed just a tad more patient in working the point before pulling the trigger. His movement will always be one of the weak points of his game, but today his on-the-run shots were working like a dream, often drawing gasps of amazement from the crowds because of the sheer unexpected power and accuracy he was generating through them. Of course, the biggest knock against Berdych has always been his frailty on the big points, his inability to seize the moments in a match that really matter. Today, he came up trumps even in that department, dialing up the aggression at just the right times and repeatedly thundering down aces when in trouble on his serve. How close is he to the finished article? His semifinal match against Novak Djokovic will go a long way towards answering that question.
Vera Zvonareva’s is a slightly different case. Like almost all Russian players, she seems to do just about everything well – decent serve, effective groundstrokes off both wings, quick on her feet. But the angles that she can produce from seemingly impossible positions make her stand out from the crowd (and you can bet it IS a crowd – more than half of the female players today seem to be from Russia or, at the very least, their names end in ‘-ova’). The thing with Zvonareva is that you never know what tiny little mistake or error of judgment that she makes in a match will set off her famed temper, a temper that has been known to lead to drama of the most entertaining order. And that temper, coming as it so often does with its share of tantrums and tears, has often led Zvonareva’s game to come apart, mid-match, at an alarmingly rapid pace. So far in this tournament, she has managed to keep her emotions in check, with expectedly prolific results. She’s the firm favorite to defeat Tsvetana Pironkova in the semifinals, and if she does end up winning that match she’ll have made it to her first ever Grand Slam final. And no, 25 is not too old an age to be making your career breakthrough. Just ask Francesca Schiavone.
So enough beating around the bush – what must we make of Federer’s loss to Berdych today, which was only his 3rd loss on grass since 2002? I don’t know if this is too evident, but I made a conscious effort to refrain from starting this article by lamenting about the ‘shocking’ demise of Federer and Venus Williams in the one tournament that they’d both love to call their home event. For one thing, focusing on the loser, or, in other words, the negative aspect of a result, often results in the grossly unfair relegation of the unheralded victor to the sidelines. And for another, why should we find it so surprising that Federer and Williams are firmly entrenched in a phase of inevitable decline after years of dominance and gladiatorial heroics? Federer will turn 29 this August, while Venus turned 30 earlier this year. It would be downright foolish to expect these two great champions to keep playing the way they did in their respective primes. Federer’s forehand is no longer the explosive, unerring weapon that it once was, and his movement looks positively sluggish when compared with his silken flight around the court from his matches back in 2006. For Venus, the groundstrokes are simply not accurate enough any more to last a whole match, let alone a whole tournament, without breaking down at some stage. I also sometimes wonder whether the hunger to win has been irrevocably reduced, to the point that at times she seems incapable of mounting any strength to keep fighting when her shots go off target. But how many tennis players have there been in history who have produced the same kind of results in their low 20’s or early 30’s that they did in their early 20’s? Tennis, perhaps more than any other sport in the world, is a young player’s game. And when you’ve achieved as much in your career as Federer and Venus have, the desire to constantly adjust your game and your strategies to keep pace with the younger crowd can diminish even faster than your physical skills.
Federer and Venus have won 11 Wimbledon titles between them, and are far and away the best grasscourt players of their generation. This is the first time in 8 years that Federer has failed to reach the Wimbledon final, while for Venus the corresponding number is 4. Tellingly, they both gave very similar press conferences after their losses. They both claimed that they threw the match away. They both praised their victorious opponents lightly, but focused more greatly on their own poor play in the important points of the match. And while there may be a hint of egotism, even a touch of arrogance in the nature of their justifications, I think they deserve to be given a pass, at least here on grass. No one in their right mind would have bet on Berdych taking down Federer in his prime. No one could have possibly imagined Pironkova taking more than a set off a Venus in full flow. Not here at Wimbledon. The time may have come for the unavoidable walk into the sunset for these two all-time greats, but instead of finding ways to put Federer and Venus down we would be better served to savor the last few years of their careers and enjoy the shimmering moments of genius that are always on display when they step foot on a grasscourt, or any court, for that matter. We owe that much to their brilliance.
