1. I brewed a cup of coffee and planted myself in front of ESPN's coverage of the Wimbledon's Men's (Gentlemen's) Final between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Aside from getting up to brew one more cup of coffee and to visit the bathroom a couple of times, I was transfixed with astonishment from shortly after 6 a.m. until 10:55 a.m. watching one of the most scintillating tennis matches -- well, sporting events -- I have ever witnessed.
I love to watch tennis for the way the game demands so much of each player mentally and physically. Physically, tennis requires players to move constantly, back and forth across the baseline, to the net and back again; they slide, dive, and stretch; they hit booming serves, delicate drop shots, topspin, backspin, side spin, shots up the line, across the court, lobs, ground strokes, backhands, forehands, and precise volleys at the net.
Mentally, a tennis match requires long periods of concentration, split second decisions, spontaneous acts of imagination, and the constant assertion of one's will. Tennis players are always looking to break the will of an opponent, whether overwhelming the opponent with powerful serves, a variety of pinpoint returns, relentless defense, or mercurial agility.
Today, as Federer and Djokovic played and competed for nearly five hours, neither player wore down physically and neither dominated the other's will. This was in contrast to the Women's Final match between Serena Williams and Simona Halep. Halep established in the first set of that match that she was in superior physical condition. Her shots were much crisper, she was able to run down and return nearly every shot Williams boomed her way, and her superiority seemed to both stun and demoralize Williams. Not long into the second set, Williams was finished. Barring a miracle, there didn't seem to be any path for her to forge to overcome Halep. Halep won convincingly.
Even when Djokovic won the fifth set tie breaker after he and Federer played to 12-12 tie in that set, I never sensed that Djokovic had broken Federer's will and Federer never broke Djokovic's. By the time the tiebreaker got underway after twenty-four games in that fifth set, I knew this glorious match was going to end, but nothing in either player's demeanor indicated that one had a clear advantage over the other.
As he had done with the tie breakers to decide the first and third sets, Djokovic won the tie breaker to decide the championship. His margin of superiority over Federer was nearly imperceptible, but probably came down to his being able to keep more shots in play than Federer and certainly came down to him fighting off two championship points in the sixteenth game of the fifth set -- after Federer had served two straight aces. I mean, good Lord, if ever a player might have succumbed to the powers of the other, Djokovic had every reason to be demoralized when he was down 15-40 in that game and had been unable to even return Federer's previous two serves. But, Djokovic dug deep, won two points, evened the game at deuce, and went on to win it, escaping defeat and setting the stage for his eventual win.
Tennis matches expose players. This match exposed both Federer and Djokovic as two of the strongest, most competitive, and most admirable athletes in all of sports. It could happen, but it's hard to believe that I will ever again witness such brilliant play, in any sport, as what I saw today, especially in the marathon fifth set. For me, the brilliance of Federer and Djokovic's match was made all the more impressive by the fact that Federer is 37 years old (he turns 38 on August 8th) and he played with the agility, endurance, mental strength, and precision of a much younger man. Djokovic is likely in his prime years at 32 years old. He will, no doubt, win more major championships. Was this Federer's last chance at winning a major? Possibly, but even with time's winged chariot hurrying near, Federer might still win another. Today (and Friday against Rafael Nadal) he demonstrated that he is capable of playing at the highest level and of sustaining brilliant play over several hours. But, if to win another, he has to defeat Novak Djokovic, that's a daunting challenge.
The U. S. Open gets underway on August 26th. I can hardly wait.
2. Carol hosted family dinner tonight and she and Paul had fun preparing a splendid meal. We started off with some wine and a shrimp cocktail followed by Spiendini di Mozzarella for appetizers. The Spiendini di Mozzarella were triple decker cheese sandwiches grilled on the barbecue with a sprig of rosemary speared in them. They were a rare treat, very delicious. For the main course, Carol prepared a garden salad with lettuce picked fresh from her garden, dressed with an Italian vinaigrette, to accompany New York steaks, grilled by Paul, garnished with orange and oregano. Carol also prepared a superb dessert: using raspberries from her garden, she baked a raspberry and rhubarb pie served with a scoop of French vanilla ice cream. We ate on Carol and Paul's patio and, aside from a few gusts of wind, couldn't have asked for a more comfortable evening outside.
3. On my way home, I picked up a few groceries and enjoyed listening to about ten songs by the Traveling Wilburys. Earlier in the day, after the tennis match and while cleaning up the kitchen and doing a few things around the house, I listened to The Tragically Hip. Both sessions, both groups invigorated me.
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