The Hindu : The end of an era of dinosaurs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 01, 2002

Sport

Sport - Tennis

The end of an era of dinosaurs

By Nirmal Shekar

London June 30. The dinosaurs are gone. Not surprisingly, they have promised to come back next summer to renew their association with the greatest tennis championship in the world, and perhaps reinvent themselves as dinosaurs.

But, then, no matter what Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi might have in mind, no matter their promises, the remarkable first Wednesday of the 116th Wimbledon championships may have witnessed the end of an era.

The era of dinosaurs is gone. And men's tennis may never again witness the sort of domination that Sampras authored for six years, nor indeed find a player like Agassi who is only one of five men in history to win all the four majors.

As the men's championship goes into the second week with just two of the top 16 seeds _ Lleyton Hewitt (1) and Tim Henman (4) _ in place, the revolution, rather than being seen as a one-off, should instead point to a significant aspect of the game: its tremendous strength in depth.

The last four majors have all been won by first time champions _ Goran Ivanisevic here last year, Hewitt at the U.S. Open, Thomas Johansson in Australia and Albert Costa in Paris. This is more than a mere coincidence.

A study in contrast

In sharp contrast to the women's game, where if you went beyond 50 in the rankings you'd find it tough to get hold of a player who can win six games in two sets from one of the Williams sisters,

the men's game is packed with so-called journeymen who, on a good day, can beat anybody in the top 10.

Surely, in the case of Sampras and Agassi, it took more than an inspired pair of average players _ George Bastl and Paradorn Srichaphan _ to bring up the tragic end to the hopes of the legends. For, the 32-year old Agassi and the 30-year old Sampras are well past their prime and may never be the players they were four or five years ago.

Yet, in another era, these enormously gifted men could have cheated time, and their own dodgy knees, a lot longer and may even have won a few more Slams. But this is the most competitive era in men's tennis history and to win seven best-of-five matches in a Slam, it takes a helluva lot.What is more, it is not only the ageing legends who have been shown the door by lesser men. Some leading young contenders too have made their way out, dumped out by men who came up with

inspired performances.

The 18_year-old Croatian Mario Ancic, who beat Roger Federer in the first round, is the sort of young player you will hear a lot about in the years to come, should he stay focussed and continue

to work hard.As for Marat Safin, who yet again disppointed, it must be said that the most gifted young player in the game today is flawed in the head. He can look like a world-beater one day and a pathetic parody the next. With Safin, you never know. Nor does he, for that matter.

Best chance for Henman

On the other hand, what do we know about the biggest question of the fortnight? From what we have seen of Henman, what do we know about whether he can live up to the expectations in what is being seen as his best chance to win the title?

Henman's performance has, at best, been patchy so far and he has a mountain to climb in the semifinals should he find himself across the net from Hewitt there. The British No.1 has changed his service action and is now unable to come up with the big one although the serve is more accurate now and does have more variety. But Hewitt could very well pounce on Henman's serves when they meet.

If the top-half does have two top seeds, then the bottom half has none. But there are some superb serve and volley players around, not the least Mark Philippoussis and Richard Krajicek, who meet on Monday in the fourth round, as well as the in-form Greg Rusedski.

Saturday's results (third round):

Men: 4-Tim Henman (GBR) bt Wayne Ferreira (RSA) 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-1; Michel Kratochvil (Sui) bt Radek Stepanek (Cze) 6-2, 6-3, 6-3; Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) bt 16-Nicolas Escude (Fra) 6-2, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3; Jan Vacek (Cze) bt Adrian Voinea (Rom) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; 1-Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) bt Julian Knowle (Aut) 6-2, 6-1, 6-3.

Women: 16-Lisa Raymond (U.S.) bt Conchita Martinez (ESP) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2; Elena Likhovtseva (Rus) bt Elena Baltacha (GBR) 6-4, 7-6 (7-2); 6-Justine Henin (Bel) bt Myriam Casanova (Sui) 6-4, 6-4; 12-Elena Dementieva (Rus) bt 23-Iva Majoli (Crc) 7-5, 6-2.

Mixed Doubles (second round): Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind)/Elena Likhovtseva (Rus) bt David MacPherson (Aus)/Katie Schlukebir (U.S.) 7-5, 6-4; Leander Paes (Ind)/Lisa Raymond (U.S.) bt Karsten Braasch/Barbara Rittner (Ger) 6-2, 3-6, 9-7.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport