04/19/24
August 29, 2005
You've got your grass, you've got your clay, : but the US Open is the title to win, according to Sports Illustrated's John Wertheim. Wertheim will maintain his Tennis Mailbag column throughout the Open, which starts today.
posted by lil_brown_bat to tennis at 09:14 AM - 5 comments
My impression as a casual 'Grand Slam' fan of tennis is that Wimbeldon is the end all and be all of tournaments. Though I always considered it and the US Open to be basically equals - one more important than the other only on a nationist basis - kind of like the British Open and US Open in golf.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 10:33 AM on August 29, 2005
There's not really any substance to this article is there? American writer says US Open is the title to win and that the players "secretly" agree. I could just as easily say the same thing about Wimbledon and it would have no more basis in fact.
posted by squealy at 04:22 PM on August 29, 2005
Can I complain about how boring clay court tennis is? I can't? Oh well.
posted by owlhouse at 08:29 PM on August 29, 2005
You just did, owlhouse. I think it's kinda fun myself, all those nice white clothes turning orange. And Kim Clijsters couldn't do that front split like that on a hard court. As for the Open, meaningless stat in the women's first round with Kuznetsova getting bounced -- a first-ever, but who was really surprised? Not me.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 06:41 AM on August 30, 2005
While this is certainly arguable from a historical standpoint, from the 1950s to the end of the century, when most of the top players came from the US and Australia, I'm not sure it's any longer true. When you stop to consider that a goodly portion of the world (Europe, N. Africa, Asia, South America) grows up on and plays most of its tournaments on the slow red stuff, and the increasing numbers of inhabitants form those areas occupying the upper echelons of the game, Roland Garros is just as important, and arguably moreso. There's no question that the US Open is the crowing event of the summer hardcourt season, and the last major of the year (therefore the one having the most dramatic impact on the end of year rankings), but I do think a lot of American tennis writers fail to appreciate the that the French Open is the Super Bowl of tennis for a significant portion of the world.