Wimbledon 2010

[PunditLisa]

@John_DiFool

Damned shame that the dedicated serve-and-volleyers have more or less gone extinct, all because TPTB don’t sack it up and try to rein in the equipment (c.f. see golf as well)-the game is more exciting when there’s a big difference in strategy and style…

Agree 100%. Honestly, if the trend continues it’ll be a serving match with an occasional baseline rally. I don’t care how quick or fit you are, humans are not equipped to be able to consistently react to a 130 mph serve.

[Mahaloth]

If you want to see some old school style, Arthur Ashe and Jimmy Connors 1975 final is on Classic ESPN now.

35 years to the date.

[Marley23]

@John_DiFool

Well, now the grass courts don’t differ from the synthetic ones purely because there’s few dedicated serve-and-volleyers out there anymore.

The surfaces are different, and you can see some guys just can’t handle grass. I don’t know if they actually use different grass at Wimbledon than in years past but the surface is different, and the ball doesn’t whistle through the court at quite the same speed. That makes the transition to grass less difficult.

Damned shame that the dedicated serve-and-volleyers have more or less gone extinct, all because TPTB don’t sack it up and try to rein in the equipment (c.f. see golf as well)-the game is more exciting when there’s a big difference in strategy and style, which is why the Agassi/Sampras matches were always interesting.

“TPTB” are the players. Why would they want to rein in their own equipment considering all the money it’s making for them? [Okay, it’s a little more complicated than that, but the ATP is supposed to be the players’ union. In reality it does more for the tournament organizers than it does for the players.] And just for the hell of it I’ll point out that Sampras didn’t charge the net on every play. He got closer to that style at the end of his career because he needed to end the points sooner.