Friday Links
Before I ship you off for the weekend with a bunch of entertaining links, here are my picks for this weekend: Roddick over Ferrer, Federer over Nadal, Federer over Roddick in a closer final than most people would imagine. Oh, and another reason why fining players for not putting in 100% effort in each match – do you really think Roddick went all out against Federer today? He was already in the semi’s, and beating Federer would have landed him Nadal instead of Ferrer. I know Ferrer is on a tear right now, but I would find it hard to believe anyone would rather play Nadal. I’m not saying Roddick tanked, but here is a perfect example of a time when it simply doesn’t make sense for a player to go all out. Think of it like when a football team has clinched home field advantage before the last game, would they play their starters for a full 60 minutes? But I digress…
Djokavic still happy with his 2007 season, even though he was awful in Shangai.
Davenport is eager to play for her country next summer.
Joel Drucker takes a closer look at how much the year ending championships really mean.
Davydenko hopes to return to anonymity.
Hingis waiting for support from WTA.
Interivew with Venus Williams.
Have a great weekend! (That link was completely by accident, I didn’t mean to put it there, promise)
November 16th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Something upsetting though about a match in which the players aren’t going all out…why bother holding it at all? Why bother watching as a spectator?
November 16th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Buyer beware? I agree with you, it is upsetting to a degree. But I think sometimes we expect too much of athletes. It’s a long season, for all athletes in all sports, and if they went all out for each and every game, match, etc…careers would be half as long as they are. I’m not necessarily saying its right or that I support it, but it is what it is.
November 16th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Hey Jeremy, it’s Yoav wanted to write a little blog about coaching: I had some interesting experiences coaching and have discovered that it is a constant challenge. So after the weekend i will talk more about the challenges of coaching and the hidden rewards it has to offer as well.