Wimbledon left not with a bang but a whimper. We saw two of the more disappointing finals in recent memory. That's too bad, after what was such a thrilling tournament. But despite a lack of competitiveness in the finals, each final told us an interesting story about each of the finalists.
Venus
For the first ten games, Venus battled hard. Her play looked solid, mostly. She did struggle mightily in her fourth service game, somehow managing to hold serve despite three double-faults. Many of those serves ended up in the net, which is often a sign of tired legs. So perhaps that game offered evidence that Venus was not actually at her best, that the accumulated fatigue of the past few weeks, both physical and otherwise, had caught up with her. Nevertheless, she had two set points against Mugu's serve at 4-5 15-40. Mugu saved both, and from there, Venus didn't win another game.
What ends up being most striking about Venus's performance, then, was the totality of her capitulation. No matter how well Mugu was playing--and she certainly was playing well--Venus's collapse defies easy explanation. Venus has a big first serve and a solid second serve. Add in that they were playing on grass, the surface that gives the greatest edge to the server, and it's clear that Venus should have been able to serve her way to at least a couple of games in the second set. Instead, after she failed to convert on those set points, it looked like she was deeply intent on getting the hell off the court as quickly as possible.
We're forced, I think, to consider Venus something of an enigma. She evidently loves her job--she says so in interviews all the time, and what else would keep a 37-year-old woman with a bank account like Venus's continuing with the grind of tour-level tennis besides that she actually enjoys it? Over the course of her career, she's certainly proved to be one of the all-time greats. This year, at 37 years old, she's twice this made Slam finals. Her performances have been undeniably impressive.
Well, except in the finals themselves. All too often throughout her career, Venus has failed to show up on the biggest stages. So many of her much-hyped finals with Serena over the years were dogs; it's pretty clear that she just doesn't like playing her kid sister. I forgot that earlier this year for the Australian Open final, but boy did Venus remind me with the quality of her play that day.
Here she wasn't playing against Serena. But yet again she disappeared.
Mugu
While Venus melted down, Mugu looked just as she had looked for most of Wimbledon: calm, cool, confident. She looked like a player we can count on to win quite a few Slams before she's done. She gave no quarter as Venus quit. If anything, she simply got more ruthless. She played like a champion.
Hard to believe that it was just a few weeks ago at the French that she said it was a relief to lose.
Is this going to be the tale of Mugu's whole career? Occasional patches of best-in-the-world tennis, surrounded by months and months and months of desultory, unconfident play?
Cilic
Cilic's tears were hard to watch. The excellence he'd showed over the course of the tournament was done in by what appeared to be a foot injury just bad enough that he couldn't play his best. At less than your best against Federer on grass, you lose. It's that simple.
But he stuck it out. He did not retire. It wasn't much of a match, but I admire the fortitude. And he has the game to be a contender for some time to come. I wish him the best.
Fed
Nadal won the French without dropping a set. Federer won Wimbledon without dropping a set. And yet their wins left very different impressions. Nadal seemed utterly indomitable. Federer, on the other hand, seemed tetchy, twitchy, far from his best on far too many points, not nearly as worthy of superlatives as during his astonishing run at the Australian earlier this year.
And yet, for each point in which he misfired badly, it seemed there were two in which he was just good enough, and another in which he was amazing. For Federer, that's not just enough to win, it's enough to dominate.