Saw some great matches at the US Open yesterday and today. Like Nadal and Ferrer. Tommy Haas and James Blake rank very high on my "all time favorite matches" list. Am I biased? No! I never routed for Tommy Haas, actually had a little tiff with his manager once (at IMG in Hamburg), after I asked him when in God's name will Tommy ever win a big tournament. He was not happy with this question at all...
I am and have always been a fan of Justine Henin. Although I would normally rout for Serena Williams because she is an American, but definitely not when she plays Justin. I absolutely loved to see my girl Justine dismantle Serena today. She reminds me a lot of Roger Federer, especially when it comes to concentration, their hardened bodies, one-handed back hands, and the way they take this sport serious.
Tennis fans are a very special kind of people. Very knowledgeable, not too rowdy, often quite polite. But I think the single most important factor distinguishing tennis fans from fans of all other major spectator sports: They are all players themselves! I venture to say that 95% of fans watching the Open at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center are active players. They know what it means to be out there in the hot sun for 3 hours or more. They feel the agony of double faults on match point. They can tell you stories about the importance of the "mental game". And of course, when they see a player hitting a volley into the net, "been there, done that"is the first thing that comes to mind for a tennis fan. Gotta love them!
You raise a good point about tennis fans possibly the highest rate of participation. Would you say that golf would be another one that it pretty high up there?
I haven't logged many hours of watching matches, but if I were to pick my favorite match--I think I would go with The Battle of the Sexes. Might be cliche, but monumental nonetheless. From SI.com:
"In the most watched tennis match in history, Billie Jean King routed Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes. For many, this was the event that defined the women's movement of the 1970s and changed the social landscape for females forever. Thirty-three years later, the USTA renamed the National Tennis Center the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the first time in U.S. history that a major sports arena bore the name of a woman."
Is there a match that ranks higher on your list of favorites than Tommy Haas vs. James Blake?