Nadal and Sharapova Upsets Highlight Grueling French Open-Wimbledon Transition

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: July 2, 2014

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Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova are the reigning French Open champions who have proven that they can win tennis’ most hallowed tournament. They are champions who never quit. But it wasn’t in the cards for Nadal and Sharapova to pack the 2014 Wimbledon trophies inside their equipment bags.

Nadal and Sharapova each hit a wall in the fourth round, and it was something much larger to scale than the inspired and fearless play of their conquering opponents Nick Kyrgios and Angelique Kerber. They each left Centre Court in their respective matches with the weight of championship tennis still sinking into their shoulders and competitive disappointment etched across their faces.

After all, they were unable to pull off the most difficult task in tennis: winning the French Open and Wimbledon titles within one month.



 

Why so Difficult?

It’s such a grueling accomplishment that perhaps tennis fans forget just how tough it is supposed to be. Only a handful of the greatest legends accomplished this in the Open era: Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Maybe tennis fans take this for granted after Nadal (2008, 2010) and Federer (2009) made this seem fashionable a half decade ago. Maybe they forget that for all the parity in women’s tennis, Serena was the last to accomplish this in 2002. But consider the demands of this achievement.

It requires a champion who can withstand two weeks of grueling baseline points on hot red clay, followed by two weeks to get ready and step inside a grass court for an ensemble of lightning pace and low-skidding balls, created from entirely different kinds of world-class styles and opponents.



The toll is both physically taxing and mentally draining. It’s cookin...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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