Venus Williams must not let her Wimbledon defeat affect her going forwards - she still has so much to offer
People will speculate that her straight sets defeat was age catching up with Williams, but to me her problem more appeared to be in her head
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Your support makes all the difference.Inexplicable. Incredible. Bewildering. Man, I’m not someone who is often lost for words, but I find it impossible to understand what happened to Venus Williams in today’s Wimbledon final against Garbine Muguruza.
After failing to take those two set points when Muguruza served at 4-5, Williams’ game just fell apart. She didn’t win another game and looked lost out there on Centre Court, where she has enjoyed some of her biggest triumphs.
People will speculate that this was age catching up with Venus or that it was something to do with the Sjogren’s syndrome which she has to live with, but to me her problem appeared to be in her head.
None of us can have any idea exactly what the problem was – only Venus will know that – but I had an inkling that something was wrong when she was hitting those double faults in the first set. I just hope that what happened out there won’t have a detrimental effect on her at future tournaments. She still has so much to offer.
Let’s make sure that we give full credit to Muguruza. She was fearless, particularly as she saved those set points at 4-5. Her forehand went missing in the early stages, but her backhand was excellent throughout.
Muguruza has also developed a very good grass-court game. She has been coming into the net more and her volleys have been getting better and better.
For a tall player she moves well and I love the way she takes the ball so early. Even against a bit hitter like Williams she was standing up on the baseline, going for her shots. She’s a very deserving champion.
Sunday’s final
I’ve been saying all summer that Marin Cilic is a big, big threat on grass. Holy cow, with that big serve and cracking forehand of his, he’s a handful for anybody.
However, Roger Federer is a player whose game just doesn’t break down under pressure. Look at how he handled his semi-final when he was two break points down against Tomas Berdych in the third set: four unreturned serves in a row, problem solved.
I certainly can’t see Cilic winning the final from the baseline. He has to come into the net when he has the opportunity. His volleys can be a little tentative, but he will have to seize the moment if he is to have any chance.
Yet even if Cilic does break out of his comfort zone, I’m not sure that the Federer express can be derailed. The man is playing some of the best tennis of his life. You get the feeling that he just can’t be stopped at the moment.
Tales from the IMG Academy
Bjorn Borg only came to the academy once, when he was starting out on the senior tour. I think he was with us for a couple of weeks.
One thing I will always remember is a conversation I had with him. I asked Bjorn what he thought had made him a champion. He said: “Nick, the split second I stepped on to the tennis court everything in my mind went blank except for one thing. The only thing that was in my mind was wanting to make sure that in every rally I was the last one to hit the ball over the net.”
That was what made Borg such an ice-cool character on court. Holy mackerel, he didn’t worry about his next opponent, his world ranking or even where he was going for dinner that night – because he didn’t let those thoughts enter his mind.
People say that Borg retired too early, but when I see the cool dude that he is today I see a man who had a wonderful career and clearly continues to enjoy his life today.
A tip from the top
OK guys, so here is my final tip for the fortnight for all you club players.
The message is short and sharp. There is only one way: Nick’s way. Give it all you have and find a way to give even more. You are a winner!
The perfect tennis player
Each day during Wimbledon I’ve been building a picture of the ideal tennis player by looking at a different aspect of the game. I thought we should end this conversation by looking at who are the best all-rounders, players with no apparent weaknesses.
Over the years that I’ve been involved in tennis there are plenty to choose from. Among the men, Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras stand out as great all-rounders, though Andre Agassi and Boris Becker would run them close. Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Billie Jean King were all wonderful all-rounders too.
However, I’m not sure that any of those players from the past can quite match the all-round abilities of three modern-day players, although it is very hard to make definitive comparisons between players from different generations.
With the greatest respect to some of her predecessors, Serena Williams is to me the greatest female all-rounder to have played the game. Before this tournament I would have put Novak Djokovic on top of the men’s list, but how can we put him ahead of Roger Federer, the greatest male player I have ever seen?
The main conclusion I have to reach is that those of us involved in tennis today are privileged to be working in an era that features so many players who rank among the all-time greats.
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