Around the Olympics: Day 4

!2012_07_31_bodoby Pete Bodo

For some reason, my index finger keeps wanting to type the letter s. . .s . . s. . ., over and over.

Lots of interesting words begin with "s," including "serve," which for our purposes can be defined as: A shot used to start any given point in tennis that, when implemented on a grass court by two big galoots, can induce a mild state of dreamy hypnosis (in them, as well as in you), or in some cases lead to oddly obsessive, repetitive behaviour, such as hitting ace after or ace, or experiencing an irrepressible desire to keep typing the same letter.

The serve was much on minds at Wimbledon during the fourth day of the Olympic tennis competition; Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Sabine Lisicki, Venus Williams, Milos Raonic, and Maria Sharapova almost all used that stroke to good effect (Roddick was the exception, as we'll see), and mostly in an entertaining fashion (the exception to that claim was the Tsonga-Raonic match, where it was used by either man to too good effect, and turned their match from entertaining into yawn-inducing).

Admit it. By 15-all in the third set, watching was a little like listening to a faucet drip in the dead of night. The only reason to continue watching was because you wanted to see it end, one way or the other. Then, when it did, you probably shrugged and thought: I can't believe I just spent four hours watching this. . .

But that's what can happen when you pit two masters of the serve against each other on grass; it invites a disaster known in tennis as a final-set standoff with no tiebreaker guaranteeing that it will end any time before night falls. And even then, it will just be suspended until daybreak, or shortly thereafter. Just ask John Isner or Nicolas Mahut. Enough about that, though. Let's present our thumbs ups—and downs:

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France survived the longest set ever played in Olympic tennis when he finally converted match point to subdue Canada's Milos Raonic, 6-3, 3-6, 25-23, in a match that lasted nearly four hours. Unfortunately (or not) John Isner and Nicolas Mahut have assured that there will be no monkeying around with the longest-this or the most-that for at least the present millenium.

The thing that got to me in the Tsonga-Raonic rock fight was the paucity of break points, especially in that third set. Raonic had seven break points early on (but converted just one, in the second set), then didn't see another one until the 23rd game of the third set, with Tsonga serving at 11-11.

Even more startling, Tsonga didn't get his second break point of the match until his first match point— at 16-15 in the third set. Tsonga never even got to touch the ball at that juncture, because Raonic dispatched the danger point with an ace. Tsonga would have to wait another 11 games before he saw another of those, and failed to convert that one as well thanks to a service winner by Raonic.

By that time, though, it was becoming clear that Tsonga was reversing the tide; Raonic had held serve with greater ease early in the third set, but as the games wore on, Tsonga began to make deeper and deeper inroads into Raonic's service games. Forehand, backhands, volleys? Fergedddaboutit! It was all about the serve, and that actually overshadowed how well both men hit the ball—at least when they were able to get a racquet on it.

Credit the big man of the thumb dance with surviving this one for an additional reason. In the past, Tsonga had tendency to fade when leaned on, especially at Grand Slam events. He's been chipping away at the lingering notion that he's not just big and strong, but also, well, a little soft. . . at least when it comes to that highest level of challenge, when things get really tense and grueling. This match, along with that five-set semifinal Tsonga played against Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros, will go a long way toward discrediting that rap.

I suppose you could have written off Venus Williams' win over Sara Errani of Italy (she was the No. 9 seed) in the first round as the result of a remarkably unfavorable match-up for the 5-foot-4 Italian, the recent French Open finalist. But it's also true that 6-foot-1 American has been nowhere near a Grand Slam final since 2010, when she was a losing semifinalist at the U.S. Open. And you know tennis; it's a "what have you done for me lately" kind of sport.

It turns out that Venus' win might have been prophetic—as well as the shot fired across the bow of her rivals by one of the greatest grass-court players of this or any other era. The five-time Wimbledon champ backed up her deconstruction of Errani with an equally convincing beatdown of a not equally decorated opponent, Alexsandra Wozniak. Williams pounded the Canadian, 6-1, 6-3, but faces a fate that can only be unfair. Her reward, if she gets by No. 7 seed Angelique Kerber of Germany—a very big ask, given that Kerber was a Wimbledon semifinalist and has clubbed opponents here—would likely be yet another of those all-Williams match-ups that nobody really wants to see, unless he or she has an obscene interest in fratricide.

The ITF and IOC get this big fat digit, for insisting on playing deuce sets instead of tiebreakers in decisive third or fifth sets. I'm not sure I'd ever hear myself saying this, but the Tsonga-Raonic match has convinced me of that. And it's not for the obvious reason—that they take too much time. It's because as much as it hurts to lose a marathon match, the player who really gets punished in most formats is the winner. They simply don't allow sufficient time for recovery.

Tsonga, the No. 5 seed, doesn't even get a day off tomorrow (see below) and he's also in the doubles, seeded No. 2 with his partner, Michael Llodra. Their match today was postponed for obvious reasons, and now they'll have to play it after Tsonga finishes his singles, where the Frenchman plays Feliciano Lopez for a place in the quarterfinals.

Tsonga will feel this Raonic match in his legs, even though he seemed surprisingly strong and characteristically jovial after his win. And in truth, a match lasting 3:57 would barely raise an eyebrow at Wimbledon or Roland Garros. But he gets a day off after every match at those venues, and doesn't at the Games. Given the tightness of the Olympics schedule, I think it's almost irresponsible to cling to an increasingly inappropriate format.

Sometimes, the best antidote to a real or perceived loss of form is a unusually tough match fairly early in a tournament. It can bring a player's motivation into sharp focus, and provide a natural gauge of the struggling player's real determination and desire—or lack thereof. In that sense, Novak Djokovic of Serbia couldn't have asked for a better opponent despite the obvious dangers inherent in meeting a second-round pairing with a former No. 1 and Grand Slam champ, Andy Roddick.

Fans of Roddick, mindful that a surprisingly muted version of Djokovic lost in the Wimbledon semis to Roger Federer and bought himself a pack of trouble in his first-round Olympics match, dared to hope. Djokovic has won just two tournaments this year (one of them the Australian Open, a Grand Slam), while at this time last year he'd triumphed in eight. And that 5-3 head-to-head advantage held by Roddick tempted wild thoughts, even if none of those matches were played in 2011 or later. Didn't best-of-three give Roddick an advantage, and wasn't he coming in with wins in title wins in two of his last three tournaments? Listening to that, you could almost convince yourself that it was Djokovic, not Roddick, who was the underdog.

The other day, I struggled with the idea awarding a thumbs up to Sabine Lisicki of Germany, who survived a real scare against Tunisia's Ons Jabeur—a 17-year-old whose world ranking is a modest No. 279, but whose talent is sufficiently renowned to have earned to her an ITF wild card into the Olympics. That was a tough proposition for Lisicki, the No. 15 seed, and she was nervous enough to allow the first set to slip away, and to go to 7-5 to finally win it in the third.

Today, Lisicki faced a more formidable opponent in Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova, the "golden set" girl of Wimbledon. The women split sets, and the match was halted by the rain at 3-2 in the third. After the resumption, Shvedova asserted control and had a match point with Lisicki serving at 4-5. But Lisicki saved her day, then held, broke Shvedova, and served out the match.

You know how dangerous back-from-the-dead players at any tournament can be. Lisicki's next match is against Maria Sharapova—whom Lisicki tagged in the fourth round of Wimbledon, 6-4, 6-3.

It looks like I pulled the trigger a little too quickly yesterday, awarding Australia's Lleyton Hewitt a thumbs up following his first-round win over Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine, an ITF wild card. Today, the 31-year-old, 5-foot-11 Aussie tore down the meathouse of Marin Cilic, the 23-year old, 6-foot-6 Croatian who's been playing as well in recent weeks as almost anyone on the ATP tour, consequently rising back up to No. 14 from a recent low of No. 32 (almost exactly one year ago). Hewitt won in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, and the prize for the big win is a date with Djokovic in the next round. As long as Hewitt keeps winning, I'll keep giving him thumbs up.

It's funny how ambivalent I feel about Maria Sharapova, at intervals. I like her snarky sense of humor (a high point: a reporter once mentioned that he was reading the same book as Maria, to which she responded, absollutely deadpan, "Gee, maybe we should start a book club"), and she usually seems pretty genuine, or at least as much as you can expect from someone who is a "brand." And she has the realistic, slightly jaded attitude you often find those who, like her, have worked incredibly hard for the success they enjoy.

But I thought it was wrong—and transparently gamesmanlike—of Sharapova to take bathroom break immediately after Great Britain's Laura Robson broke back for 3-4 in the second set (Robson would not win another game, losing 7-6 (5), 6-3 (I am assuming the good Lord will forgive me if Sharapova really, really needed to pee at that moment).

I also get tired of hearing Sharapova, who lives in Bradenton, Fla., go on about how thrilled she is to represent her native Russia, which she needed to flee in order to develop her game to the satisfaction of her demanding father, Yuri. They accomplished their goal and god bless 'em, but with a great deal of help (not always paid for) from any number of Americans, starting with tennis coaches Robert Lansdorp and Nick Bollettieri.

I find Sharapova's attitude ungracious, and mind-numbingly so. I can only think that years ago Yuri somehow drilled into her little head the mythology and psychological reality of the "Mother Russia" mentality, which makes Maria seem more like a deluded character out of a Tennessee Williams play than a formidable "brand" and money-making machine. That's just plain weird; too weird to be true. I guess the money, creature comforts, and other attractions of the U.S. are more appealing than a life spent drinking in the piney mountain air of the Urals, or bobbing around in a boat in the headwaters of the mighty Don—great as it is to represent Russia in the Olympics!

In any event, I'd also like to think I'd feel precisely the same way about an American kid who moved to Russia at a very early age because he wanted to become a hockey player and couldn't find anyone to stake him at home. Say he made it to the NHL, then chose to represent the USA in international competition and loved blabbing about it while rarely expressing appreciation for what Russian culture and his Slavic mentors and general experience did to advance his career. I'd say he was an ingrate.

Now, for my upset specials for tomorrow:

Men:In order to support the thoughts expressed at the top of this post, I'm going with Feliciano Lopez over No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Personally, I can't believe they scheduled this third-rounder as second match on after a women's battle on Court 18. I guess everyone has to play tomorrow. But I also say, beware Dennis Istomin, who plays Roger Federer on Court 1.

Women: Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, the No. 8 seed, probably will have her hands full with Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova, who lost just three games in her second-round win over Alize Cornet (after Hantuchova ousted No. 10 seed Li Na in her opener). Strangely, I put the start of Wozniacki's ongoing decline to her failure to break through at a Grand Slam in 2011, after she'd already finished 2010 as Slamless No. 1. And the woman who took out Wozniacki in the third round at Roland Garros that year was Hantuchova.