The 2006 Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon was the scene of a few significant farewells and one very important welcome. 

 

The #1–ranked woman player in the world, Amelie Mauresmo of France, finally bid “Adieu!” to the claims that she was a choker.  Prior to 2006, Mauresmo had made it to at least the quarterfinals of thirteen out of the last fifteen grand slam events in which she had played.  For all of that success, she had not won a grand slam and at 26, old age in women’s tennis these days, many thought she never would. 

 

Leading up to the 2006 Australian Open, she had blown big leads in crucial grand slam matches several times.   Mauresmo ended up winning the Australian, but was cheated out of her due when Justine Henin-Hardenne defaulted during the second set of the finals due to stomach pains.  Even though Mauresmo was way ahead at the time her opponent quit, she could not shake the “choker” label because she did not have to finish off the match. 

 

At Wimbledon this year, Mauresmo buried that label under the grass of Centre Court by defeating four ranked opponents in her last four matches including the tough Henin-Hardenne in the finals. After lifting up the trophy, the 2006 Ladies Champion requested that she never have to discuss her nerves again.

 

Navratilova still going strong at 50

 

Four months before turning fifty, Martina Navratilova played her last match on her beloved grass at the All-England Club, losing in the third round of the mixed doubles.  Since playing in her first match at Wimbledon in 1973, Martina won nine singles titles and 11 doubles championships and even made it to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles last year.  As much as anybody of the open era, Navratilova embodied the athleticism, power, and precision required to succeed in the world’s most famous tennis tournament.

 

Agassi plays his last Wimbledon

 

At the start of the 2006 Championships, Andre Agassi announced that this year’s tournament would be his last.  The 1992 Men’s Wimbledon Champion, Agassi transformed over the years from reviled, flashy boor to revered elder statesman.  The warm ovation Agassi received from the British fans after his third round loss to Rafael Nadal was a complete turnaround from the harsh treatment he received from the London press during his longhair, denim-shorts days.  The 2006 U.S. Open in August will be Agassi’s last tournament and the “zen master” will retire as the only man in history to win the four grand slam tournaments on their four distinct, current surfaces.

 

Not coincidentally, the 2006 Wimbledon officially marked the end of the United States as a dominant force in tennis.  The French Open was always viewed as “that European tournament” where the clay court mud lovers from Spain and Argentina had their two weeks of fun.  The other three grand slam tournaments, played on hard surfaces and grass, where were the big serves and volleying prowess of the American players. 

 

In the 2006 Australian Open only one American woman, Lindsay Davenport, and zero American men made it to the quarterfinals.  In spite of the results “Down under,” expectations for America were high heading in Wimbledon as Andy Roddick had made the mens’ final for two years in a row and Venus Williams was the defending ladies’ champion.  In the end however, no American man made it past the fourth round and no women made it to the quarterfinals.  This was the first time since the 1920’s that there was no U. S. representative in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. There had been an American woman in the final in 25 out of the last 35 years, while for men it was 22 out of the last 35.

 

With the retirements of Agassi and Pete Sampras, the Williams sisters’ injuries, and Lindsay Davenport headed toward family life, the United States no longer has a set of players expected to compete for major championships.  Andy Roddick won the U.S. Open in 2003, but is now 24 and was beaten in straight sets in the third round at Wimbledon by a Scottish 19-year-old version of himself.  There are many theories for the decline in U.S. tennis, from the foreign invasion at the tennis training factories in Florida to it simply being cyclical.  The United States Tennis Association has begun to take notice and is formulating a plan to develop world-class players for the future.  In the meantime, American fans will have to find someone else to root for in the late rounds of this year’s American grand slam in August.

 

The 2006 Championships at Wimbledon did mark one very important arrival.  The world’s number 2-ranked player, Rafael Nadal discovered that clay was not the only service on which he could challenge for the title.  Over the last three years, Roger Federer has mowed down his opponents on the grass of Centre Court with the precision of a Swiss watch, not to mention the U.S. and Australian Opens, which he was won twice.  The only tournament where Nadal could get in Federer’s head was on the clay of Roland Garros, where Federer has lost to the eventual champion, Nadal the last two years.  Wimbledon was supposed to be different however as Federer was predicted to make short work of Nadal if they met in the finals. 

 

After struggling in the second round, Nadal found his grass game and did not lose a set en route to facing Federer in the final.  This was what everyone wanted to see, the two best players in the world facing each other in the final.  After losing the first set 6-0, Nadal gave Federer everything he could handle though eventually losing in the four sets.  Afterward, Federer admitted that for the first time in four years, he was worried about his opponent.  For now, American fans have a great rivalry to root for as Nadal and Federer will hopefully battle each other for the top spot over the next few years.  It’s not McEnroe against Connors or Sampras against Agassi, but it certainly will be fun to watch.