What will it look like at the top of the men’s game by the time of the US Open at the end of August?
Novak Djokovic will have woken with a sore head this morning; Rafael Nadal similarly, but for a different reason. Roger Federer will have determined that he will not be left behind and Andy Murray, in Glasgow, is ready for local salutations as he prepares for a Davis Cup tie against Luxembourg. There is a new king to be dethroned. Nadal’s camp reacted swiftly to deny that he had a hairline fracture of his left ankle though no one has explained precisely how he was injured during his fourth-round victory over Juan Martín Del Potro. He is due to play in a golf tournament in Majorca next week. The hard courts will test any physical impediment to the full — not only are they rigorous on the body but temperatures in the United States in July and August can be suffocating. Murray will attend his Miami training camp after national duty and may well have a new coach in place by the time of the US Open. He has always said that the US Open is his preferred tournament but he has suffered a couple of bad losses in recent years. Watch out for Del Potro, the 2009 champion, Milos Raonic, the Canadian, and Mardy Fish, the American, all of whom will be out to make an impression.
Where will we be at the top of the women’s game?
The fourth-round defeats of the Williams sisters within two hours of each other were a reminder that reputation is not all always all that it is cracked up to be. Serena’s return to Flushing Meadows for the first time since her semi-final foot-fault and match-point meltdown in 2009 is bound to attract the crowds. The victory for Petra Kvitova was a fitting reward for her lack of nerves on the big stage, but Maria Sharapova has the taste for victory again and she has always risen to the occasion in New York. We hope Kim Clijsters recovers to defend her title.
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What can the British learn from the Championships?
It was a bitter-sweet occasion for the domestic game as ever. The LTA has to act fast to replace Nigel Sears as head of women’s tennis — he left to become the coach of Ana Ivanovic — and has not discounted appointing a new overall supremo to run the performance side of the sport. They have to make their choices based on merit, not decide to do the opposite of what certain writers say they should do just to be stubborn. Roger Draper, the chief executive, has said that his organisation will start to listen and he has to be true to his word. Engagement with every strand of the sport is essential. Denying that there is a problem will only exacerbate the problem.
Where do Wimbledon and the grand slams go from here?
Philip Brook, the new chairman, can be delighted with his first Wimbledon. Some strange folk got into the Royal Box this year and the announcements on finals days need looking at. No 3 Court was a tremendous boon. Brook is a vibrant force and we wonder whether he and the other new appointments at the top of the game will have the courage of their convictions.
Perhaps the grand slams will look at ways of enhancing their products and offer the sport some direction in the absence of real leadership, especially in the men’s game. A tennis World Cup has to be embraced in all its exciting entirety. If it is not on the agenda this year, the luminaries of the sport will live to regret an opportunity squandered.
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Words by Neil Harman