On Monday, Novak Djokovic becomes the 25th player, and the first Serb, among the 13 countries that have produced the world’s number one.
Djokovic deserves the recognition with a 47-1 season record to capture seven titles that includes four Masters crowns, beating the former number one Rafael Nadal in all four.
The Serb ends a record run between Roger Federer and Nadal, who have dominated the top spot since February 2004 when Andy Roddick reigned.
Djokovic reached his first Wimbledon final with a 7-6 6-2 6-7 6-3 three-hour seven win over the free-spirited Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who thrilled the packed centre court with his diving athleticism at the net.
Three points stood out, which had the crowd gasping, then bursting into prolonged applause.
But there was far too much free spirit for the Frenchman to take Djokovic down. The unforced errors told the story, with 29-13, offsetting the 41 winners Tsonga struck to Djokovic’s 34.
Despite the good win, there’s a kink in the Djokovic armour for his showdown with Nadal in the final.
Djokovic converted only six of 12 break points against Tsonga. That won’t be enough to cut the mustard with Nadal, who sent Andy Murray packing in the other semi 5-7 6-2 6-2 6-4 in a tick under three hours.
The same old?
Sadly so. No Brit has reached the Wimbledon final since Fred Perry won three titles on the trot in 1934, 1935, and 1936 – 75 years of drought.
Murray is magnifying the problem by treading in the same footsteps as his predecessor, Tim Henman, who lost four semis:
* In 1998 to Pete Sampras in four sets.
* In 1999 to Sampras again in four.
* In 2001 to Goran Ivanisevic in five.
* And in 2002 to Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets.
Murray has lost the last three semis:
* In 2009 to Roddick in four
* In 2010 to Nadal in straight.
* And again to Nadal last night, making an unforgivable 39 unforced errors to just seven by the Spaniard.
So what have we got left at SW19?
Tonight it’s the Queen of Scream, Maria Sharapova, up against the acceptable grunting of Czech Petra Kvitova in the ladies final, the first leftie since Martina Navratilova in 1994.
Tomorrow night, the Baron of the Bouncing Ball, Novak Djokovic, against the King of the illegal Time-Wasters, Rafael Nadal, in the men’s.
Heaven help us.
Sharapova’s piercing scream with every shot, Djokovic bouncing the ball up to 16 times with his first serve, and up to 11 with his second, and Nadal consistently taking at least 10 seconds over the allowable 20 between points.
The inmates have taken over the asylum.
p.Tah
Guest
I agree, they don't scream when they practice. If I was an opposition player, every now and then I'd scream just as they're about to hit the ball back. If they complain I'd say I'll stop when you do.
Doug
Guest
Easy tell her she'll forfeit points, then games, then sets unless she stops. John Newcombe(sp?) has described it as cheating because it prevents the other player from hearing how the ball comes off the racket. An opposing players cant complain because it hands Sharapova a mental victory. So its down to the umpire to do it.
Lorry
Guest
I think it would be hard to set a noise limit Spiro- how can you set a limit on an (admittedly annoying) body function?! Telling Sharapova to be quieter would be like trying to tell George Gregan to limit himself to only 5 minutes of talk per game, back in his playing days!!! However, setting a ball-bouncing and time limit especially should be possible...
Spiro Zavos
Expert
What chance is there of the authorities setting a noise limit, a ball-bouncing limit and a limit on the time between games, and enforcing them. As David suggests, tennis has become unwatchable with these sort of distractions. Hopefully, some time and TV ratings will begin to reflect this and some thing will be done about it. In the mean time I believe it is up to the giants of the game to make a song and dance about these obvious tricks of gamespersonships and put all of us out of our misery. So come on Newk and Mac, Martina et al, it's time to speak out against the cheating.
GrantS
Guest
In the first set Murray blew Nadal off the court. He then came out in the second and played like an entirely different player. How is this possible? We all know Nadal is a fantastic player but to have things turn around so dramatically in just a few minutes is hard to understand. As for as the Queen of Scream etc. this is one match that I will not bother to watch for obvious reasons.
Kersi Meher-Homji
Guest
David,I agree with you. Although Novak is my favourite player, his habit of bouncing the balls 10-16 times before serving is annoying.