Word: backhanded
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...equivalent of a bruiser (case in point: he served 25% of the time to Federer's body), while Federer is a dancer (he chose that aggressive target only 4% of the time), and how Nadal managed to neutralize the greatest attacking forehand in tennis with the game's greatest backhand passing shot (Federer won only 60% of points when approaching net, which should almost always be a winning gambit on grass), and how Federer's remaining greatness still lies in his preference for elegance and accuracy over force. (Federer had 25 aces, much more than Nadal, but his fastest speed...
...notes that had nothing to do with tactics or score, but rather attempted to capture the seemingly mundane moments in the four-hour and 48 minutes of play that will stay with me long after I forget how Federer won the crucial match point in the 4th set (a backhand pass), or even what shot Nadal hit to win the match (a serve). Here is the view from...
Second Set: From across the court, I can see into the TV commentator's booth. John McEnroe - whose five-set epic against Bjorn Borg in 1980 was, until this match, considered the gold standard in Wimbledon final history - is gesticulating wildly, re-enacting Nadal's backhand with such eagerness you worry he might fall from his booth onto his cherished court below...
Wimbledon plays to Ivanovic's strengths. The ball moves faster on grass, which will help her monstrous serve. Ivanovic likes playing at the net. Plus, her backhand slice will skid away from opponents on the turf: good luck lunging for it, Ms. Sharapova and Mss. Williams...
...they will be missed. It is human nature to wish our lives and careers to be marked by unbroken ascent. But deep down, we know they won't be; decline - terminal, indeed - comes to us all. Watching a Henin crosscourt backhand hitting the line, or a towering iron shot from Sorenstam plonking softly, with a little backspin, onto a green, the world seemed to stand still. It didn't, of course. All things come...