Tennis in New York explodes in late August, when throngs of people invade Flushing Meadows for the U.S. Open.
Don’t wait till then.
Across the pond, men’s tennis could have its most significant moment in some time at Wimbledon, as Roger Federer’s reign of dominance is on fumes and Rafael Nadal appears ready to ascend.
Nadal dismantled Federer at the French Open, holding the No. 1 player in the world to four games over three sets.
And while some would say that’s just Nadal being unbeatable on clay, ESPN analyst and U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe would disagree.
“If him and Nadal meet in the final, it’s almost scary to think, but I would almost have to lean toward Nadal at this point,” McEnroe said.
“I think it’s a real test, a real moment where Federer is not so much the favorite as he has been in the past.”
Federer still is two Grand Slam titles behind Pete Sampras’ record of 14, after failing to win the Australian and French this year.
But Federer has always saved his best for the second half of the season. He has four straight titles on the grass courts of Wimbledon, and five in a row on the hard courts of Queens. A loss in England could mean the clock is starting to run out for the Swiss superstar.
“This is kind of a watershed moment for Federer,” McEnroe said.
“It’s interesting because after winning three of the four Grand Slam events last year we were all sort of saying it’s not a matter of if he breaks Sampras’ record, but when. Now he is 0-for-2 and he hasn’t even been the second-best player in the world. He has been the third-best.”
Novak Djokovic has been No. 2. His year included eliminating Federer in the semifinals of the Australian Open on the way to his first Grand Slam title.
A reminder Nadal and Federer have a long way to go before a rematch of last year’s final takes place on championship Sunday, where Federer edged Nadal in five sets.
“There will just be an unbelievable anticipation heading into that,” McEnroe said. “Having said that, there are some guys like [Andy] Roddick and Djokovic that can have good tournaments. I do think there are some other dangerous guys in there.”
But Nadal beat Djokovic and Roddick en route to his first grass-court title of his career a week ago. Combine that with Nadal’s crushing of Federer at Roland Garros, and that is why McEnroe sees the Spaniard having the edge if they meet in the finals.
“Nadal will be sky high and full of confidence,” McEnroe said. “The deeper he gets into the tournament, the tougher he is going to be.
“He still can be a little susceptible early on because early in the tournament the courts are a little slicker, and if he runs into a big server it could be trouble. But once he gets past the first few rounds, he can be like a runaway train again.”