I Guarantee You Didn’t See This Yesterday

There was a thrilling sporting event yesterday that I really, really hope you didn’t miss.

It featured a veteran and an up and comer and it came down to the very end. The crowd was lopsided, heavily in favor of one over the other. And my guy won!

Here’s the thing though — you did miss it. I would have missed it except by accident. I was searching for NFL pre-game coverage yesterday after getting home from church.

I almost never watch pre-game stuff — I like watching games, that’s all. But the Bengals were on the cusp of a Super Bowl and I needed some pre-game juice.

I flipped it to ESPN. You know how you accidentally stumble on something that you meant to watch but totally forgot was on? That happened.

I saw Rafael Nadal come out and yank the Australian Open right out from under Danill Medvedev.

Down two sets to none, he stormed back like a bull and willed it to happen, like he always does. He now has 21 slams, most ever on the men’s side. I don’t think his record is going going to last.

Novak Djokovic is a beast and is slightly younger than Nadal (34, Nadal’s 35) and will win more than 21 — he probably would have won had he been allowed to play (he didn’t get vaxxed so he got axed from the tournament).

Federer is most likely tapped out due to knee injuries but he is tennis’ equivalent to Tom Brady. Who knows, he could sneak another Wimbledon in there. I wouldn’t put it past him.

I often think to myself — and I do this a lot — if I wrote for a major sports publication and had to rank the best sports stories of the 21st century so far, what I would choose? I’ll tell you in a minute.

It’s impossible to rank events — so many good ones — but “stories”, which are way more interesting than mere events anyway, are different.

On most days, especially four days out of the year specifically (there are four “majors” in tennis and I am speaking of the finals), I would choose the story of this era in men’s tennis. The collective careers of Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic are the sports story of the century. It’s off the radar but it still qualifies to me.

The quality of their play for such a sustained period is remarkable. Since Federer kicked it off at Wimbledon in 2003, the three of them have won 61 major championships.

That is staggering. There have been 72 major championships played from 2003 to current.

There will never — ever — be an era in men’s tennis that matches this. The volume of dominance eclipses any other team’s or individual’s body of work in the 21st century.

I have a full-time job and do not have time to do the research on how often the three of them have gone head to head in major finals. It was a lot. Including the greatest match of the sport — Wimbledon, 2008 between Federer and Nadal. Watch it. Amazing. Five-setter, in the dark. John McEnroe was moved to tears which was a little much.

Tennis is a little bit like boxing but safer. I will be fine if one of my children wants to give tennis a go. Boxing? They are scrawny and have no genes from their dad that would hint at a boxing career.

How are they similar? No teammates to cheer them on or bail them out of a mistake, nowhere to hide.

Here’s another big thing — they don’t receive input throughout the match. There isn’t a defensive coordinator with a bird’s eye view of the chess match, radioing down to tell them what they are doing wrong. They must figure it out on their own.

Even a golfer gets input — perspective — the whole time from a caddie. Not tennis. If their mechanics are breaking down they must recognize them and pivot…fast.

I began watching tennis in the late ’80s and have always had a specific player I pulled for. It was Andre Aggasi for a long time — he was different and back then tennis players had two distinct styles. I liked his.

You either hugged the baseline like a human backboard or you served and volleyed, which, if you were good meant that points lasted for about five seconds.

Smash the serve and then crush the wobbly return by your opponent. Agassi was a baseliner. He won 8 major championships.

He retired and in my mind, Nadal was his equivalent. A human backboard, with massive topspin returns and no quit in him. Federer was elegant, with cat-like instincts and a beautiful one-handed backhand.

Nadal was the pitbull. Djokovic has his own distinct style. I don’t know what to call it besides great.

They’re all great but I can’t imagine all three will be playing much longer. That’s ok, they’ve thrilled for long enough. Almost the whole 21st century to be exact.

Two last things…did you see Joe Burrow yesterday? Also, kudos to you if you made it through this article because it is about tennis.