Andre, Andy and Venus pass

Sometimes there is a passing of the guard during a tennis match and often it’s at one of the four majors because those are the biggest events. On Saturday at Wimbledon, there were three passes. One of them was bit premature and two of them were unintentional.

This was Andre Agassi’s last Wimbledon. It’s not like he’s been in decline, he made it to last year’s US Open final, but he’s had persistent back problems so I picked his third round opponent, Rafael Nadal, to beat him. I was in the minority but I shouldn’t have been.

There were a lot of critical points in the close first set but Agassi saw his future at 5-5 in the tiebreaker. Agassi hit a forehand so wide that Nadal had to do a quick 360 to get back into the court. Agassi followed with a backhand to the other corner that took Nadal beyond the doubles alley. No problem. Nadal hit a passing shot that looped high in the air and landed on the opposite sideline as Agassi turned his head and watched it without taking a step. Agassi’s body would not be able to stay with the young stallion. Nadal won that set and the next two to beat Agassi in straight sets.

This was an important match for Rafael Nadal because it showed that he really can win on grass. It’s not just that he’s playing closer to the baseline and hitting flatter shots, it’s his first serve, it’s almost on a par with Roger Federer’s. In Federer’s third round victory over Nicolas Mahut, he averaged 120 mph on his first serve with a top speed of 130 mph. Nadal averaged 117 mph, hit a 129 mph serve and faced exactly zero break points against Agassi. It’s not likely Nadal will win here but this match made you think it was possible. Not a thought I’d heard before.

Andy Roddick passed the top American ranking onto James Blake and it was definitely unintentional. We knew it was coming, Roddick has not reached a final all year, but the size of the drop is surprising. He’ll be lucky to stay in the top ten after entering Wimbledon with the fifth spot. Once you start defending points – Roddick made it to the final here last year – rankings can get very skittish. If you do worse than last year at the same event, you drop.

Roddick lost his third round match to Andy Murray. As I’ve watched Murray move through the draw, I’ve wondered what I might be thinking if I were Brad Gilbert. Gilbert and the British Lawn Tennis Association have discussed an offer for Gilbert to coach Murray and head the association’s performance program, which I assume is their juniors program. Both sides have agreed to continue discussions after Wimbledon.

If Gilbert had questions about Murray’s ability to deal with pressure or whether Murray has enough weapons to win a major, what better way to answer them than to put him on center court in front of the British at Wimbledon against a player who has two major weapons – the fasted serve on the tour and a laser forehand: Andy Roddick, former client of Mr. Gilbert.

Murray answered both questions very well with a beautifully played straight set win. He returned Roddick’s serve repeatedly and passed him at the net with ease. Roddick came to the net fifty-nine times and got only twenty-eight points out of it.

Roddick had hope. He had a set point with Murray serving at 5-4 in the first set. Roddick came in to get one of those drop shots and Murray hit a ball that sat up at the net. It looked like the set was over but it wasn’t. Roddick did a stutter step to get to the ball but his feet weren’t quite in sync with his racket and he ended up pushing the ball instead of whacking it. Murray got to it and flicked a backhand down the line and Roddick went sprawling as he hit the ball wide.

Federer has already shown Roddick that power is not enough to overcome an all-around game and Murray reiterated.

Conclusion: Brad, take the coaching job, but forget about that administrative role with the Lawn Tennis Association, they’ll never appreciate your sense of humor.

Venus Williams isn’t passing, she’s being passed. Shenay Perry is into the second week at Wimbledon – she beat Sybille Bammer – and Venus is not after losing to Jelena Jankovic. The American old guard is wearing down. Lisa Raymond almost beat Venus but lost her nerve and Wimbledon is the seventieth major for Amy Frazier who lost to Maria Sharapova. Perry and Jamea Jackson are the future and they are here now rather than later.

If only James Blake could win a fifth set – he’s currently 0-9 after losing to Max Mirnyi, US tennis might be looking up.