Same Script, Slighty Different Cast

The past decade or two of tennis in the Open Era has been marked by the success of a handful of individuals who, by their triumphs, losses, spirit and consistency, are all GOAT material, much to the dismay of their lower ranked colleagues. Now, it would seem their victorious era is coming to a sputtering end. One may question the match fitness of Roger Federer, the physical health of Rafael Nadal and the confidence of Serena Williams, now that all three have graciously stepped out of Wimbledon this year. None of these three withdrew, unlike some of their younger rivals, however; we can see that the hunger to win is still lion-like. But how long do we have until they cannot compete at the highest level anymore?

The answer may not be easily attained, but we have a clear idea of who is just itching to fill up their shoes once they become retirees like Andy Roddick and Mary Joe Fernández.

Andy Murray

He's just won a convincing semifinal against Jerzy Janowicz of Poland.

The boys both held serve fairly well to begin with; a point to remember happened when Andy was serving at 2-2. The Brit showed us his wheels by chasing down the kind of ball that even David Ferrer wouldn't bother going after AND producing a stunning backhand on it that forces Jerzy's lob return to fall wide.

But the Pole had definitely brought out his biggest guns with massive serves and delicate drop-shots. Neither player had a decent look at a break point and they both held for twelve combined games in that set, forcing a tiebreak.

Janowicz's big serve put him in a good position at 6-2 in the tiebreak and Murray would forfeit the set with a double fault.

Second set: Janowicz returned the favor by double-faulting at 30-40 to give the Muzzah an easy break. Andy remained a break to the good, all the way to 6-4, wrapping up that set.

Third set: Andy slowed down a bit, flinching under the pressure of Janowicz's deft touch and untouchable service games. Jerzy took charge then and raced to a 4-1 lead. But when both fellas tried to out-net-play one another, it's Andy who came out on top with two successive breaks to lead for the first time at 5-4 with the chance to serve for the set. Murray got hit in the back from a smash by Jerzy at the net on his first set point but maintains his composure to secure the set soon thereafter.

It's two hours and twenty-four minutes into the match when they decided to close the roof. Murray wasn't too happy about that as he probably felt the twenty-minute wait would kill the momentum he was just starting to build. Quite frankly, the World No. 2 had a point: it wasn't raining, neither was it sufficiently dark to justify it. Janowicz was begging for this about half an hour ago, so he got a delayed grant to his wish.

The roof closure didn't seem to help his predicament much, though. Murray soon broke him, channeling his obvious frustration within a chugging train of huge serves and sharp ground-strokes. 3-1 Murray.

Andy was running and running and running away with this set, taking out all his anger on the racket with what the commentators often call 'controlled aggression'.

It's in the blink of an eye that he had Janowicz on the ropes at 5-3, with the Pole needing to hold serve to stay in this. But Jerzy was desperately laying it all out with double faults and wild shots everywhere to give Andy match point at 30-40. Of course, he missed the first serve. And Andy drove  a rare soft second serve to claim the match in fine style.

You dare to question the British #1's clutch? I advise you to think twice. He finds himself caged in a corner often, yes. Sure, he had to come back from two sets down against Verdasco the other day but the scent of a second consecutive Wimbledon final appearance was on his nose even then and he bounced back well enough. We may have laughed earlier on this year if he'd said he felt he could end the year in the top spot. But it doesn't look quite so impossible now, does it? It's Muzzah time.

World No. 2 Andy Murray

Novak Djokovic

The Serbian prince hasn't got too much left to prove, with six Grand Slams already under his belt. But he isn't anywhere near slowing down, either.....and the same cannot be said of Roger or of Rafa at the moment. He faces Murray in the final showdown on Sunday after a marathon win over Juan Martin Del Potro on Friday.

Sabine Lisicki

The German blonde with the pretty smile was certainly not showing it off early on in her match versus World No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska (Janowicz's compatriot) on Thursday. Lisicki had to fight very hard to grab the first set from Aggie, who showed up with both thighs taped up after a grueling match against Li Na two days before. 6-4 Lisicki.

If you'll recall, Radwanska was the highest seeded player in the ladies' singles draw and had to show some tenacity to draw out a heap of errors from Sabine and claim the second set 6-2.

Wimbledon says Steffi Graf was the last German woman in the finals here. Lisicki must have made her proud by winning that encounter, even if only after throwing away her first chance to serve for the match and having to play a tense tiebreak.

Final score: 6-4, 2-6, 9-7.

Ahh, that smile..... :)

Which brings us to the weekend.....

On Saturday, a brand new name will echo throughout the bleachers on Center Court when either Marion Bartoli or Sabine Lisicki walks up the podium with the coveted Rosewater Dish.

Then on Sunday, Andy Murray will try to stop Novak Djokovic from creeping closer to Roger Federer's seventeen-count tally of major titles by bringing home the gold this time around.

Of course, live streams can be found here and you know where to come back to for more tennis news.

Breathe tennis!!