On Britannia


I gave fair warning that some of the articles in Growltiger’s Litter Box will bore. This probably is one of them.  I’m a bean counter. I like to play with numbers and data. I see patterns. Most of all, I notice the fly on the pillow case during the love scene (to quote film director, Richard Lester).


On Friday, June 22nd, the Wimbledon draw comes out, and for the first time since 2004, the top seed is not named Nadal or Federer. 


For the past seven Wimbledons, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have been on opposite sides of the draw as was fitting since the pair lobbed the number one ranking back and forth like a badminton bird. But in 2011, a skunk by the name of Novak Djokovic wandered into the Federer-Nadal garden party and spoiled the fun. 


Considered the perennial bridesmaid since he unexpectedly made the finals of the 
2007 U. S. Open, Djokovic seemed content as the 3rd best player in the world. But that changed in 2011 when Djokovic went on a tear, winning 41 straight matches, including the Australian Open, until he lost at the semifinals at Roland Garros to–you guessed it: Roger Federer. 


Djokovic won the 2011 Wimbledon and became the world’s top tennis player. 


Two months later, he entered the U. S. Open as the number one seed.


The definition of a tennis draw is as follows: The designation of who will play whom in a bracketed, elimination tournament. After the seeds are placed, the rest of the players' names are drawn at random and placed in the remaining brackets. It's usually considered a "bad draw" to have to play one of the top seeds in an early round. 


It is set in stone that the top seed is placed at the top of the draw and the 2nd seed at the bottom. But apparently where the 3rd and 4th seeds land is as arbitrary as it is important. (If three is in the 2nd seed’s half, it assures only one of them can be in the final). For those who want another Federer-Nadal final, this is a problem. 


So who decides where to place three and four? The tennis officials? The luck of the draw? 


Had the prior six slams been any indication, at the 2011 U. S. Open, the 4th seed (Andy Murray) would have been in Djokovic’s half of the draw. Unfortunately, this would have meant Nadal and Federer were in the other half and the potential for a Federer-Nadal final an impossibility. Apparently the tennis gods didn't want that, so for the first time since 2007, the 3rd seed landed in the top half of the draw.  Happenstance? Or were the tennis gods messing with us?  


The 2011 U. S. Open was the 5th slam in a row that Federer and Djokovic were in the same section. In fact, it was  the 12th time out of the last 14 slams they ended up in the same half. (The exceptions: The 2008 and 2010 French Open where Rafael Nadal is considered unbeatable on the red clay of Roland Garros. See French Kiss, this blogsite.) 


Is 12 out of 14 slams a coincidence? An oddity? The luck of the draw? If so, this coincidental oddity would be repeated at the 2012 French Open where, for the first time since 2006, the 4th seed was not in the top seed’s section. Once again, Federer and Nadal were in opposite sides of the draw.  


Professional sports is entertainment, and there is no question tennis fans want a Federer-Nadal finals. So what will Wimbledon do? Give the fans that possibility by placing 3rd seed Federer in Djokovic’s half as the French and U. S. Opens did? Or follow the procedure of the past two years and place the 2nd and 3rd seeds together in the bottom half precluding the possibility of a Federer-Nadal final? We will know on Friday. But whatever happens, it will be interesting for those of us who like to count beans.