A century low for U.S. men at Wimbledon

By Art Spander

WIMBLEDON, England — The ad is one you’d never see in America. “My sweat terminates here,” the lady is saying as she holds up a plastic bottle of Sure. They don’t dress things up in Britain, don’t use euphemisms.

In the United States, we “perspire.” Here, they sweat.

What we don’t do in the U.S. is play tennis on a high level anymore. Other than Serena Williams.

She’s the best women’s player around, maybe ever, but that’s one of those unwinnable debates, and Thursday, Williams beat both the rain and in the second round of 2013 Wimbledon somebody named Caroline Garcia, 6-3, 6-2.

Another U.S. lady also made it through, Madison Keys, who at 18, and with a smile as sweet as her backhand, might be the future for the American women, if it isn’t Sloane Stephens.

The American men’s game seemingly has no future. It definitely doesn’t have a present or, at the 127th All England Lawn Tennis Championships, a presence.

When, as expected, Novak Djokovic swept past a 30-year-old journeyman from Georgia, Bobby Reynolds, 7-6, 6-3, 6-1, Thursday early evening under the closed roof of Centre Court, it meant that for the first time since 1912, no U.S. male had made it to the third round at Wimbledon.

“I just happened to play after everyone else,” said Reynolds, as if he felt he were the reason for the failure. “We have some young talent in the pipeline . . . Sports are becoming a worldwide thing, and everybody is so good now.”

Other than the American men, but you can’t have everything.   

What Serena had, after her 33rd straight match victory, was an apparent challenge from Andy Murray, the Scot who’s second in the rankings bellow Djokovic.

“He’s challenged me?” asked Serena. Two weeks ago she won the French Open. Now she’s aiming for a second straight Wimbledon and sixth overall.

When told, indeed, Williams continued, “Is he sure? That would be fun. I doubt I’d win a point.”

The question is whether Murray, runner-up last year to Djokovic, can become the first British man in 77 years to win Wimbledon.

The optimistic thinking is that, with all the train wrecks in his bracket so far — Rafael Nadal losing in the first round, Roger Federer in the second — Murray’s pathway to the final is much smoother than it would have been.

The defeat of Federer on Wednesday by the Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky was considered so momentous the Daily Telegraph, a serious broadsheet, ran a photo of Federer across the entire top half of the front page. Not the front sports page but the front page, above the painful news of welfare cuts.

Stakhovsky’s most notable achievement until now, if you want to describe it that way, came in the first round of the French Open at the end of May. Angered about a call by the umpire on a ball that did or didn’t hit the backline, Stakhovsky ran to his equipment bag alongside the court, grabbed an iPhone and took a picture of a mark in the clay surface.

The decision remained unchanged, and the stunt cost Stakhovsky a $2,000 fine, but the video of him and the official pointing and focusing went viral. It seemed to be his 15 minutes of fame. Until he knocked Roger out of Wimbledon. And down the rankings.

When the new ones are released on July 8, Federer will be fifth, his lowest placing since June 2003, 10 years ago. A month and a half from his 32nd birthday, Federer must confront our doubts and perhaps his own.

“You don’t panic at this point,” Federer said defensively. For the first time in 37 Grand Slam tournaments he didn’t make it to the quarterfinals — a blow, even if an inevitable one because of his years.

“Just go back to work,” said Federer, “and come back stronger really.”

Wishful thinking, one would surmise, but that’s what so much of sport is about.

Serena Williams contends she doesn’t do much thinking about win streaks and such but only how best to face an opponent, the next being Kimiko Date-Krumm, the remarkable 42-year-old.

“I’ve never played her,” said Williams, who is 11 years younger. “I have so much respect for her. I think she’s so inspiring to be playing such high-level tennis at her age. And she’s a real danger on grass. It’s for sure not going to be easy, but I’ll be ready.”

Serena’s not going to sweat it. Or as we would say in the states, perspire it.