Let it go Guillermo
One of the advantages of having a newborn child around the house - aside from the opportunity to accessorize my shirts with spit-up patches - is that it gets me out of bed early in the morning to watch sports in Europe as they're happening live. Two years ago when my daughter was born, it was the Olympic Games in Athens. She and I will also have that shared memory of the kayak race on CNBC at 4 a.m. This time around, my son and I have been taking in a lot of the French Open.
That means a lot Rafael Nadal.
I'm not personally crazy about Nadal. His muscle shirt and capris get-up has got to go. And I've never loved players that thrive off defensive tennis. Still, his record of 58 straight wins on clay - and counting - a remarkable achievement that deserves to be praised.
Too bad the old record holder, Guillermo Vilas, doesn't feel the same way.
You'd think that Vilas, who now looks disturbingly like Gerard Depardieu, would appreciate Nadal's mark because it gives him a chance to remind everyone how great he was back in the 70's. Well, he's definitely enjoying the reminding part. The appreciating part? Not so much.
Check out this blog, which quotes extensively from a Reuters article I can't seem to find.
It's unbelievable to me that Vilas is trying to claim that Nadal padded his record, and that somehow it means less because it was accumulated over two years. This from a guy who reached his number of consecutive clay court victories by winning tournaments in such tennis hotbeds as Tehran and Bogota.
As for the tournament itself, it has been a woeful display for the Americans on the red clay. But I think these things are cyclical. I've heard there's some talent coming through the pipeline that will hopefully take the torch from Agassi/Sampras/Courier after it's been fumbled by Andy Roddick.