Given the way I ended “Tiger’s Back! But He’s Brown, Not Black” two days ago, I can probably be forgiven for saying, I told you so.
For just the second time in his professional career, Woods failed to break 80. The missed cut was just the 13th time worldwide that he failed to qualify for the final 36 holes and the first time he has done so in back-to-back official tournaments.
(ESPN, January 31, 2015)
But I see no point in joining the peanut gallery of sports analysts and psychologists sounding off on what went wrong, and on what Tiger has to do to get it right. Not least because I believe I accurately diagnosed his problem two years ago, essentially, as follows:
No doubt you recall that his downfall began in the wake of a sensational bimbo eruption that destroyed his marriage and sapped him of the aura of invincibility that was as key to his game as his putting stroke.
(“Tiger No.1 Again! But…,” The iPINIONS Journal, March 27, 2013)
In other words, the more Tiger loses, the more he will expect to lose and, more importantly, the more other players, especially upstarts like Rory McIlroy, will expect to beat him….
Meanwhile, I would be remiss not to acknowledge that Serena Williams won her 19th Grand Slam—with a domineering straight-set victory over Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open—mere hours after Tiger suffered this historic meltdown.
Not mention that, with every Grand Slam she wins now, Serena obliges me to eat more humble pie, which is precisely what I did after she won her 17th at the U.S. Open two years ago — as this excerpt from “Serena U.S. Open Champion … Again!” September 9, 2013, attests.
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I have renewed hope that, unlike Tiger Woods, she will truly rewrite the record books in her sport.
I fully expected Venus and Serena to do to the records in women’s tennis what Tiger Woods has done (and is doing) to the records in golf.
Alas, they have not. In fact, of the 43 Grand Slam titles that have been up for grabs since they turned pro in 1998, Venus has won only 7 and Serena 11. By comparison, in less than half that time—from 2004 to 2008—Justine Henin won 7 titles. And at 29 and 27, respectively, it seems a pipe dream that either Venus or Serena will ever surpass Steffi Graf’s feat of winning 22 titles, let alone Margaret Court’s 24.
(“Serena…Triumphs at Wimbledon,” The iPINIONS Journal, July 6, 2009)
Hail Serena!
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Well, here’s to the likelihood of pipe dreams coming true. Serena entered this tournament tied with Martina Navratilova and Chris Everett as holders of 18 career Grand Slams.
There’s really no reason now to doubt that it’s only a matter of time before Serena surpasses Steffi Graf — as holder of the most Grand Slams in the modern era of Tennis. If she does, even at 40, I’d put good money on Serena surpassing Margaret Court too.
I just hope she loses those fake, Eddie-Munster eyebrows along the way.
Related commentaries:
Tiger’s back…
Serena…
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