Isner, Mahut And The Power Game

The Tennis Channel offered a replay of the final five games of the for-the-ages Isner-Mahut 70-68 final set, followed by a discussion between Bill Macatee, Martina Navratilova, and Jimmy Connors.

It was wonderful conversation for a number of reasons. First, there is the commentary, which is measured, intelligent and prescient. Both all-time greats were amazed at the athletic performance turned in, and shared their views without screaming and throwing out ridiculous superlatives like you might hear on other sports channels.

And then there was the intelligent discussion about why this happened. Naturally it could just be a bizarre fluke, but Connors weighed in with his thoughts on the over-emphasis on the serve at Wimbledon and the possibility that it leads to freakish matches in the vein of Isner-Mahut. In no way was he putting down the performance, just posing the thought that perhaps the ball needs to be slowed down to restore some balance between the serve and other elements of the game.

And just the kind of conversation that's strictly forbidden in the world of golf!