STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Sports fans who are not obsessed with the World Cup may be watching Wimbledon instead. The tennis event is certain to have a first-time champion in women's singles. On the men's side, Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic are among the players in the semifinals. Jon Wertheim is covering all this. He is at Wimbledon. Hi there, Jon.
JON WERTHEIM: Hi there. How are you?
INSKEEP: OK. So be honest. Have you been sneaking a peek at soccer games from time to time?
WERTHEIM: Funny you should ask. It's actually banned at Wimbledon from showing the World Cup.
INSKEEP: (Laughter).
WERTHEIM: It's sort of a - this is an inferiority complex sports-style. So everyone watches tennis and then retreats to the pub, but there is very little World Cup at Wimbledon by fiat.
INSKEEP: OK. Call me later. I'll tell you how the World Cup turned out.
(LAUGHTER)
INSKEEP: Anyway...
WERTHEIM: The what cup?
INSKEEP: (Laughter) Whatever. All right. None of the favorites on the women's side are in the final. What happened?
WERTHEIM: Grass was a fluky surface. There were a number of upsets, but I would say the two players remaining, both Czech - we should have held Wimbledon in Prague this year - are very talented, fine players. So they're not going to be familiar names to the general sports fan, but they are both very worthy of playing for the title on Saturday.
INSKEEP: Let me try to say the names here. Linda Noskova - do I have it right?
WERTHEIM: Sure.
INSKEEP: (Laughter) Sure, thanks. And Karolina Muchova - is that close enough?
WERTHEIM: I'll go - that one I'll - Muchova.
INSKEEP: Muchova. Thank you.
WERTHEIM: But point taken.
INSKEEP: OK. So - and so they - but they've earned it, I assume. I mean, they're talents.
WERTHEIM: They're talents and they're also dynamic talents. They're really fun to watch and they're both very athletic, versatile players. They're - it's great entertainment. Again, I'm not naive. These are not household names, but I think from a sports perspective, certainly from a grass-court tennis perspective, if you're hard inside tennis, these are really two very worthy, fun players who, you know, one of them is going to be a first-time Wimbledon champion, and the other is going to have a nice result, as well. And again, this will not be a ratings bonanza, but it's - it should be good sport.
INSKEEP: OK. On the men's side, some more famous names - Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic. Mentioned them earlier. Who's the favorite?
WERTHEIM: It's a great question. At some level, it's absurd. You have a, you know, Sinner is age 24, defending champion, prime of his career, and he's playing a guy 15 years his senior.
INSKEEP: Yeah.
WERTHEIM: And yet that's Novak Djokovic who does not look like a 39-year-old. He looks like a real contender. And I think Sinner is probably the favorite for any number of reasons, not least just youth and being spry. But I think Novak Djokovic has a real chance, and I think the crowd will be, you know, very sentimentally pulling for the 39-year-old, and we'll see how that expresses itself.
INSKEEP: Can you - having followed him all these years, what does it take to last that long into your late 30s as a pro-tennis player? And how has Djokovic's game changed as his body has changed?
WERTHEIM: It's a great - I mean, 39 years old. Jimmy Connors was 39 when he had that run at the U.S. Open a few decades ago, and everyone was joking about cutting up his meat into small pieces. It was this outlier. And Djokovic is 39 and we talk about him like he's 29. He's a contender. I think some of this is just the investment he puts in. He's good about his scheduling. He's great about his diet. He's sort of done everything possible to prolong his career. And now here he is, two matches away from a 25th major title.
INSKEEP: Jon Wertheim, always a pleasure to hear from you. Thanks so much.
WERTHEIM: Pleasure. Thanks, Steve.
INSKEEP: Jon Wertheim with Sports Illustrated.
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