As mortgage rates have risen recently, many people appear to have started to panic. Mortgage rates really haven’t spiked, but they have increased, experts say. The increase appears to be a shock to some, but analysts point out the rates had been dropped to all-time lows.

All good things must end, and that is the case with the mortgage rates. Experts point out that two months ago, a 30-year fixed rate mortgage had an interest rate of only 3.35 percent. Instead of working about them increasing to slightly over four-percent, people need to realize why they were so low.

The rates were reduced because the Federal Reserve had no confidence in the economy. Rising mortgage rates has a positive overall meaning, the economy is improving. An improving economy has a major overall impact on a variety of industries and markets.

What should be expected? Experts say as the economy improves, mortgage rates will slowly increase and make it back to their normal levels.

While some reports have indicated that rising interest rates could negatively impact the housing market, others indicate that is not the case. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the volume of applications to refinance mortgages since May has dropped by 53 percent. The volume of applications for purchase-money mortgages, which are mortgages for those wanting to buy homes, has decreased by only eight percent.

To sum it up, fewer people need to refinance and the number of those wanting to buy since May has been barely affected. The number buying new and existing homes has not been drastically affected by the rising rates. The most recent national average has the thirty-year fixed rate mortgage at 4.51 percent. The Wall Street Journal has pointed out that even when that rate reaches five percent the cost of housing is still affordable by historical standards.

So as the economy improves, the mortgage rates will continue to rise. Overall, that could be a positive thing because it means that many industries are seeing growth. When industries see growth, there is an increase in cash flow. If people have the cash flow, they can and will buy houses. Increasing mortgage rates are not to believe to result in a major negative impact on the housing market, according to analysts.

However, if someone wants to take advantage of the historically low mortgage rates, now is the time to act, experts indicate. As the economy improves, the rates will continue to climb.

Source: US Finance Post

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Mortgage interest rates fell back last week after 30 days of upward momentum.




The question homebuyers and real estate agents are asking is: Where will mortgage rates go now?




For the week, 30-year fixed mortgage rates fell from 4.55% to 4.44%, according to the BankingMyway.com Weekly Mortgage Rate tracker.




Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages also fell, from 3.77% to 3.61%, while five-year adjustable rate mortgages slid from 3.38% to 3.23%.




Economists say rates have fallen over hints from the Federal Reserve that it might ease up on its mortgage bond purchase program, which has helped keep mortgage rates low.




Fannie Mae (FNMA_) offers some guidance on the issue with its June National Housing Survey.




In it, Fannie Mae surveyed 1,000 Americans on their views on homeownership, home prices and mortgage rates. In the survey, 57% respondents expect mortgage rates to rise over the next 12 months -- that's up from 46% in the May survey, and it's the highest number in the three-year history of the survey.




In addition, 57% of survey respondents expect home prices to rise, with 72% of Americans saying it's a good time to buy a home.




In a way, FNMA says, potential homebuyers are in a race to buy a home before mortgage rates and home prices rise too high.




"The spike in mortgage rate expectations this month seems to have had an impact on a number of the survey's indicators and may increase housing activity in the near term by driving urgency to buy," said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. "Consumers may recognize that today's still-favorable mortgage rates and homeownership affordability levels will recede over time. Given rising home and rental price expectations and improving personal financial attitudes, more prospective homebuyers may be deciding that now is the time to get off the fence."




Fannie Mae provides some additional consumer sentiments related to the housing sector, and the economy in general:




    46% of Americans say their personal financial situation will improve over the next year -- the highest level since 2010.

    26% of Americans report their household income is up -- a 6% rise from last year.

    47% of respondents say it would "easy" for them to get a mortgage this year.




Clearly, the FNMA survey indicates Americans are more bullish on the economy, and on their own personal financial situation. That said, many respondents seem to think the economy is in a "sweet spot" right now, with home prices and mortgage rates at reasonable levels.




Americans expect home prices and mortgage rates to trend higher, as the housing market moves out of that sweet spot, and into more expensive territory.




Source:  The street

1. Kim Sears is the only serious girlfriend Andy has had. They met at the US Open in 2005.

2. As a boy, Andy spent his pocket money on Bond films – his favourite was Goldfinger. He was thrilled when he received a call from Sir Sean Connery during Wimbledon 2005 to wish him luck.

3. He once played tennis with David Cameron in the State Dining Room at 10 Downing Street during a reception. He admitted to being scared that he would break something but luckily they both managed to avoid hitting the chandeliers.

4. The 26-year-old appeared in a special edition of the BBC comedy show Outnumbered for Sports Relief where he showed his sense of humour. He was asked by the young character Karen what he did. When he replied, "I play tennis", an underwhelmed Karen replied, "But what do you do for a job?".

5. He once loaded so many Milky Way cake bars into his supermarket trolley that the lady at the checkout said, "Do you think these are on special offer or something?" Kim replied, "No, he just likes them a lot."

6. As Andy was born with a bipartite patella, where the kneecap bone fails to fuse together, he has required painkilling injections and pills to get him on court.

7. Andy sold his red Ferrari as he felt like an idiot in it. "I'm quite a conservative driver, but when I was driving that, I would get beeped just for getting out of the car," he said.

8. When Andy won the junior title at the 2004 US Open he dedicated his victory to the victims of a terrorist attack on a school in Beslan in Russia that year, as well as to the victims of the 1996 shooting at Dunblane primary school (where he and his brother were pupils). "I found it hard to watch those children coming out of the Russian school," he said. "I watched it on television and felt so much sorrow for them."

9. When Andy started playing on the tour, he often felt lonely and isolated. "I love company, I love being around a lot of people," he has said.

10. If you listen to the album produced by the world's leading doubles team, American twins Bob and Mike Bryan, you will hear Andy rapping about signing autographs. "During Wimbledon it gets really crazy. My hand cramps up and my mind gets hazy. I sign and I sign but the line doesn't end. Wake me up and let's do it tomorrow. Autograph."

11. Though the only book Andy ever read all the way through was a wrestler's autobiography, he has been acquainted with Shakespeare – he read some to Kim to help her learn her lines for a stage production.

12. As a young boy, Andy and his family would listen to cassettes of Billy Connolly's stand-up routines as they drove to tournaments. He says that Connolly taught him to swear.

13. Andy sometimes has been known to eat four Feast ice-creams a day (although he is now extremely strict when it comes to his diet). "I can eat ice-cream from midday until I go to bed," he once said.

14. Andy believes there is "a fear of emotion in tennis". "It wouldn't make me feel good to bottle up my emotions," he once said. "Saying nothing and standing there makes me feel flat. If someone in the crowd boos, everyone looks at them as if to ask, 'What the hell are you doing?'"

15. He recently bought a hotel, Cromlix House in Dunblane, where his brother Jamie got married.

16. His obsession with go-karting is such that he has his own racing shoes and helmet which has "The Stig" written on the back.

17. The tennis champion almost missed the 2004 BBC Sports Personality of the Year show, where he was given an award for young sportsman of the year, after he inadvertently locked himself in a hotel bathroom.

18. As tennis is a "diagonal sport", Murray's body is not totally in balance; he has a weaker left shoulder, because it never gets to work as hard as the right, and his left leg is a little stronger than his right.

19. Andy's middle name is Barron, which translates from Old English as "young warrior".

20. When Andy was seven, he spent £8 at a local market on getting the Andre Agassi ‘hot lava’ look in tribute to his idol — Andy bought some cut-off denim shorts, neon pink and purple cycling shorts, and a baseball cap with a long blond ponytail clipped to the back.

source: hellomagazine.com

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The average U.S. rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage rose this week to 4.51%, a two-year high. Rates have been rising on expectations that the Federal Reserve will slow its bond purchases this year.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average on the 30-year loan jumped from 4.29% the previous week. Just two months ago, it was 3.35% — barely above the record low of 3.31%.

HOUSING: Mortgage applications continue to fall

The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage rose to 3.53% from 3.39% last week. That's the highest since August 2011.

Chairman Ben Bernanke has said the Fed could slow its bond purchases this year if the economy strengthens. The purchases have kept rates low. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which mortgage rates typically track, has been rising.

Even with the gains, mortgage rates remain low by historical standards. Low rates have helped fuel a housing recovery that is helping to drive economic growth this year.

The annual sales pace of previously occupied homes topped 5 million in May for the first time in 3.5 years. And sales of new homes rose at the fastest pace in five years.

Greater demand, along with a tight supply of homes for sale, has pushed up home prices. It also has led to more home construction, which has created more jobs.

To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday each week. The average doesn't include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1% of the loan amount.

The average fee for a 30-year mortgage was 0.8 point this week, up from 0.7 point last week. The fee for a 15-year loan also rose to 0.8 point from 0.7 point.

The average rate on a one-year adjustable-rate mortgage was unchanged at 2.66%. The fee rose to 0.5 point from 0.4.

The average rate on a five-year adjustable mortgage rose to 3.26% from 3.10%. The fee was unchanged at 0.7 point.

Source: USA Today

Trulia TRLA +0.3%ulia’s Chief Economist reveals that rising mortgage rates are the top worry for people thinking of buying a home someday, and 56% of Americans say they would be discouraged from homeownership if rates reach 6%. But consumer surveys aside, pay more attention to what consumers do than what they say.

After years of low-and-lower mortgage rates, the 30-year fixed rate shot up from a near-historic-low of 3.35% in early May to 4.46% in late June before settling back to 4.29% last week, according to Freddie Mac . The rate increase was sudden and steep, but not a surprise. Economists and forecasters have been waiting for rates to go up for two reasons: (1) the strengthening economy tends to push up rates, and (2) the Fed is expected to pull back on bond-buying and other measures that have kept rates low, which they reaffirmed in mid-June. By historical standards, rates are still low: remember that mortgage rates hovered around 6% for most of the 2000s, 7-9% in the 1990s, and above 10% in the 1980s. Nonetheless, the recent rate climb has been steep. 

What Consumers Think of Rising Rates
Consumers are anxious about rising mortgage rates. Trulia surveyed more than 2,000 people during June 24-26, after rates rose sharply. We asked what their biggest worry would be if they were to buy a home this year. Among all consumers who plan to buy a home in the future, 41% said their top worry is that mortgage rates would rise before they actually bought. The next biggest worries were that prices would rise before they actually bought (37%) and that they wouldn’t find a home for sale that they like (36%).

How high do mortgage rates have to rise before consumers are discouraged from buying a home? Among consumers who plan to buy a home someday, 13% said that mortgage rates of 4% (which is what the rate had climbed to when the survey was conducted) were already too high for them to consider buying a home. Another 20% said they’d be discouraged from buying a home if rates reach 5%; yet another 22% said they’d be discouraged from buying a home if rates reach 6%. Combining these groups, 56% of consumers who plan to buy a home someday would be discouraged from doing so if rates reach 6%. Among renters who plan to buy a home someday, 62% would be discouraged from doing so if rates reach 6%.

Watch What They Do, Not What They Say
Consumers are right to worry about the effect of mortgage rates on housing costs. Higher rates, of course, raise the monthly mortgage payment for a loan. For instance, at 3.35% the monthly payment on a $200,000, 30-year fixed-rate loan is $881; at 4.46% the payment jumps to $1009 – that’s a 14% jump in the monthly mortgage payment between early May and late June. This means a consumer can afford less house for a fixed monthly payment, which – all else equal – should reduce housing demand and home prices in the long term. In the short term, however, if consumers expect rates to rise further, some might rush to buy, which could boost sales and home prices temporarily.

However, in the recent run-up in rates, not much has happened to either prices or to home-purchase mortgage applications. Trulia’s Price Monitor, which is the earliest indicator of price trends available, shows that asking prices in June rose 1.5% month-over-month – showing no signs of a slowdown while not spiking much above price gains in the previous few months. Nor is there any sign of either a slowdown or a spike in mortgage applications by prospective homebuyers, either: the Mortgage Bankers’ Association (MBA) index for home-purchase mortgage applications in June rose 2% month-over-month and 11% year-over-year (comparing 4-week moving averages).

So far, the biggest impact of higher mortgage rates has not been on home purchases, but on refinancing. The MBA’s refinance mortgage applications index in June fell 24% month-over-month and 40% year-over-year. Unlike buying a home, refinancing is a purely financial decision that people can do relatively quickly, so the impact of rising rates on refinancing is sharp and almost immediate. Both low mortgage rates and expanded eligibility rules for government-sponsored programs have encouraged refinancing over the past couple of years, which lowered borrowers’ monthly payments so they had more money left over to spend or save. With rising rates, though, few people who haven’t refinanced already will do so now.

What Effect Will Rising Rates Have?
Rising mortgage rates are making consumers nervous and discouraged. Higher rates make housing less affordable and should help slow home price gains from a rapid boil to a gentler simmer. But so far, the effect of rising rates on the housing market – aside from the drop in refinancing – has been limited and is unlikely to derail the housing recovery. Why? Four reasons:

    Mortgage rates are rising alongside a strengthening economy, boosting housing demand. By themselves, rising rates make housing more expensive and hurt housing demand. But rates aren’t rising in a vacuum. After a severe recession, economic recovery tends to push interest rates higher as demand for credit increases and investors worry more about inflation. Furthermore, the Fed has tied its plans to taper bond-buying to signal that the economy is getting stronger. Therefore, by design, the strengthening economy should boost housing demand at the same time that rising rates dampen housing demand.
    Inventory remains tight, making it hard for homebuyers to rush their purchase. Even though the number of homes for sale has recently started to increase, inventory remains tight. That means buyers who want to find and buy a home quickly to beat rising rates might be held back by slim pickings. In fact, among survey respondents who actually plan to buy a home within the next year, not being able to find a home they like edges out rising mortgage rates as their #1 worry.
    Rising rates could lead to expanded mortgage credit. Mortgage rates matter – but only if you can get a mortgage in the first place. Although credit might be starting to open up for the most qualified buyers, credit remains tight. But rising rates could have a silver lining: as refinancing demand dries up, banks might look to expand their home-purchase lending instead. When rates were at their low point last fall, refinancing accounted for more than 80% of mortgage applications, so the recent drop in refinancing leaves a big hole in banks’ mortgage business that home-purchase loans could fill. Even though consumers are anxious about rising rates, we bet they’d rather have a 5% loan that they can actually get than a 3.5% loan they can’t get.
    Buying is still a lot cheaper than renting. There’s no question that rising rates make home-buying more expensive than it was a few months ago. But we can’t turn back time: the choice is not to buy now or six months ago. Rather, the choice that many consumers face is whether to buy or rent today at current prices, rents, and mortgage rates. Right now, that math still makes buying look like the better deal – by far. Even with a 4.5% 30-year-fixed mortgage, buying is 37% cheaper than renting nationally; that’s because a 4.5% rate is still very low by historical standards, and prices are still modest relative to rents. Nationally, renting doesn’t get cheaper than buying until rates reach 10.5%, though the tipping point is below 6% in the Bay Area and Honolulu.

Overall, rising mortgage rates will help slow down recent home price gains and should help the market avoid veering into bubble territory. Rising rates will put homeownership out of reach for some consumers, but the strengthening economy and the possibility of easier mortgage credit could keep some discouraged homebuyers in the game.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An unrelenting surge in interest rates for U.S. home mortgages pushed borrowing costs to their highest level in two years last week, stymieing demand from potential homeowners, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

Interest rates on fixed 30-year mortgages rose for the ninth week in a row to average 4.68 percent in the week ended July 5, the Mortgage Bankers Association said. It was the highest level since July 2011 and a 10 basis point increase over the week before.

The surge in costs has been expected to push some undecided buyers into the market as they rush to lock in rates before they rise even more, but MBA's seasonally adjusted gauge of loan requests for home purchases fell 3.1 percent, the second straight week of declines.

Rates have been rising since early May, and the increase accelerated after comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke last month that the U.S. central bank expects to wind down the pace of its quantitative easing program later this year if the economy improves as expected.

The Fed has been buying $85 billion a month in bonds and mortgage-backed assets to keep borrowing costs low and stimulate economic growth. The historically low mortgage rates have helped lure in buyers as the housing market gets back on its feet.

The recent higher cost of mortgages has raised concerns that the increase could dampen demand and slow the housing recovery, though most economists do not expect the recovery to be derailed. Even with the increase, rates remain historically low.

Demand for refinancing has been hit harder as refinancing becomes less attractive at higher rates. MBA's measure of refinancing applications fell 4.4 percent last week and the refinance share of total mortgage activity slipped to 64 percent of applications.

The index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, fell 4.0 percent.

The survey covers over 75 percent of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.

(Reporting by Leah Schnurr)

Mortgage rates recovered roughly one third of the ground lost on Friday, though this varies from lender to lender.  For the sake of perspective, today's improvement was one of the 3 biggest moves of the year, but even if it was factored in last week, Friday simply be one of the 5 worst days for rates in the past 10 years instead of the worst.  30yr Fixed  best-execution eased back to a range of 4.625 - 4.75--roughly a quarter of a point higher than last Tuesday and Wednesday.




It's important to note that financial markets were not exactly back in the swing of things in terms of summer-time participation.  It's easy to assume that markets are the sort of thing that are either "on" or "off," but people actually make a difference.  During this time of year (and especially when there are holiday market closures or days with limited data), some of those people do what other people do and take time off.  This has an effect on how markets function-- increasing volatility or distorting reality.  These side effects are far from guaranteed, but market participants aren't yet sure what to make of today's bounce back in interest rates because markets simply weren't active enough to draw any conclusions. 

It could be the case that we recover even more ground before Wednesday's main event: the Minutes from June's FOMC Meeting.  It could also be the case that we're merely catching our breath before more wild rides higher.  The point is that we can't know yet.  Every time we experience a jarring move higher in rates, there's hope that it will be the last one for a while, but it continues to be the case that we have yet to see a definitive turn  since early May.  That said, if you'd told traders in the secondary mortgage market that we would embark on a massive sell-off the day before it began, and asked them where 30yr rates would likely find their best supportive ceilings, the two most common answers would likely have been 4.375% and 4.875%. 

There is hope for some consolidation in this rate range, but it pays to keep the potential volatility in mind.  Not even three months ago, you could think of changes in rates happening not to rates themselves, but simply to the costs associated with those rates.  The day to day risks were minimal compared to today where the actual rate itself may be moving an eighth to a quarter of a percent at a time.  The scope of possible movement higher or lower has widened.

Loan Originator Perspectives

"Today we were able to recover almost half of the losses in MBS from Friday's runaway selloff. But you couldn't tell from today's rate sheets. Mortgage rates will be slow to improve until some sense of stability is back in the market. I continue to advise all of my clients to lock their rate in to secure their terms. " -Kenneth Crute Branch Manager Prime Mortgage Lending Inc

"Took a new application today, and we'd lost over .25% in rate from last Wednesday, even with a moderate MBS improvement this AM. Today's gains are less than 1/2 of the ground we lost during Friday's historic selloff, but something is better than nothing. Hopefully we'd seen the worst of this debacle, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it." -Ted Rood, Senior Originator, Wintrust Mortgage

"For my customers that are out shopping for new homes, the only thing you can do is keep them posted of the volatility in the market, and let them know that rates could change at any time. Today has been a good day for rates, but as we've seen, we could see another sell off tomorrow! So if you have a customer that is out shopping at their max approval amount, I would be very careful with what they are looking at, and let them know they may qualify for that house on Monday, but not qualify on Tuesday! Communication will now be more important than ever." -Jason York, VP of VA Operations, Prime Mortgage Lending, Inc

"Locking last week before the Friday jobs report was a good call. I'm still locking as there appears to be no end to the rise in rates." -Mike Owens, Partner, Horizon Financial Inc.

Today's Best-Execution Rates

    30YR FIXED - 4.75-4.875%
    FHA/VA - 4.25%  -4.75% (depending on lender buy-down structure)
    15 YEAR FIXED -  3.875%
    5 YEAR ARMS -  3.0-3.5% depending on the lender


source: Matthew Graham at mortgage daily news

WIMBLEDON, England — Andy Murray's long-awaited Wimbledon victory against Novak Djokovic could signal a tilting of an entrenched dynamic.




Murray, though it took him a while to break through, has become a significant force in the chase for majors.




Playing with a calm sometimes lacking in previous campaigns, No. 2 Murray knocked off top-ranked Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 on a brilliantly sunny afternoon — thus ending a cloud of anxiety that has hung over Britain.




Scotland's Murray is the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years, since Fred Perry won the last of three in a row in 1936.




"I still can't believe it," Murray said a couple of hours after sending the Kingdom into collective delirium. "Can't get my head around that."




Djokovic remains No. 1 in the rankings. It could be said, however, that at this moment Murray is at the top of the game.

The two 26-year-olds, born a week apart, have upped the physical stakes with Rafael Nadal and are threatening to separate themselves from Roger Federer, who turns 32 in August and has dropped to No. 5, his lowest ranking in a decade.

You're looking at a bit of the changing of the guard," John McEnroe said Sunday. "Roger is one of the greatest, if not the greatest ever, but it's going to be harder for him to hang with these guys in long matches now. And Andy's really come into his own."

One year after a crushing defeat to Federer in the Wimbledon final, Murray returned to the All England Club lawns to capture his second Grand Slam title. He broke through in September at the U.S. Open, where he beat Serbia's Djokovic in a rousing five sets.

Murray, who also won the 2012 Olympic gold medal at Wimbledon, ran his unbeaten string on grass to 18-0 since.

"I understand how much everyone wanted to see a British winner at Wimbledon so I hope you enjoyed it," Murray told the crowd at Centre Court, where the year before he broke down into tears in his on-court interview. "I tried my best."

Grueling groundstroke rallies

Meeting in their third major final in less than a year, the world's top two players and defensive standouts exchanged many grueling groundstroke rallies. A few went 30 shots or more.

Murray was quicker around the court and steadier in the clutch, taking advantage of Djokovic's lackluster serving and bouts of error-prone play.

"The bottom line is that he was a better player in decisive moments," said Djokovic, the 2011 Wimbledon winner. "He was all over the court."

Murray had a better ratio of winners (36-31) and unforced errors (21-40) than Djokovic, and also smacked more aces (9-4). But the biggest difference was his ability to put return after return in play — 77% in all.

"Even though when I was putting my first serves in he was always getting them back in the court and making me play an extra shot," Djokovic said. "That's why he won this tournament."

Murray, too, seemed energized by the nearly 15,000 screaming fans on sold-out Centre Court and thousands more watching the big screen from the grounds.

With them at his back, he recovered from a break down in the last two sets and shook off the loss of three match points when he was serving for the match at 40-0.

"At the end, mentally, that last game will be the toughest game I'll play in my entire career, ever," Murray said.

When Djokovic netted a backhand, Murray's racket and cap went flying as he pumped two fists at his box.

Soon he was there himself, hugging his coach of the past 18 months, Ivan Lendl, his girlfriend Kim Sears, his father Bill and other members of his team and family.

The Dunblane native nearly forgot the person most responsible for putting a racket in his hand and shaping his game before reversing course to give her an embrace — his mother Judy, Britain's Fed Cup captain and a former top player in her native Scotland.

Murray credited hard work and resolve for his win — making the incremental improvements from which champions are constructed.

"I think I persevered," he said. "That's really been it, the story of my career probably."

He also learned from his losses, particularly last year's four-set defeat to Federer.

"I think it was a turning point in some ways," Judy Murray said. "He had chances in the final last year and let it get away. I think every time you have a really tough loss, a loss that really hurts you, you learn a lot from it about how to handle the occasions better going forward."

Eight-time Grand Slam champion Lendl, who like Murray lost his first four major finals, provided the voice and mind-set to help him turn the corner.

"I think he believed in me when a lot of people didn't," Murray said of Lendl, who reached two Wimbledon finals but never left with the trophy. "He would have loved to have won here, but it's the next best thing."

Murray, who skipped the French Open with a bad back, ran his record in Grand Slam finals to 2-5. He lost to Djokovic in January in the Australian Open final. Djokovic fell to 6-5.

Together, they have contested four major finals and are tied 2-2, with Djokovic beating the Scot two of the last three years in Melbourne and Murray winning here and in September in New York.

Djokovic leads their head-to-head 11-8, but meetings in the latter stages of Slams seem likely in their budding rivalry.

"I could see them playing another four times over the next three years," ESPN's Brad Gilbert said.

Hardcourt summer ahead

With the season shifting to North American hardcourts, Murray and Djokovic won't slow down. Both defensive whizzes excel on cement.

If Nadal's knee is not a problem, it sets up a tantalizing summer between the trio that will culminate at the year's final Grand Slam in New York.

The fourth-ranked Spaniard tore up the tour after returning from a seven-month absence in February, winning seven titles and a record eighth French Open. But the 27-year-old limped out of Wimbledon's first round with his chronic knee issues again flaring up.

Federer, the all-time leader with 17 majors, appears to be in slow decline. He owns one win against a top-10 player in 2013 and has captured only one small title at Halle, Germany, last month on grass.

Perhaps to get more match play, the Swiss is competing in two minor claycourt events in Europe as he prepares for the summer swing.

"It's definitely a three-horse race for the year-end No. 1, but everything depends on how Rafa's knee is," Gilbert said. "Then we get the hardcourt season that we want."


Source: USA Today

 WIMBLEDON, England -- It wasn't until late Friday afternoon that the secret aim of this year's Wimbledon became clear. The fortnight of falls, all those buckling knees and quivering ankles, were but little alerts meant for Novak Djokovic: Tennis' grand dame was coming after him. 

No player's body, of course, has proven more elastic, more inhumanly resilient while strapped onto the rack known as today's men's tennis, and Djokovic slid through his first five matches largely unscathed. Now she'd finally had enough. There Djokovic was, late in the third set of an epic semifinal, pinned behind the baseline by Juan Martin Del Potro's lasered cannonade -- racing back-and-forth, back-and-forth, legs like pipe-cleaners splayed ever wider with each exchange. Finally he groaned. He crashed. He stood up slow. Next rally, again: Seven strokes, seven more clicks of the rack that now pushed spectating into the surreal. You actually thought: Stop, please. Del Potro's about to split the man in two. 

And yet, after Djokovic literally held it together, after he survived the valiant Argentine and the longest semi in Wimbledon history -- after a match, indeed, that any other Grand Slam would've taken as a perfect finish, the vicious old dame wasn't done. If Djokovic wants to win his second title at the All-England Club, all he need do is withstand a surging, stronger Andy Murray, a Centre Court cauldron brewing with hostility, a nation of 60 million intent on pushing their man over the line at last. 

"It's going to be very loud," said Djokovic, who at 26 is just seven days younger than his opponent. "But I'm ready to go all the way. As long as it takes for me to play, to give it all, I'm ready to go out on the court and give everything I have." 

Murray, of course, beat Djokovic in a five-set marathon to win his first -- and only -- Grand Slam title last fall at the U.S. Open. All of his breakthroughs -- last year's run to the final here, his resulting tears, his gold-medal win at the London Olympics -- seem sure to ease anxiety over his becoming the first British man in 77 years to lift the trophy. But the last time these two men met on such a stage, at the 2013 Australian Open final, Murray battled Djokovic evenly until the second set tiebreak, when a rogue feather -- of all things -- drifted into view and derailed his concentration. He stopped play to move it, and went on to lose in four. Maybe that's just a coincidence. 

"He's improved a lot in his offensive tennis," said Djokovic's coach Marian Vadja of Murray today. "He improved on serve, he improved on his forehand. He's more stable. He's mentally strong, as he never has been before. I have to say he's very ready, too." 

And maybe it's not. "I think I'll be probably in a better place mentally," Murray said Friday of his state compared to a year ago. "I would hope I would be a little bit calmer going into Sunday. But you don't know. You don't decide that. I might wake up Sunday and be unbelievably nervous, more nervous that I ever have been before. But I wouldn't expect to be." 

That Murray himself can even concede that possibility, though, tells just how heavy the weight must be. He may call the U.S. Open his favorite Slam, but to Brits his win there was somehow minor, the necessary means to a glorious end. No other tennis championship really matters. "With Wimbledon, obviously, you double it," said former Brit No. 1 John Lloyd of the difference in impact. "Because unfortunately in Britain tennis is not that popular a sport until Wimbledon happens. Then a lot of audience is housewives, but after Wimbledon finishes it's, like, 'Let's wait 'til next June.' They don't even look at the rest of the tournaments." 

But in truth, they're not too far wrong. Wimbledon may be played on archaic grass and can be aggressively out of touch with modernity, but its Championships -- at least on the men's side -- consistently provides the game with its most discerning winnowing of talent, its truest test of greatness. Djokovic won his first major in Australia in 2008 and has since won three more there. He came off the canvas to stun the great Roger Federer en route to winning in New York in 2011. None of them can compare. 

"I visualized holding this trophy when I was only six, seven years old," Djokovic says of his four-set win over Rafael Nadal. "When I won it back in 2011 it was definitely the highlight of my career -- and it still is." 

But Wimbledon does more than unveil living history. Today marks the third meeting between Djokovic and Murray in a Grand Slam final in the last year -- but the first as No. 1 and No. 2. There's a reason: Wimbledon reveals the game as much as players; it showcases the state of the art. Just as the 1980 final between John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg -- and the 2008 final between Federer and Rafael Nadal -- remains that era's ultimate expression, Sunday's showdown will provide the clearest picture of today's game: The fitness and speed, the near-extinction of serve-volley, the string technology that has revolutionized the transition from defense-to-offense, the vital endurance that leaves previous generations in awe. 

"What we're seeing is two guys who have taken movement and physicality to a different level," said commentator Patrick McEnroe, the head of player development for the USTA. "They don't have the dynamic shot-making ability of Federer. They don't have that easy-to-see intensity of Nadal. They bring more predictability, but they do it so well; they're so efficient. 

"Djokovic brings almost perfect tennis skills. Murray's not as great a mover, but he's willed himself -- just busted it so hard -- to get to where he is. He's stronger physically, and his tennis skills are more varied. There are subtle differences, and that should be the defining factor on grass. I like Murray in this match, because he has a bit more versatility. Djokovic is a better ball-striker. Overall they're pretty similar." 

That fact alone, of course, militates against the kind of rapturous reviews that followed Federer-Nadal matches. The criticism of this new era is that it's more assaultive than artistic, more exhausting than exquisite, with only the current baseliner offense capable of consistent success. Federer and Nadal -- grace and guts, ice and fire -- made it easy for even the casual fan to access their genius, "because they were doing stuff differently than the prior generation," says former U.S. top ten Todd Martin. "These guys are just doing it better." 

Indeed, just as the Fed-Rafa rivalry seemed to echo McEnroe-Borg, carries more than a whiff of the mid-80s rise of Ivan Lendl and Mats Wilander, players whose matches inspired more respect than rapture. "No, it's not as appealing." Wilander said. "Contrast of styles is always going to be more appealing than the level of play." 

That's why, too, this Wimbledon's legacy might prove even more lasting. The excitement caused by 22-year-old Pole Jerzy Janowicz was hardly dampened by his four-set loss to Murray in the semis; his 140 m.p.h. serve, quickness, soft hands and pure feistiness ("I don't care," Janowicz said about Murray's complaints over the roof being closed mid-match. "What I can do? I care about myself. I don't care if he was angry or not.") felt like a one-man challenge to today's dominant pair. 

"When he starts to put it all together, to try and actually win matches, as much as points? He's one who can break into those guys," Wilander said of Janowicz. "He's the next No. 1 in the world. But these two are going to be around a while. They're both so dedicated to fitness and strength and flexibility and eating and coaching; they're taking it to the next level in all of what they're doing. And they're going to push each other. They need each to stay ahead of the rest, so they can end up playing in every Grand Slam final -- apart from the French Open -- every year for the next four years." 

But why get ahead of ourselves? Asked to sum up his Wimbledon in one word, Janowicz said, "Fun." That's not how British fans will regard today's torment, not until -- maybe -- it's all over. And it's certainly not how Murray and Djokovic would describe what they face in each other today. For tennis fans, though, the prospect of pomp, excellence and national heartache loosed together upon Centre Court is irresistible. Get the rack ready. Fun, indeed. 


Read More: sports illustrated



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Jim Clooney, Principal Advisor for Total Solutions Real Estate and an avid tennis fan, recounts his experiences with the sport and how they prepared him for a career in sales and finance.

My love of tennis really took off in high school. As a result of playing tennis competitively on the school team, I was able to get a four-year tennis scholarship to St. John’s University, an event that would help shape my career and life in general. While attending St. John’s, I was a member of the tennis team for four years and later became team captain, and I also participated in a number of extracurricular activities related to tennis. These experiences were extremely positive, endowing me with the teamwork and leadership skills, drive, and self-possession that would later serve me well in my career.

I have maintained my passion for the sport over the years. I am currently a ranked player in the U.S. Tennis Association’s senior division, and I do not intend to stop playing anytime soon. Additionally, I continue to participate in fundraisers for the St. John’s University tennis team. I cannot imagine how my life would have turned out without tennis, and I have no desire to live without it.

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