A Grip on Sports: The weekend on television may feature the continued resurgence of American women’s tennis or just more of the same at Wimbledon

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There was a time not that long ago – in the geologic sense – when watching the men’s final from Wimbledon was every American’s patriotic duty. As was the women’s final the day before. It just might be again this weekend.

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• Did you know in 1982 and 1984 the four Wimbledon singles finalists all called the U.S. home?

Those were the days, when John McEnroe was screaming at the linesmen instead of into a microphone and Chris Evert was England’s darling because she was married to John Lloyd.

That was then. Now? Uh, American tennis is just OK. But this weekend could be different. And, quite possibly, the one event worth watching on TV this weekend. If you are willing to rise early as you had to do back in the day, say, when Serena and Venus Williams were not only trying to determine the best grass-court player in the world but also the best in their family.

On the heels of Coco Gauff winning the French Open, Amanda Anisimova will carry the American banner onto Centre Court on Saturday for the Ladies’ final (8 a.m., ESPN). She will try to be the first American to win the title since Serena Williams in 2016.

It’s been a lot longer since a U.S. man has won, thanks in large part to the domination of tennis’ now nearly gone Big Three, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. After Pete Sampras’ 2000 title and a couple of nondescript winners, those three won 17 of the next 19 titles, with only Englishman Andy Murray breaking their hold.

Heck, since Sampras, only the only American to make the final was Andy Roddick, who lost to Federer in back-to-back years and then once more in 2009 in what may have been the best men’s final ever.

Taylor Fritz was trying to break that 14-year drought, facing two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in Friday’s first semifinal. But Alcaraz prevailed in four sets and will be out to win his third-consecutive title. He will face either Djokovic, trying for his eighth Wimbledon title – the same record number Federer won – or world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, trying for his first. Sunday’s final is on ESPN at 8 a.m.

• If you do happen to watch, you may notice there are no line judges anymore. Nope. Tennis, the most-staid of sports, understands the importance of getting the calls right. And has fully embraced electronic judging. The process is completely automated, takes no time at all and is accepted by all parties.

Why? Because those in charge of the game understand the modern athletes’ ability to overpower the ball also overpowered the human eye. To be fair, the game had to evolve. It did.

Now turn on the latest Mariner game. The same parameters apply. Pitchers consistently throw the ball more than 100 miles per hour. With late movement. Umpiring is tougher. No one is perfect. There is an electronic option available. But the game will not adopt it. Instead, it is perfectly fine allowing a game to be decided – as last night’s 6-5 Yankee win was – by a missed third strike call that would have ended a 5-3 Seattle win.

Maybe more such things will happen in Detroit this weekend. If you want to watch, you’ll have to have Apple+ tonight (4:10) and Root for Saturday (10:10) and Sunday (10:40) mornings.

• If basketball is more your style, the NBA Summer League – or, if you wish, the Gonzaga Alumni Tournament – rolls on from Las Vegas. With 10 GU alums playing it does hold decent local interest. The games are on ESPN, ESPN2 or NBATV all weekend.

• The oldest of golf’s majors is next weekend in Northern Ireland but many of the same players are in Scotland this one. The Scottish Open begins at 9 a.m. on CBS both days.

• No, the U.S. has never been among the world’s best in club soccer. That’s a European thing. So it should come as no surprise two European clubs, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, will meet for FIFA’s Club World Cup title Sunday. The match, from New Jersey, will be on TBS starting at noon.

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WSU: Around the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner finishes off his thoughts about the Big 12 football media days today in the Mercury News. … John Canzano delves into a subject near and dear to every sports journalist’s heart. “Why do you hate (fill-in-blank) so much?” … Unless Congress actually passes a law to kill NIL, the new House settlement rules as they apply to outside collectives will be litigated for years. And will not stand up in court. … The NCAA committee tasked with expanding the basketball tournament, or not expanding it, decided to kick the can down the road. Why? According to Ralph Russo’s Athletic story “The only thing that appears to be standing in the way of expansion is making the finances work.” Of course it is. If TV pays the NCAA enough and it will happen. … Christian Caple takes a look at eight players who could really lift Washington’s football fortunes in the fall. … Recruiting never stops. Colorado and Arizona show that today. … Deion Sanders thinks his team may be better even after the stars have moved on. … New quarterback Devin Dampier holds the key to Utah’s success. … The House settlement distribution demands will have an impact at Arizona State. … Arizona quarterback Noah Fitita wants to get a former attitude back. … Boise State’s fans have an easier path to attend the Broncos’ game at Notre Dame. … Colorado State’s homecoming game has a kickoff time set. … In basketball news, just who would make up Oregon State’s quarter-century men’s team?

Gonzaga: America tuned in last night to watch No. 1 draft pick Cooper Flagg’s first Summer League game for Dallas. Against Bronny James. And guess who stole the show? Undrafted free agent Ryan Nembhard. Theo Lawson is in Las Vegas and has this coverage. … Greg Lee continues his summer series on the Bulldog women, covering the incoming transfers in today’s installment. … Back to the men, and back to Theo, who has this story on the date of the game with UCLA. The West Coast powers will meet Dec. 13 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. … NIL has not changed college hoops in the way many thought. The mid-majors seem to be using the system well. … Finally, Frank Layden, the guy who drafted John Stockton for Utah, died this week. He was 93.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, kickoff times were announced around the conference this week. We pass along stories from Northern Colorado and Idaho State. … A former Northern Arizona starter is starting his coaching career at Cal Poly. … Portland State has added a coach to its men’s basketball staff.  

Indians: Spokane built a seven-run lead early and held off visiting Eugene 7-4 at Avista on Thursday night. Dave Nichols was there and has this story.

Zephyr: The USL Super League franchise signed three collegiate players for its upcoming season that begins Aug. 23.

Mariners: We mentioned (and linked) the M’s loss above. There was more to it than just Nic Lentz’s missed game-winning strike. It also included Bryan Woo throwing a no-hitter for seven innings, Seatle building a 5-0 lead, Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz letting it get away and Cal Raleigh missing a tag at home plate. All in all, the worst loss of the season. So far. … it also looked as if Muñoz was tipping his pitches. … We linked Matt Calkins’ column about the “clean” home run record when it ran on the Times’ site. It is on the S-R’s today. … Cooperstown may see an influx of Japanese tourists after Ichiro is inducted in a couple weeks. … We’ve said it before. We say it again. Even if Raleigh hits 65 home runs and carries the M’s to a division title, Aaron Judge will be the American League MVP. OK, I haven’t said it exactly that way before but you get my drift. … The M’s have a decent All-Star contingent. … Lee Elia, a former Mariner hitting coach, has died. … Colt Emerson is obsessed with improving. … One of this year’s All-Stars once was a Mariner. And a Little League coach. 

Storm: The bench was a little thin at guard. Not anymore.

Reign: Seattle has added one of soccer’s most-entertaining players.  

Volleyball: A long, long time ago in a metropolis far, far away, I covered the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball team. The one that lost its chance at the Olympics in 1980 and won silver in 1984. Wrote stories and columns about the group for the Orange County Register. One of them was about Flo Hyman, one of the nicest athletes I ever covered. I’m so happy to be able to pass along this Washington Post story on Hyman, who elevated the game in this country before her tragic early death.

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• The nice notes I received after Thursday’s column made me smile. And cemented a long-held thought we all have family memories worth smiling about. It’s a near-universal certainty. … I thought the first semifinal at Wimbledon today would last longer. It did not. So I had to rewrite my column a bit right on deadline. I think it came out OK. Until later …