Review: Men's final, Wimbledon 2009

At the end of the final of 2008, people were convinced that they will never witness a match of that intensity ever again. There were writers who had confessed to saying that they actually felt it was impossible to review such a match. How could people ever describe what they saw, in mere words? But then life moves on and a year later, on the hallowed lawns of SW19 normal service was about to return. The finest player of all time was slated to meet his ‘bunny’ Andy Roddick in the final, victory in that would have ensured him Slam no. 15, a return to the top of the ATP rankings and more than anything else, that one trophy that he treasures the most, much more than even his solitary French Open crown. Everyone, almost everyone including yours truly had predicted not just a Roger Federer victory but a victory that would be a straight setter. Why and how could we have predicted anything different? Here was a match-up between two players of whom one had won 18 of the 20 contests that they have had. Yes, more often than not whenever Roddick were to have faced Federer, people would talk about how, this was a different Roddick, how ‘this time’ around Federer wont have it easy and how things had changed for the American and how his serves were of the ‘impossible to return’ types. Only thing was that, almost every single time, Federer would still have triumphed and with reasonable ease dare I say. Keeping all such things in perspective it was mighty difficult to bet against the 14-Slam champ, not just difficult but near impossible. Which is why, writers across the globe would had this strange sense of deja vu yesterday night whilst jotting down their thoughts. How could you describe what you just saw? As skillful a writer you may be, how could you transport your reader to a place which seemed surreal for close to 4.5 hours. Whatever you might write, however you might describe, you knew you weren’t going to capture the classic that you just witnessed. If last year’s final left you dazed, this one was no less, in the truest sense of the word. In sports, this line is often used; there deserved to be no loser today, for the real winner was the sport itself. I personally have not been much of a fan of that, but yesterday I knew and realized how true those words were. Roger Federer ended up winning his Wimbledon trophy no. 6, while Andy Roddick won close to 6 million hearts. [or may be many moré than that]

It was touted to be an ‘open and shut’ case for Federer to clinch this one. Even as the first few games went on serve, you almost had this feeling that the maestro will break at the opportune time, as he has been throughout his career. Errors were flowing from the Federer forehand but anyone’s who’s witnessed him over the past 2 years or so wouldn’t have been utterly surprised. Federer was never going to be the dominating force that he was between 2004 and 2006 but even when out-of-form he used to do enough to, well, win matches! However, Roddick seem to be inspired as those bombs from his racquet just wont stop. Federer on his part, continued to hold fort as well. His 1st serve percentage was in the mid 60s but Roddick’s was at a much higher 75+ percent, also he was serving with far greater speed. Nonetheless, things went on serve until at 5-5, Federer stepped on the gas. As has been his wont, he seems to break his opponent’s serve just at the right time and this time around too, things seemed to follow the course. The American however had other plans. 4 break points the no. 2 seed had and 4 break points did the American ended up saving. Moreover, Federer had his serve broken in the very next game. Game, 1st set Roddick, 7 games to 5! Pete Sampras who was there to witness the final must have felt that his record might live to see a few more months after all, surely and especially with the way Roddick was serving.

To say that there was a spring in the stride of A.Rod would be to state the very, very obvious. He seemed possessed, and at the same time, meditative as well. There were no signs of the old, brash Roddick. No ultra aggressive gestures towards his box, no real gung-ho emotions. It almost seemed as if, things were going so according to the script for him that he was least surprised by whatever was happening around him. Those rockets off his serve were still coming at full throttle and for the 1st time in all of their matches, Federer had no clue as to how to return. The only comforting factor for Federer fans was that he was comfortably holding his own serve. That break of his service game at the crucial juncture in the 1st set seemed a one-off and the Swiss maestro was in no mood to repeat that mistake. A tie-breaker was a given and a tie-breaker it was that was to settle the 2nd set. What followed however, was by no stretch of imagination, a ‘given’. Years later when this match might be discussed [and you bet it will be] this breaker would be the most talked about part of the classic. Federer seemed frozen, suddenly his serve had given way and Roddick seemed to be all over him. Within no time, the tie-break scoreboard read as: Roddick leads 6:2. Yes, the American had 4 set points to go up by 2 sets to love. As peerless as Federer has been all his life, and as many times he may have come back from the dead, even as recently as in the recently concluded French Open, to repeat that against a super-inspired Roddick would have been next-to-impossible! Roddick served at 6:2 and a classic rally followed, a rally that displayed the full array of Federer’s grounstrokes at the end of which Roddick had managed to let 1 set point go away. Federer had pulled off a sensational backhand cross court winner and then won the next 2 points on his own serve. Roddick still had one more set point and this time, again on his own serve. Another rally followed, Federer just did not want to give up but in the end, Roddick seemed to have put one way well off Federer’s reach. But the Master just about managed to get his racquet on it, and the ball anyway seemed to sailing over the court. Roddick however didn’t seem all that sure as he sprung to hit that off his backhand. A backhand volley that he would have made 9 times out of 10, may be 99 times out of 100. This time though, it had to be mishit. From 6-2, it was 6 all now. Federer didn’t need a second invitation thereafter as he wrapped up the next 2 points. A huge roar from the Champ and we knew, it was ‘game on’!

Roddick was bound to be shell-shocked at what had transpired, the full extent of that was revealed when he actually walked on the wrong side at the start of the 3rd set. Nonetheless, as Roddick revealed later during his post-match interview, he had two options at the end of the 2nd set. Wilt under depression and pressure or trade punches again. He chose the latter option and it showed in the 3rd set, which followed a near similar pattern as the 1st two sets. Hardly any break point opportunities were earned and things seemed headed for another tie-breaker. Federer however seemed the slightly better player and with the confidence that the 2nd set result might have given him, that was to only be expected. The tie-breaker was a one-way traffic of sorts and Federer won it with relative ease. 7 points to 3, and the 5-time Champ was leading the final by 2 sets to 1. Surely, that 1st set seemed like an aberration now and the coronation ceremony was only a matter of time. Only that, the no. 6 seed had other plans.

If theres one thing that Federer has been most critical of in the past one year or so, then its been his supposedly casual approach to matches in which he seems to be comfortably placed. Be it his twin losses to Djokovic this year [At Miami and at Rome] or his losses to Gilles Simon and a bunch of other players, Federer has often squandered matches from winning positions, all of them due to his obvious, loss of focus. It seemed that the man had forgotten that there was still a set to be won before this match could be settled and Roddick it was this time around who needed no second invitation. An early break of serve meant that he went up 3-1 and within no time, that scoreline read 4-1. Roddick’s serve was yet to be tested in the final and with the prospect of a coveted 1st Wimbledon crown, he was in no mood to get it tested in the 4th set. Federer kept holding his serve but that was of little use in the end as the American kept holding his with even more ease. At 5-3 he served out for the set and he did so in some style. For the 3rd straight year, the men’s final at SW19 had gone into a 5th set. And just as it happened in 2008, there was one man, who was contesting his 3rd final against that one opponent who had defeated him in the earlier 2 finals. Rafael Nadal had got his revenge in 2008, was it going to be Andy Roddick’s turn in 2009?

This wasn’t for the faint hearted, the 5th set. I personally haven’t been privileged enough to have witnessed Ali and Frazier trade blows in their heady days. But I don’t think Federer and A.Rod were far from doing the equivalent of that on the Tennis court. This was a far cry from last year’s baseline slugfest. This was high octane, classical grass-court tennis with huge serves and the occasional ‘serve and volley’ dominating the course. Not to say that the players weren’t under pressure, Federer at one point in time had to save 2 break points and he eventually managed to not just save them but also ended up winning the next 2 points to clinch the game. Roddick however had far less trouble holding his own serves and herein lied the code that the champion had to crack. The 5th set at Wimbledon has no tie-breakers and if Federer hadn’t been able to break his rival in over 4 hours of Tennis, what were the odds on him doing that in the 5th set. Everything, including the momentum factor, pointed towards an upset Roddick win but Federer wasn’t ready to throw in the towel yet. It was almost as if the God was telling him that no. 15 wont come as easy as he thought but the champion was prepared to toil and grind and do whatever it takes to triumph. As Roddick said after the match, this is one aspect of Federer that rarely gets any press though it actually is such an integral part of personality. That the great man does possess immense character to at times grind his way to win matches but then the ‘free flowing and genius’ part of his game is so well known that the not-so-glamorous part of his repertoire doesn’t get much mention. The 5th set was the perfect testimony to the same as Federer kept pushing Roddick; the latter was increasingly getting into 30-30 kind of situations in his service games as Federer clearly was beginning to up the ante. It must be mentioned though that he had the great advantage of serving first in the set, nevertheless he had that plus in the final of 2008 as well. This time around though, he seemed determined to make full use of it. This set had already become the longest 5th set in the history of grand slam finals [in terms of no. of games played and amount of time taken] and clearly, someone had to give way at some stage. After 4 hours of ultra-high-octane Tennis, it was Roddick who blinked after all. He held fort till 10 all, 11 all, 12 all, 13 all, 14 all. And that was it. Federer once again took the lead at 14 all to go up 15-14 and the following game was to be the final one, of the final. Federer who had till then failed to break his rival’s serve in the match had managed to get to 30-40. Championship point, his first one of the match and he did not need a second one! A mishit of the Roddick forehand was enough to make the Swiss Maestro leap in delight. The 4 hr+ classic had come to an end, history was made, Slam no. 15 was finally in his bag, and the world no. 1 spot was his again. Most importantly, as stated earlier, the one Slam that he treasures most above all others, was back in his kitty. Roger Federer was a Wimbledon champion once again!

What about Roddick? Where does he go from here? Why did he have to jump at that ball in the 2nd set breaker? Was it nerves? Has Federer gotten into his head when it comes to big matches? Such questions are bound to be thrown at the American. But it would be best to echo the sentiments and words of the man who had the final word at his post-match presser. After a series of questions which were met with atypical Andy Roddick replies, this journalist said, ‘liberate this man’. And that’s what we should all do. Roddick may return stronger after this; with a brand new coach and apparently brand new work ethics, there’s no reason to think otherwise. But then there’s every chance that he may never be the same man again. Such demoralizing defeats can shatter players [Bjorn Borg anyone?] At this point in time, we wouldn’t know the answers, only time will tell. Right now, all one can hope is that people will remember his contribution towards providing the ‘match of the year’ so far and one of the finest modern day Grand Slam final. Federer was a worthy winner [unlike a lot of people, I do not think that the better player did not win], he has every reason to be proud of his achievements. After this victory, not even the Gods would want to question his status as the ‘Greatest of all time’. But if there was one match, wherein the vanquished deserved as much mention and respect as the victor, then this was it. What stood out most for me, was the manner in which Roddick presented himself after the match. At the entrance of the Center Court lies an inscription that reads, “If you can meet with triumph and disaster. And treat those two imposters just the same”. Timeless lines from Rudyard Kipling that had been lived by Roger in 2008 and now Andy in 2009!

Take a bow, both of you!

Preview: Men's Final, Wimbledon 2009

Things happen and how! For 237 weeks, a man looked invincible, sitting comfortably atop the rankings and winning almost everything on the tour. That was until his dream of winning the French Open was shattered once again, and shattered in some way at that! His most humiliating defeat alongwith his ‘mono’ problem seemed to have shaken the man so badly that a month later, his pet ‘Wimbledon’ crown too escaped from his grasp. Slowly but surely, one could see the earth shaking and we finally had the earthquake on 18th of August last year; Rafael Nadal had finally displaced Roger Federer as the new no. 1. And for the next nine months or so, it seemed that we had a real worthy no. 1, who much like his predecessor was winning virtually everything in front of him. But then, like it happened with the former champion, a physical problem [knees, in this case] and the loss of his ‘pet’ French crown showed, more than anything else, how difficult it is to keep winning day in, and day out. Rafa’s problems have actually gone on to project how peerless a player Federer has been. An opportunity would present itself tonight for him to do the double whammy, win his 15th major and get back on the top of the ranking charts. Surely, this has to be one of the more important Wimbledon final of the recent past, from a pure ‘historical’ point of view and for other reasons as well. Old foes, Roger Federer squaring off against American Andy Roddick, himself a 2-time finalist here.

On the face of it, it looks like an ‘open and shut case’ really. A person who’s won a mere 2 matches out of 20 shouldn’t even be talked about, but that’s ofcourse assuming your name is not Andy Roddick. Any one who knows even a bit about his character and who’s especially seen the way he’s played over the past 18 months or so [ever since he parted ways with Jimmy Connors as his coach] will admit that there seems to be a purpose in the way he plays. No wonder then, that he registered his one of only two wins over Federer during this 18 month period. His wins over Hewitt and then Murray in the semi-final was awe-inspiring to put it mildly and that must give him some confidence atleast. But you have to admire the man for something else as well, and that’s his ‘attitude’. For a man who’s got such a terrible record against an opponent, the manner in which he seems to fight on the court is, well, admirable! You see any of his matches against the Swiss Maestro and you never, “never” get the feeling that he’s thrown in the towel. A lot of their matches have been very closely fought but the fact that Federer almost always seems to have found his number have tended to make people lose respect for the American. No wonder then Roddick thinks that people ought to remember that he too, ‘can play some tennis sometimes’. And it’s because of that attitude of his that Federer needs to be wary of his rival. There’s every chance that Federer could win his no. 15 in no time, it could end up being a real one-sided contest as well but to expect Roddick to get intimidated, or feel the pressure, or feel the nerves on seeing someone who literally ‘owns’ him would be foolhardy. Roddick, much like Hewitt, is one of the greatest competitors on the circuit. Anyone who’s remained in the top 10 for well over six years now can’t be any less than that and he will feel good about himself. Expect the man to fancy his chances, given the kind of form he is in.

And yet, for 99.9999% of the public, Federer will remain the obnoxiously overwhelming favourite, myself included. Roddick will feel good about his chances but Federer might just feel better. His quarter-final encounter against Ivo Karlovic went on to show the kind of form he’s in; a man who was never broken in any of his matches before in the tournament was broken in just the 4th game of the match. That, and the return of his ‘extremely effective’ serve, amongst a host of other reasons, puts him as the big favourite. As Tommy Haas puts it, the man’s got no weaknesses really and so it becomes a futile exercise really to even talk about the ‘host of other reasons’. But what stands out most about Federer and one could sense this from the beginning of the Madrid Masters, is that physically he seems to 100%. Mono seems to be a thing of the past and his back is just about perfect as well, far from what his fans got to see at the Shanghai Masters last season. And then ofcourse, its his living room, the Center Court at SW19. A chance to win the one title that he treasures the most and then as stated earlier, a chance to get on top of the rankings as well. He’s a human however [his opponents over the years may disagree with this though] and some amount of nerves and pressure may be felt but Federer has been a champion at handling those over the years. Even if Sampras himself would be there to watch the final, you’d expect the latest 14-Slam champion to have entered unchartered territory by Sunday night .

Yes, A.Rod’s a fine competitor. We weren’t trying to be diplomatic while talking about his chances for the final, we weren’t “trying” to give him respect that he’s not worthy of, we aren’t even being hypocritical while showering accolades on him and then saying its Federer, after all, who’s the top dog to win the title. Far from all that, in case any of the readers were thinking on those lines. Its just that, we’re living in times where the men’s tour is full of good to very good to some great players as well. But then it also happens to have one ‘superhuman’ who ends up making most look ordinary. A pity for some, a real joy and privilege for most fans though.

After the final of 2005, when Roddick was asked, how his mood was and whether he’d want to talk about the match, his reply was quick as usual. “I’m more in the mood to have some beer” he quipped. Chances are high that, he’d want to say something similar post the final of 2009.

Federer, in straight, for me.

Preview to the Men's edition of Wimbledon 2009

It’s the Tennis equivalent to Cricket’s Lord’s. It’s the only place wherein even an Andre Agassi was or a Serena Williams is, forced to abandon their colors and instead appear in whites. It’s the one place where the sublime Roger Federer would want to win every single time and this is the one title which he puts above even his maiden French Open title. Players winning this have seldom remained the same, their lives have often changed for the better. Ask Rafael Nadal, who despite his unprecedented run at the French Open calls this, his favourite tournament in the world. They call it the ‘Mecca of Tennis’, some refer to it by the postal code that the place is attached with, SW19. Whichever way you call, whichever way you look at it, Wimbledon for most professionals remains the pinnacle of the sport. And its that time of the year again folks! Its 22nd of June 2009, time for yet another edition of the “Championships” to unfold.

Without playing around too much with words, lets get to this one thing straight! With the unfortunate withdrawal of the defending champion Nadal, 14-Slam champion Federer will begin the tournament as the mighty favourite. This is obviously not to say that others do not have even a semblance of chance, but when you consider the fact that Federer is yet to lose to anyone apart from Rafa in Grand Slam finals, it’s hard to bet against him. Ofcourse there’s a first time for most things in life, but you cannot bet for them to happen with confidence, can you? And so barely a fortnight after he created history at Paris, Federer stands to make an encore again; this time at SW19 by regaining his precious Wimbledon title and thereby going past Pete Sampras and standing atop the tree, all by himself! In Federer’s words himself though, the focus is now on the 1st few rounds, get a hang of things before he can think of bigger things. He’s come into this tournament without participating in his traditional warm-up tournament at Halle though that really shouldn’t be too much of a concern for him. In the words of one of my friends, the 1st 2-3 rounds in the tournament and he should be sufficiently ‘warmed-up’!

Following the withdrawal of Nadal, Federer, the no. 2 seed is slated to start the proceedings on Center Court today. He’s scheduled to meet, French Open finalist Robin Soderling in the 4th Round and if players stay true to their seedings, he might end up bumping into Fernando Verdasco in the Quarter finals then. While Soderling has more than a decent chance of making it to the 4th Round, the same cannot be said of Verdasco. He’s had a dream run in 2009 so far but his form on grass will always be a worry for his fans. Soderling’s form too will be interesting to follow and it’ll be worth watching the way he handles his new found attention. Novak Djokovic is drawn with Federer in the bottom half and the Serb who’s had an indifferent year, to say the least, is the favourite to meet the 5-time champion in the Semis. Lack of confidence and not fitness will be the biggest factor for the Serbian World no. 4. The man’s lost his no. 3 ranking, had some tough losses to Rafa, was then dumped out of Paris in the 2nd round and finally couldn’t win at Halle losing to Tommy Haas. For all his success at the Masters Series, Djokovic has not been as consistent at the Slams as he’d like to be and the coming two weeks gives him an opportunity to right that wrong. Other people that can cause an upset or two in this section of the draw include Haas himself, who must be on a high post Halle and then you have Mardy Fish, who can always be a threat on grass. You do have names such as Frenchman Tonsga too on the list, but on grass really, he’s never known to be a threat and that’s the case with most of the other famous names in the draw.

Juan Martin Del Potro heads the revamped top half of the draw and despite some good names in there, it would be a great sight to see him and local man, Andy Murray making it through to the semi-finals. The club of ‘Big Four’ can now safely be renamed to ‘Big Five’ and Potro will be keen to make further inroads on the tour. The man whose confidence must be sky-high after his French Open exploits will be “up against it” to put it mildly should he end up meeting Murray; their not-so-great history and the partisan crowd could be a handful for most but the world no. 5 during his win over Tsonga at Paris showed us that he’s more than capable of handling a boisterous crowd. The British media meanwhile, not surprisingly though, has already gone, well overboard, in its attempt to coronate their son, Andy Murray. The man will be super-confident following his success at the Queens but he’ll be well aware that carrying so many expectations isn’t the lightest of things in the world, moreover his form in the 2 Slams post his breakthrough performance at the US Open last year hasn’t been very great either. Nonetheless, you’d expect the man to ‘come off age’ at some point and what better opportunity to do that in front of your home crowd, a crowd that deserves to see one of their own, as the champion!

One thing; the top half of the draw, is quite easily the tougher one of the two. Some really players who can do well on grass, feature in there. Wawrinka, Berdych, Ferrer, they can all play well and then veterans such as Hewitt and Safin cannot be ruled out of any fast-court tournaments at any stage of their careers. The one player though who’s most capable of stopping a Del Potro-Andy Murray semi-final clash is the other Andy, Roddick. The American who’s had a wonderful year so far, his performance on clay the biggest testimony, will be more than keen to improve upon his two Runners-Up performances [’04, ‘05] at Wimbledon. If his serve can click, which it should on grass, one can never be sure of how far can this man go. An ever-improving 20 odd Potro should be able to take out the old-timer in Roddick but it could be a close call still.


Finally, a word on the man who wouldn’t be there. All these years, I personally used to think that his style of play would end up curtailing his career and all these years, I was proved wrong. But finally after nearly 5 years of running around the courts, a period during which he claimed 6 Slams, 15 Masters and numerous other titles, Rafa’s knees have given way! As the man’s stated himself, this was one of the most difficult decisions of his career, but I hope in hindsight this would prove to be a blessing of sorts. His scheduling was always going to give him trouble [5 tournaments in 5 weeks on clay], especially now that he wouldn’t be 19 or 20 ever again! Hopefully in the season ahead and going into 2010 and beyond, his uncle and coach Toni Nadal and his entire camp will think twice before charting out his road. I don’t see anyone including Rafa to change their style of play all of a sudden, that’ll be too much to expect and the World no. 1 will continue to employ his high-intensity game. The only thing that his fans can thus expect is to see him tone down his schedule, so that come Slams, the man can be at full fitness, peak fitness. For the time being though, he’ll have to remain content watching the ’Championships’ from his home in Spain. Expect the man to make a strong comeback on the hardcourts of America, starting at Montreal. The tournament will surely miss him, but I suspect that even with him around, Federer would have won no. 15. After all, lighting hardly ever strikes twice!

From Stage Two to Stage Three, from Hardcourt to Clay, from ... to ... "Its Time to Move On"!

Of the all brand new Advertisements that’ve been flashing on the idiot box off late, the one featuring India’s poster boy MSD and his ‘Aur Bolo’ campaign with Aircel, comes across as the best! Such a simple Ad that and yet it leaves an impression of sorts. Another line fitted in that commercial should possibly leave an impression on another sportsman in another part of the world. “The Mighty Federer” as celebrated tennis journalist Peter Bodo likes to address him as (and let us all shorten it to TMF) should watch that commercial and the lines at the end must ideally tell him a thing or two about his next move; next move mentally i.e. Enough’s been said about his 5 straight losses to Rafa, enough’s been said about how Murray too is beginning to own him now. He’s 27 and will be 28 by the time he steps out on Wimbledon 3 months down the line. He’s about to become a father now and not many ‘fathers’ have gone on to win Slams [Heck, people have managed to even bring negatives around his impending ‘fatherhood’]. And yes, he’s finally done something on court that would have done Marat Safin proud! And so? If you were to listen to what people are saying, this “Once-upon-a-time-TMF” should quit playing the game. [And, do what? Commentary??]

Thankfully, for people whose memory aint that bad and who know a thing or two about the various stages that a modern-day athlete goes through, this phase in the life of TMF hasn’t come across as a complete surprise. As Bodo himself famously keeps saying, there are three main stages in the life of a successful tennis star and Federer quite clearly is in that ‘third’ stage now! Wherein he’ll trip and fall a bit more than usual but somehow manage to do well in the Slams; it’s the Slams wherein he’ll want to concentrate the most. Its basically a stage wherein the motivation levels of a superstar to do well in any other event than the Slams would be very low, it’s a stage wherein he’ll constantly have to thwart off competition from the young brigade, wherein he’ll lose more often than what he’s used to, and in the bargain, give his supporters lot many heart-breaks than what they’re accustomed to! Bjorn Borg gave up once he realized he was about to enter Stage three, Pete Sampras did a fine job at bringing that Stage three to a glorious end. Now its upto the 27 year old, 13-Slam Champ to show the world that he’s got some fuel left in the tank. It’s the end of Stage 2 [The stage wherein one ‘dominates’ and wins trophies left, right and centre] for him and as those final lines of that Aircel commercial says, “Its time to move on!”

Its time to move on, allright and its time to switch focus from hardcourts to the dirt of clay. Federer who was originally to not compete at the Monte Carlo Masters has now decided to accept a wild card and will now be seen there. Federer fans are obviously delighted to see him there, they just cant have enough of their man and needless to say, would ideally want him to win even now, everything; right from Slams to Masters to even those 500 pointers! I though, had my own reservations about him agreeing to participate here. His decision seems to have been made out of fear that if he were to not play here, he’d lost a bag full of points which would have threatened his no. 2 position [to Murray and possibly Nole as well]. Those fears are for real, no doubt! But then, should he now be concentrating so much on rankings? Shouldn’t Slams and the ideal preparation for them be his no. 1 aim and priority? Well, it is atleast in my opinion but then that’s because methinks he’s well and truly in Stage 3. If TMF thinks otherwise, then he’s got every right to play as much as possible and….well, basically give himself the best possible chance to win as much as many tournaments as he can and perhaps even have a go at capturing the no. 1 spot again.

However, my reasons for having reservations on him participating at Monte Carlo has got less to do with him being in Stage two or three but has got more to do with thinking whether tactically he could do something better. Lets cut to a story now, one that’ll hopefully give all the readers on why I think TMF may [Lemme repeat that it’s a big ‘MAY’ and not ‘SURELY HAS’] have made a mistake in agreeing to play at the 3rd Masters Series of the year.

During my Engineering days, we used to have this annual Table Tennis championship and for each of the 1st three years, I and this player made it to the final. We used to practice anyway all year long. Knew each other's game inside out. And then ofcourse had this big goal, to be achieved at the end of the year!

I used to lose to him more often than not. Its like, used to win atmost 6 games out of 20. Twas that bad. I remember the 3rd final so vividly. Was absolutely aghast on losing for a 3rd year in a row! Which is when I decided. Allrite, this aint no Wimbledon I know, but I HAVE to win this atleast once. More than anything else, dont want to be remembered all my life as a 'LOSING finalist'. Heck, I used to win 6 on 20. Twasnt as if I used to lose 19 on 20 .I mean, I could pull off in atleast one final out of 4! Which is when I decided, I'll stop practicing with this guy! People felt strange when I used to always find excuses to not play him. Started practicing at my home with people I knew I could rag across the net, literally!


The one and the only reason behind all this, was:

I used to constantly find myself getting negative during those finals. THOUGHTS THAT THIS WAS THE SAME GUY WHO'S BEEN DEFEATING ME SO CONSISTENTLY OVER THE PAST 10 DAYS [Remember, we used to practice daily] always used to find a way into my brain. I so wanted to get rid of those thoughts but it never used to happen.

Which is why, I then, [at the cost of letting people say, this was defensive thinking] thought; Lets not practice with him. LETS MEET HIM DIRECTLY in the final, with absolutely NO PAST BAGGAGE!

Yes, some might say, just thoughts would still have entered anyway. Thoughts like, here's the same guy who's been defeating me for the past three years. Fair enough! But in my case, I was convinced that I'll feel much better if I were to not face him in the warm-ups. It was imperative for me to know, that:

He may have owned me in the past but its been a while since we've met. This is a brand new season and this is "OUR 1ST MEETING in this brand new season". No baggage, no recent past. Lets go, in for the KILL!
As I said, I was convinced that it would work. It’s a different thing altogether that I could never really prove that my thinking was right, atleast for me. My friend lost in the Q/Fs that year and I ended up winning. [Felt sad needless to say, as I knew that I hadnt won it by defeating the best player]

Long story short. This was my reason for stating that I wanted him to play atmost only one tournament and then head off straight to Paris. Yes, defensive I'm convinced people might say, some might even say, this is outright negative/foolish thinking. But, methinks for a player who's had as traumatic a time as RF's had against Rafa on clay, (especially after their last meeting at Paris last year), its important for RF to 1st feel fine, mentally. Other things, such as tactical play and on-court strategy can follow then.

Ofcourse, he could not just feel fine, but great, by defeating Rafa in the finals of MC, Roma, Madrid and Paris, all of them! Heck, yeah! But the odds on it are few I feel. And hence, my best gamble would be to see a FRESH Roger Federer square up against the Bull, for one and only one time. In the finals of Paris. I'm absolutely sure that RF still is the 2nd best player on clay and can get there [to the finals of Paris] without much/any practice.

As he's stated himself in a recent interview, Clay has never been a problem. He's grown up on that surface infact. Its Rafa on Clay, thats been his headache!

Gilchrist c Indian fans b Indian fans

Poor Adam Gilchrist! I seriously feel for the man and don’t even want to imagine the kind of response that awaits him when he comes to India come 2009 for the 2nd edition of the IPL. As it is, he’s got a headache of sorts trying to lead a team that ended up getting the 'wooden spoon'. And he surely could have done without the hostile reception that he’ll most certainly be getting from the crowds out here in India. But such is life. There are certain people who are revered not just as demi-Gods but God itself! And when that “God” happens to hail from a country with which you still have to do serious business with, you better be careful of what you say!

But then come to think of this! Was Gilchrist a saint during his cricketing days? He’ll be the 1st to deny this. We all saw that during that Sydney Test that he was far from being a saint. But does that stop him from pointing fingers at something or someone that he feels was not quite correct! Heck, why should it? I mean, from when did “two wrongs begin to make one right”? I may be the most dreaded gangster in the world but that does not mean I lose my right to have an opinion on a certain xyz! I'd hate it if someone said 'yes' to that. And folks, make no mistake. This isn’t some below average Abdur Razzaq or a frustrated and pessimistic Javed Miandad levelling accusations. Adam Gilchrist, much like Sachin Tendulkar has been a trendsetter in the game of cricket. Bowlers all over the world are known to have more scared bowling to him than to any other batsman; and yes, for all that Sydney fiasco, Gilly still wasn’t the most dishonest of men around either. One of the few [if not only] ‘walkers’ during his time, he continued to practise that ‘practice’ for most of his playing years despite having huge problems over the issue with his teammates [as revealed in excerpts of his autobiography]. Point is, he did what his heart said was the “right” thing to do even if it meant making a few enemies in his own team. Adam Gilchrist may not have played for 19 years or may not have scored 12k runs and all that, but as far as pure “cricketing greatness” goes, he’s not far behind Sachin Tendulkar. Some might even put him ahead of the Bombay great.

And so to see, our cricket-crazy fans proving that they indeed are ‘cricket-crazy’ was such a shame really. Infact, the way our TV channels went ballistic showing little sense if at all by highlighting only one part of the story was even more of a shame. Apart from Pradeep Magazine, not one journalist had the sanity of appealing to the fans to show some ‘logic’ and ‘reason’. To see the otherwise likeable Srinivasan Jain almost sucking up to Sachin was a disgrace to say the least! As a veteran journalist and that too from a channel who surely doesn’t have to depend on histrionics to up their TRPs, surely better behavior and some common sense was expected.Now am I pointing fingers at Sachin and trying to imply something? No, I’m not! All I’m saying is that, Sachin like most of the greats who’ve played before him hasn’t had as faultless a career as people think. Come on baby! Why do we always point fingers at Andrew Symonds, our very own man has stopped 'walking' since such a long time now. Atleast on that front, Gilly has a superior record than what Sachin does.

Cut a long story short, we really need to show some ‘rationality’ in our thoughts and behavioral patterns. Yes, the genius from Bombay is by far the most blessed champion to have graced the game, atleast of his generation. That doesn’t mean we need to cut down other champions who may have an opinion on him. Especially in cases when that other champion too has had a solid reputation, not just as a cricketer but as someone who’s played the game in the most dignified manner. In this case between the two greats, the only way whereby things could have been clarified was through a mutual discussion between the two which apparently did take place. Things seemed to have been clarified and now they need to move on. Knowing the way they’ve conducted themselves in public so far, I’m sure they will indeed move on. But will the Indian public too ‘move on’? I seriously doubt. The ‘Church’ should brace himself for some real tough times in 2009. It was the ‘wooden spoon’ last time around. I’d be surprised if he’ll get that again but then the ‘wooden stick’ may not be too far behind. I hope I’m proved wrong but I’m pretty sure, I wont be!

Kumble v MS~~Test-captaincy at stake!

Too much of talk has revolved around MS during the past week or so. While majority of the junta including the very respected former Australian skipper has been keen to point out that its high time that the street-smart cricketer be handed over the reins in Test cricket as well, Ravi Shastri (and a few other sane men)was quick to point out that theres still some oil left in the tank as far as Anil Kumble is concerned. Actually, one is not very sure whether there is still indeed some fuel left in the tank but a fit Anil Kumble can still command a place in the team, not just as a frontline spinner but also as a captain. The reason can also be partly put to the fact that, MS still has some work to do in Test cricket to command respect of the highest order.

Its true that Dhoni seems to have taken to captaincy ridiculously easily. To be honest, barring a few errors in judgement as far as his own batting slot in ODIs is concerned [none more glaring than the one during the tri-series final in Dhaka recently] he’s hardly put a foot wrong. Important triumphs in South Africa, Australia, Sri Lanka; he’s had them all. The way he’s apparently made sure he gets the team of his choice is highly commendable. It shows that he cares not too much about reputations but more about the ground realities! His mannerisms, both on and off the field is something that young kids should look to emulate. For me, the clip that stands out the most during his short international career as a captain is the one in which he addressed his team after that pulsating IPL final. If reports were to be believed, all he said to the team was that they need not get too disappointed with the result. Their efforts were exemplary and at times, winning is not the most important thing! For a man to address his team like that just moments after a heart-breaking loss speaks volumes of his steely character. Yes, to say that MS has taken to captaincy like a duck takes to water would be akin to stating the very obvious.

However, in all this euphoria one must not forget that, at the end of the day, Test Cricket is indeed, well, Test Cricket. It is an enormously different format of the game and though the best players seem to adjust to the various formats of the game easily enough, Dhoni still has to make a real significant impression in his Test match resume. True, coming to bat at no. 7 doesn’t help him much. Even then, a batting average of 35 odd is still pretty low by his standards; especially with the kind of benchmark that Adam Gilchrist has set despite batting at no. 7 for most part of his career. When he did get a chance to do the talking with the bat, Dhoni didn’t disappoint at Mohali, moreover he was even ready to ‘lead by example’ by stepping out to bat at no.3 in the crucial 2nd innings. We’ll still have to wait though for him to become a bit more consistent in the matches to follow. Its increasingly looking likely that Kumble may not play on for too long now. I personally think the Pakistan series early next year would be a good time for MS to take over. Which gives him 4 more Test matches to consolidate his position in the team as a reliable batsman. Infact, most people tip him to take over for the upcoming England series as well but only time will tell how long will Kumble want to continue, his less-than-impressive form and bowling arm permitting. Nonetheless, unlike most people I do not think his heir-apparent is 'ready to take over' in Tests as he was in ODIs and T20s, coz as stated earlier, his batting has to become a bit more consistent. In a team wherein every other batsman averages 40+, it better become a 'lot-more-consistent'.

As his first international skipper would testify (or will he ever agree to it?) once a captain doesn’t contribute much to the team with bat/ball, his influence and respect within the team and otherwise ends up diminishing pretty rapidly. It’s a cruel game cricket and its especially true if you’re an Indian playing this sport!

Why I feel (yet again) that TMF is 'Human' after all & A mini-preview of The Madrid AMS

So, after giving all his fans a real scare over the past few days, TMF after all will be playing again in 2008. The final leg of the season for the two big guns got underway last night what with the local favorite Rafa Nadal being felicitated early on for his capture of the top slot. The tournament Director was himself present for the momentous occasion and Rafa clearly looked quite overwhelmed though he must have got used to quite a few of these ceremonies by now. Its been quite some time now since he gained the no. 1 ranking; close to two months actually. Right then, the Madrid AMS has kicked off and tonight the World no.1 will begin his personal campaign out there. TMF is likely to play tomorrow and he’s got a tougher draw ahead of him. Stepanek, Tsonga, JMD/Nalbandian; they’re all ‘more-than-handy’ players who on their day can upset the great man. Nole’s been placed in Rafa’s draw while US Open finalist and the new World no. 4 Andy Murray should face Federer should things go according to seedings.

As stated earlier, fans of the Swiss Genius who were all on Cloud no. 9 since his heroics at NY city were collectively taken aback when he’d announced his withdrawal from the Stockholm Open and had then made a statement which in effect said that he wasn’t really sure as to when would he be back on tour. For a person who chooses his words so very carefully, it was quite a big thing to say coz most fans had actually thought that an in-form Federer who was clearly close to his very best during the latter half of the US Open would be itching to play as much as possible now and get as close to Rafa in terms of ATP points. Who knows, he might have a crack the no.1 ranking in the current year itself and be on course for the hardest Pete Sampras record to emulate, leave alone break! For a person who epitomizes ‘desire to excel’ like few modern-day sportsmen do, his reluctance to possibly further participate in 2008 surprised me as well. But then, it didnt take long for one to realize that this was actually yet another instance when he proved that inside that steely exterior, Roger Federer after all is a human being. A human being who much like the ordinary mortal has emotions, is someone who utterly values goals achieved and most importantly, can get exhausted under relentless pressure; so much so that even he can end up feeling the need for a “break”!

Come to think of it! Which other modern day superstar has been under the kind of pressure as has TMF during his ‘bad’ year. (Even Sachin Tendulkar over the years had to put up with a lot less vitriolic and at times, funny comments and observations) As if an ever-improving Rafa wasn’t enough, Nole upset him at the season’s 1st Grandslam and that really started off the barrage of comments from experts and then, from the so-called experts alike. I must admit here and say that some of the observations were quite allright; after all, Federer shouldn’t consider himself to be so above the game that no one has the right to find faults with it. Losing to Rafa and Nole is one thing but losing to Blake and Co. quite the other. So far, so good. But when people started to comment that the man wont possibly ever win a Slam again, one could only pity at such, well, jokes. Again, don’t get me wrong. At the end of US Open 1992, few would have thought that an in-his-prime-Stefan Edberg would never win a Slam thereafter. Yes, strange things do happen. But to publicly predict something to that effect as if you’re some kind of a Nostradamus of sorts is laughable to say the least. Worse, you had celebrity moms stating that the “King is DEAD! Long live the KING”. Really, how stupid and naïve can one get?! We’ve said this a zillion times before, but I cant stop myself from repeating. All these ‘wise comments’ in a year when TMF reached 2 GS finals and a semi-final before ofcourse that famos win at Flushing Meadows!

Lets give it to him folks. The man’s endured a lot this year. Pardon me for sounding crass, but he’s had to put up with Bu****** of the highest order for the majority of 2008! And its only natural for even the great man to feel bad about it all. His post-match comments at the end of NY’08 only went on to prove how terrible he and his family had been left feeling this year. And its only right on his part to take a break or a “long break” if he wants to “thoroughly celebrate” his GS win no. 13! I mean, how often do we get see ordinary mortals in our day-to-day life saying that they are “fed-up” with the constant pressures of life. Employees complaint of nagging and demanding bosses, students complaint of relentless competition, customers complaint about less-than-satisfactory services, unions keep complainting of low wages, husbands are yet to stop complaining about wives [wonder when that’ll ever stop], the list will go on and on. Point to be noted here is, pressure of any kind at the end of the day is just that, PRESSURE! So a multi-millionaire Roger Federer must be getting as irritated and must be feeling as much under the “cosh” so to say as would the ordinary Joe in town. Heck, it wasn’t for no reason after all that a certain Swede hung up his racquet at the ‘ripe-old age of 26’ in the summer of 1981! Make no mistake friends, whichever ladder of life you’re at, pressure means the same! It hurts when people write stuff about you, it sucks even more when people write stuff that’s as close to crap as you can imagine! Critics, by the way, might once again start harping on why they think Federer was/is over-reacting and that he need not get so-worked up with the media and all that! What they fail to realize is that here is a man who publicly shed tears when he was handed a trophy at the hands of the iconic Rod Laver. Here is a man for whom victories mean so much that he ends up getting emotional even if that were to be his 5th straight win at that place. Clearly, he’s one of the few old-timers [if I may use the word] for whom the game is bigger than everything else and for whom the game’s rich history and its heroes mean a hell lot! Roger Federer aint not "One of the modern day greats". He is "The 'GREATEST' of the modern-day greats"!

Would be nice to see him back in action and would be equally nice to see others too. Rafa obviously, or atleast in my book, will start as the favorite. I hope people don’t point towards the “fastest surface on tour” as to why he cant win it. TMF has realized and I hope others do too, that Rafa Nadal of 2008 is not the same as the Rafa Nadal of 2005. Nole seems to have tapered off with his below-par performances at London and NY and to expect A.Rod to win an AMS would be a bit too much. Murray will interesting to watch and I hope he delivers a performance that will force all of us to talk about a ‘quartet’ at the top than a ‘trioka’. But then again, its too early to bill him as one of the serious contenders. Rafa and Roger will continue to be the two top guns. But keep an eye, yet again, on JMD. The one player who can displace Murray and even Nole come 2009, he’s had such a fantastic 2008 that it’ll be hard to ignore him in his 1st Masters series tournament post his string of successes. Finally, the defending champion seems to have hit some serious form ahead of Madrid. David Nalbandian, one of the game’s greatest underachievers will look to secure his place at Shanghai with a solid performance here. Whats more, he’s in line to face JMD at some stage in the tournament. Would be a real mouth-watering encounter that.

So then, the final part of 2008, the Indoor season i.e has begun! Sit back and enjoy!!