Bleacher Report - Articles by Rock

Confessions Of a Non-Roger Federer Fan

Rock — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 06:51:59 -0400

There are players to be found in all sorts of sports, who dominate and build a legacy of their own. These players who are so dominant over their craft fall broadly into two categories of sports, namely team sports and individual sports.

If a player is exceptional in a team sport like baseball, football or cricket they spend their days of limelight in the public. When players like Michael Jordan, David Beckham or Sachin Tendulkar are performing, it is the team as a whole that is winning and less so the individual.

The performance of the team hinges on that particular person on that day and therefore the result does too.

When one talks about individual sport like tennis, boxing, golf or cycling the performance narrows down to that individual.

A Roger Federer, Muhammad Ali, Tiger Woods or Lance Armstrong makes a name for them self because their performance is entirely dependent on their own self ability and the exceptional talent that they've possessed and nurtured in the process.

They are bound to get their fair share of recognition and will be quoted as examples, like the legends in team sports, because they appear as if they had mastered their craft. They will have a God-like aura when they are on the field and unless a devil comes and knocks them off their perch, they seem invincible.

While these legends master their craft and exhibit their God gifted talent to their opponents, making mockery of their skills, they also make winning look easy.

A certain Roger Federer makes it look ridiculously easy because of his exceptional talent, motivation, training and the hard yards which he has put in to reach this stage.

And thus he commands millions of fans across the globe expecting him to win every point he constructs on the field, drilling forehands with laser like precision.

Everyone is struck with awe when one gets to see a display of tennis which was unthinkable before. Even his haters would admire his game and study the footage to train their upcoming kids on how to play the game effortlessly.

There are opponents and commentators who admire his skill but wish to see him defeated and bring his dominance to an end. Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray have had their fair share of victories and in the process made Federer look human.

They earned fans not because of their game. It is because they were primarily responsible in giving the God-like phenomenon a fight. They were fearless and are the few ones who tasted victory over the mighty Federer. They are not like players such as Filippo Volandri or Guillermo Canas who enjoyed a one-off victory and promptly disappeared.

Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray played fantastic tennis and held their nerve to notch victories over Federer. There are also eternal triers like Roddick, Blake, Hewitt, Soderling, and Robredo, to name a few, who give their heart and soul into the match but, more often than not, end up on the losing side.

So are the gutted fans supporting anyone not named Federer? These players and fans after their initial admiration, would reach a stage where they begin to dislike the most efficient player in that craft the world has ever seen. It is purely because the phenomenon who has turned into a monster, who is not giving any one else a chance to win.

A classic choke by Berdych in the Australian Open, an exhausted game by Juan Martin del Potro in the fifth set in the French Open, a gruelling 16-14 in the final set by Roddick in Wimbledon or a close finish by Robin Soderling in the US Open are the sort of games which causes heart break to the small contingent of non-Federer fans.

These minuscule number of people, who exist in anticipation that one day the King will be brought down from his throne, will only be waiting for an eternity to get their wish fulfilled, unless the freak hangs up his racket on his own terms.

They even begin to root for a qualifier to win the match if he breaks a Federer's serve in the first round. If the qualifier gives a tough fight in the first two sets and pushes Federer to a tie-breaker, these fans expect that qualifier to win the set.

Such will be the joy of seeing Federer getting beaten, that they will remember the qualifier for the rest of their lifetime, which in other case, when he is not playing Federer, they would not even had bothered to notice.

These fans are not all that stupid to not recognise the talent of the Swiss at the other end. They begin to watch the game with zero hopes, thinking, "Let me see if the opponent can give a fight".

Once the player whom they are rooting wins a second or third set, with the first set being dedicated to Federer, just like how one used to dedicate the first page of a fresh notebook to God as God's page, these fans begin to get agitated and raise their expectations.

A competitive fourth set by their man will give them satisfaction. If he takes Federer into a fifth set, then that is a bonus. If their man shows great fighting spirit in the fifth and loses, they are bound to be gutted and turns moody for the next few hours.

The maximum they could do is to empathize with the guys who had been making multiple attempts on Federer with nothing positive coming out of it.

Some even go the extent of quitting watching tennis just because Federer's results have made the game boring to them. These fans say we just want to see some fight given to Federer. But deep down they really wish that man defeats Federer fair and square.

Once this desire to see Federer getting beaten is not satiated, it slowly mounts to something called, I hate Federer. They again bring sanity to the situation by not expressing their hatred in public because they are aware that this would make them appear like a black sheep amidst the white ones.

Their passion and love for tennis, a sport which they had been following for more than a decade, comes crashing. They would still watch a match now but with no emotions.

Now that Federer has conquered 15 Grand Slams and has got nothing to prove, and everything has been achieved by him, these fans take a diversion from Federer and focus a little more on upcoming players to keep their interest alive.

They finally realize that not changing a seat or position from which they are watching the game is not going to bring Federer a defeat. They will go and have snacks and make tea even when the match is hanging in the balance.

At one stage, they even yell "How many more would you like Federer to win?" on whoever comes in support of Federer.

If one Federer's loss makes a Federer fan mourn, imagine how many of these matches that were closely fought and yet won by Federer would turn the small section of non-Federer supporters into mourners?

The number of wins for Federer are insane. His results turn the game mundane to quite a few. A certain tennis fan even predicted that Federer would not get past the semis this year after looking at Federer's sole bad year, 2008, where he won only one Slam and reached three Slam finals.

They had been waiting for six years to see the dominance of Federer coming to a grinding halt. The Federer Express for the first time slowed in 2008 and gave everyone a chance to look at it and Nadal even boarded onto it.

But the train incredibly has picked up steam in 2009 again. After waiting for half a dozen years, these handful of non-Federer fans can wait for a small matter of three more years till 2012, that is till when the Swiss declared his intention to stay in the game.

Just as life goes on, so the Federer Express rolls on, raising doubts as to what is that thing that has made these small section of non-Federer fans stay the way they are, and remain incapable of mingling with the millions of die-hard Federer fans out there.

Wimbledon '09: Real Giant Karlovic Meets Swiss Giant Federer In Quarter Finals

Rock — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:03:40 -0400

One cracker after another for Roger Federer. He had defeated Robin Soderling in a tight straight set match in the pre-quarters; and is now going to meet the 6'10'' giant from Croatia, by name Ivo Karlovic in his quarter final on Wednesday.

The Quarter Finals at Wimbledon has reached fever pitch and every match promises to be a hum-dinger.

Other mouth-watering clashes at the Quarters include: Roddick vs Hewitt; Djokovic vs Haas and Murray vs Ferrero.

Surprisingly, six out of the top eight players in the Quarters are 26 and above years of age, and that throws some light on how much this Wimbledon means for each of the older guys.

Federer played the towering Karlovic nine times on all different surfaces and it was only once he lost to him at the Cincinnati Masters. He is very familiar with the type of game Karlovic deploys and winning the first set is always going to be the key for Federer, which he failed to do against Karlovic's only win.

Karlovic's serve was unbroken in his run to the Quarters and his previous best at any Grand Slam was only at Wimbledon in 2004 where he reached round four. His last four appearances at SW19 saw him exiting in just the first round.

The Zagreb resident, nicknamed Dr.Ivo won a close four-set battle against the other Spanish stud Fernando Verdasco, where the last tie-break he won was at 11-9.

Swinging hard from both the wings is Karlovic's style of play in addition to those little booming serves he loves to serve down the "T." The Doctor was administered that his style of play is "boring" by many tennis pundits and yet they equally acknowledge that it could get as dangerous as it can get on his day.

Karlovic just seems to be having his days at the "grass is for cows" Championships, which suits his game to the tee and should feel confident having made it to the second week.

When asked how Federer would prepare against Karlovic, he said "Same as I do against other players. I like those sort of challenges, you know. I mean, it's maybe not the most fun match to go through. But I like to beat this guy, you know, because he makes it hard on us, you know, to beat him."

The Swiss champion is always wary of big serving players like Karlovic, Roddick, Soderling despite enjoying a lop-sided head to head advantage over them.

If most of the sets go to the tie-breakers, expect Federer hold to his forte even though Karlovic was not broken in this tournament. As nerves begin to creep in, the tie-breaker gets interesting from five all.

As things nudge to the business end of the tournament, the sun begins to shine brightly on one particular player and the odds of winning the tournament of that particular player gets heavier and heavier.

To take a lighter moment from the tense filled line ups, Karlovic was asked on what he thinks of Federer's outfit his response was," I don't know. No comment. (Laughter)."

Karlovic had performed a jig after his win over Verdasco and he may well repeat the jig if he takes out Federer.

Even if he does not take out Federer, if he gets his serve working the match promises to be a Thriller. If Federer's backhand is found a tad off the radar it can get Bad. If Karlovic edges out Federer in the first set it can be Dangerous.

Wimbledon '09: Federer vs. Soderling in Repeat of French Open Final

Rock — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:29:43 -0400

Roger Federer and Robin Soderling are in for a heavy weight clash. The two are set to meet in the fourth round at Centre Court at Wimbledon.

The pair met in the recently concluded French Open finals where the Swiss master finally conquered his much deserved grand slam, setting him as a front runner for the greatest player of all time.

At Roland Garros the Swede was in ominous form throughout the tournament. Federer clearly had an upper hand, taking the first set and exploiting the Swede's ungainly movement as well as his lack of big match experience.

A late resistance by Soderling in the second and third sets was to no avail, as Federer cruised to victory in straight sets.

Magnus Norman and his student Soderling should learn from their previous mistakes and should come up with a modified strategy to take on a highly confident Swiss, one who is rearing to clock his 15th slam.

This being a fourth round, the Tibro native should be feeling less nervous than when he last played Federer in the French Open finals. That should allow him to play a better first set compared to his performance during their last encounter.

Soderling's first serve and his forehand should be working in tandem in order to create an opening against the King of Grass. He won his first two matches in four sets and had put a better a performance against Almagro in the third round to win in three sets.

Federer on the other hand lost his first set in the tournament to Philipp Kohlschreiber but stamped his authority in the fourth set to seal the match in four sets. He knows a thing or two on winning a Grand Slam on grass and he would bring in all his decade long experience into account should the match head to a decider.

When asked his thoughts after the French Open final, Soderling had no hesitation in accepting Federer is the best player of all time. If he has the same mind set before they lock horns on grass then it is safe to assume the result would be even lop-sided than their last meeting.

Soderling is winning but has been winning ugly to come his far. But it should be the return of the ugly Soderling that should plant seeds of uncertainity in the Swiss' head.

This block buster match between two Leos of all the other fourth round encounters should provide the viking duo of Norman and Soderling one more opportunity to analyse their strategies which they had worked on their drawing boards and see if they could implement them on real time on grass.

The only difference since they last encountered could be, Federer would not be having a wry smile as they enter the stadium before they line up to launch powerful ground strokes at one another.

Soderling would love to say, "No one can beat me 11 times in a row" but Federer would not like to reveal his plans till he takes care of his business which could probably culminate on the second Sunday at the prestigious championships.

Wimbledon '09: The Importance Of Being Ernests

Rock — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:33:35 -0400

Britain's boy of the tournament or the sizzling Scot, Andy Murray, is up against the most favourite of underdogs called Ernests Gulbis in his second round encounter on Centre Court.

Murray's presence was so felt this year that the excitingly named Henman Hill was unofficially changed to a pale Murray Mount by the media.

Murray was taken to task more than one expected by Robert Kendrick who served, dived and even took a set from the Scot during their first round encounter.

Kendrick is yet an other American player whose game relies mostly on big serve and huge forehand. He lost his first round against Feliciano Lopez, a serve and volley player, in straight sets in two tie-breakers at the Queens this year.

Considering Kendrick's decent recent performances, Murray did well to avert a fifth set scare and had the job done after being given a decent work out in his very first round.

The Fred Perry costume sashay-er has got his task cut out in the second round when he would be facing the girls heart throb from Lativa and a financially sound Ernests Gulbis.

A google search on the 20 year old Latvian guy will not fetch enough results for one to drool over his accomplishments or his pictures but he has generated enough hype already that little fine tuning in his game and composure should yield him big results on the big tournaments.

A huge serve and an explosive forehand moulded with a good drop shot describes Gulbis' eye-catching playing style in short. As and when one talks of this Latvian native, a complete player at a tender age who has earned the tag 'prodigious talent' were often reverberated in the tennis domain.

For him to defeat an in-form highly confident Murray, he has to exploit every trick up his sleeve, for he is playing the best returner of serve in Men's tennis and was termed by Federer as a great tactician.

Nervousness, and blowing things away quickly is Gulbis' weaknesses and with the raucous crowd sternly in favor of the Brit, Gulbis has to tone down his weakness and should maintain consistency on his strengths, if he has any plans to take the match to a decider.

He indeed had taken a set from Rafael Nadal in last year Wimbledon where the modest talking Nadal went on to describe had it not been for a rain break Gulbis would have run away with the match. Such would be the intensity in his game that on his day one would get to see a talent on display in it's rawest form, a trait often associated with Marat Safin in his early days.

The school boy looking guy beneath those cherubic eyes has a power game that can inflict some damage to the best of opponents on his day.

It is time for Gulbis to execute his beefy shots and enthrall the spectators displaying his spectacular array of strokes from his arsenal. The underdog tag should lose its sheen and what better place than Wimbledon to mark a defining victory to give the much needed fillip to his career.

Gulbis talks nice, looks nice and behaves nice. He is good mannered and was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. There is hardly anything wrong so far in his fledgling career other than the absence of big match performance on the grandest of stages.

If he manages to pull an upset over Murray, on whom the entire nation's hopes were pinned like never before, for once Gulbis will have a dent on the word nice and will be on course to cause pandemonium instead of Andymonium at the Wimbledon Championships.

Title courtesy from Gulbis' fansite.

Rafael Nadal's Loss to Lleyton Hewitt at Hurlingham Club Sends Fans into a Tizzy

Rock — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:12:46 -0400

Defending Wimbledon champion and world No. 1 Rafael Nadal lost his first match on grass this season at Hurlingham Club to Lleyton Hewitt with a 6-4, 6-3 scoreline and sent his worshippers into a delirium.

He was hampered by injury after the French Open and was treated for tendinitis, which forced him to pull out of the Queen's.

Hewitt was attacking Nadal from the word go, and he broke Nadal in the fifth to gain a 3-2 lead. With one break of serve, he seized the first set 6-4. Hewitt broke Nadal in the second set to a 4-3 lead and went on to win the set and the match when Nadal hit a backhand volley out.

Nadal is now going to face Stanislas Wawrinka on Friday at the same club to check whether he would be available for Wimbledon. When asked about the chances of Nadal defending the title, his coach and mentor Toni Nadal replied, "If it's me, I'm (flying) to Mallorca."

That statement from the coach does not augur well for his nephew and his chances for the defense of the title.

The news from Nadal's camp is grim, and it will not be a surprise if Nadal pulls out of Wimbledon in a bid to save his career, ending all the speculation.

Nadal was seen playing the match without tape, and he had given himself a chance to see the mileage of his un-taped knees before the most prestigious of tournaments, which commences on Monday.

The news has been leaking for quite some time now, and it should please the tournament sponsors and the fans should he manage to win few matches with his presence at SW19.

This is just the sort of news which will spur the likes of Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, to a certain extent Novak Djokovic, and none more than the man from Switzerland, Roger Federer.

The Swiss native had a fairy tale run at the French Open, and it is very likely that it would continue at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. The probability of him playing two five-set matches if he makes it to the finals, like he did in the French Open, is very unlikely since this is the tournament where he most relishes to win any number of times.

It is a much-needed boost to every player on the circuit, not to mention the Federer supporters, who wish to see their man unparalleled and unrivalled when it comes to matching records and being anointed as the Greatest of All Time.

While one section of the supporters should be seen seemingly confident of their man clocking a 15th Grand Slam, the other section of the supporters are left wondering why Toni and his camp allowed Nadal to continue playing tournaments in the clay season.

It is high time Toni Nadal and his contingent really address the problem that his nephew has and see he could long a bit longer than his knees would permit him.

Till the official news arrives from the Spanish camp, Rafael Nadal, his fans, sponsors, and the officials could not do anything other than keep their fingers crossed.

A premature career termination of one the fiercest competitors that the tennis world has ever seen is the last thing that any tennis fan would have wished.

Murray Says, "I Have What It Takes to Rattle Roger"

Rock — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:21:18 -0400

The rising Brit (read Scot), Andy Murray, who won his first grass court title at the Queen's last week is making some noise to channel probably the British media onto his side as if the considerable expectations resting royally on his shoulders were not enough.

Murray was disliked by the people when Djokovic was on the rise in the early part of 2008 because of his tantrums on and off the court. That time it made one wonder, whether the Brad Gilbert coached lad could ever make it to the Top 5.

He identified the problem after seeing Djokovic winning his first Grand Slam title and had put down his head and worked hard to improve his fitness and add some muscle to his skinny frame.

The results were evident in the second half of 2008 where he won the Madrid Masters, reached the semi finals in Toronto Masters and defeating Djokovic for the second straight time in a Master's event to capture the Cincinnati Masters shield.

The Dunblane native then went on to reach the finals of the US Open where he was taken to task by the Swiss Maestro.

He had 1R, 3R, QF, F results for the four Grand Slams of 2008 appearing in the order they arrive. He reached 4R, QF for the Australian and French Open of 2009.

If one plots a Murray graph with Grand Slams on the X-axis and the results on the Y-axis for the two years, the graph would surely take a linear shape with the 2009 curve seen over the 2008 curve. A clear definite trend would be visible.

Despite all these achievements and winning the Queen's taking out a Federer worshipper called Blake in the finals, Andy Murray is better of keeping the comments to himself before he takes confident looking cheap shots on the mighty Swiss.

This is neither a Ashes pre-match verbal duel nor a rumble in the jungle fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.

The no.3 ranked player who looks very elegant in his Fred Perry attire for Wimbledon has got his task cut out wearing his little short shorts. The chances of his words becoming true probably will have substance if he lands in Federer's half of the draw and knocks him out in the Semis, should they both reach that far.

The Swiss native is on a high after completing his career Grand Slam and had reiterated that he would be playing pressure free tennis from here on. Federer had the knack of holding on to his serve under pressure cooker situations and imagine what his mind set would be like when the burden got lifted off his shoulders once for all in his star studded 14 Grand Slam career.

If Murray wants to know the effect of such statement that it could have on Federer, he'd better ask Djokovic.

News source: Dailymail. Picture courtesy: Dailymail.

Pakistan Cricket and Their Relentless Pursuit Towards Enigma

Rock — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:09:38 -0400

Delving the sub-continent one would find four cricketing nations India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh beaded together with a common thread called "crazy celebrations for the game" no matter in which part of the world the match was played.

India being a secular country, one can find fans worshipping their idols and deities in all possible ways and their sacred rituals would become a hot news topic for the channels to be telecasted before the big match day.

The same sort of religious worship should be going on with the other three nations in varying levels of intensity. Seeing the celebrations and the way the Pakistan spectators were jubilant while their nation was playing a game of Twenty20 in the Super 8's against New Zealand, reminded of the good ol' India/Pakistan rivalry days.

It is safe to admit that the intensity level had dropped by more than few notches in this decade as compared to the previous one, with extensive cricket played by India with different countries. They have discovered a new found rivalry with Australia after the epic 2001 series.

As Indian cricket was beginning to rise under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly at the start of this millenium, their rivals began losing their sheen, mainly with top players having rifts with the board and a few of them joining ICL to make quick buck. The recent terrorist attack on Sri Lankan cricketers while they were heading to a stadium had brought cricket in Pakistan to a grinding halt.

Pakistan board was left in tatters and they recently had to play a one day series at a neutral venue against Australia in UAE.

Despite this mayhem, Pakistan still manages to bring talent in its rawest form to the team. Today it is 19-year-old Shahzaib Hasan who is a big striker of the cricket ball. Yesterday it was Hasan Raza, Imran Nazir, Aqib Javed, Saqlain Mustaq, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Akhtar, Asif Iqbal, Naveed Rana, Umar Gul, and the ever exciting Shahid Afridi.

What their arch rival India was always worried about the quality of medium pace bowlers that Pakistan was able to produce which does not have a strong domestic support for the game. Their neighbours would love to trade any of their medium pacers on any given day and the BCCI would immediately send them to MRF pace academy to hone his skills under the supervision of former Aussie pacer Dennis Lillie.

Time and again Pakistan has produced players who were not given a continuous run for the team. And if they were given opportunities, they were not properly groomed into a world class player with a specialization in batting or bowling.

The team would always have troubles and it is very difficult to find a standard 14 player combination with a core unit playing at an international level on a regular basis. It was even more visible in this decade when unheard players started making their debut for few matches before they were shown the door.

Despite all these odds, it is their will to succeed on a particular day that would give nightmares to the opposition even on their best day. An unknown force suddenly binds all these players on the field and they would play like champions.

Their pacemen would bowl a tight length. Their fielders would take blinders at point and even their rookie batsmen would display a fearless attitude against a good bowler in the world. All these traits were visible in their clinical rout against New Zealand in the T20 World Cup with Gul taking the best five wicket haul in T20 for a paltry six runs.

A fully charged up Pakistan is one of the best sights in world cricket. The passion to perform on the field is best seen in Pakistan's team than in any other team. The unity which was found lacking off the field would suddenly be seen on the field.

Out of the blue, one would find each of their team mates motivating one another and that team binding spirit by and large should sow the seeds of doubt in the opposition batsmen's minds while chasing in what should be termed as an easy target.

Every player would be ready to give a limb for their team and country. Friday or no friday hardly matters. The imminent thing is sure to follow and the opposition captain would truly acknowledge that his team was beaten fair and square. Dangerous Pakistan is always everyone would be worried and it is unfortunate that New Zealand had seen that today.

If one is a cricket fan, then he would definitely like to see the good old rivalry gaining prominence between the countries that have their independence day's in successive days, for the betterment of Pakistan and their importance attached to the competitiveness that they could generate in global cricket .

It is a pity that a country which had produced champion players like Zaheer Abbas, Saeed Anwar, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis is at the receiving end of the sport today and yet throw potential players to world cricket for reasons known and unknown.

There can be lot of similarities with the way the fans reacts after their team loses, but at least all these cricket playing nations from the sub-continent are not bonded with a common enigma.

French Open '09: Sublime Soderling Makes His First Grand Slam Final

Rock — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:02:33 -0400

Magnus Norman coached Robing Soderling announces himself into his first Grand Slam final of his career with a 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Fernando Gonzalez from Chile.

Before someone talks anything about Soderling, they should know a bit about his coach and fellow Swede, Norman. Both of them started working together for just six months and one can already see the results they achieved together. The reason?

The coach had pin-pointed the problem with Soderling and has toned down his temper. It clearly was evident in the matches when Soderling was showing no emotions when he was up or down a break point against his opponents.

Soderling was a break point down in his very first service game. He missed his first serve and Gonzalez was waiting to make most of the second serve. Soderling fires a huge second service at 183 kmph to swat an easy return into the open court. That is how Soderling played this tournament upto this mark.

Both players traded huge forehands and it was a spectacular display of hard hitting shots when they were trading blows down the middle of the court. With only a break of serve, Soderling seized the first set 6-3.

Gonzalez had the advantage of serving ahead in the second set. Even though he has got his nose his front, the Chilean was seen playing catching up game most of the time. for most part of the second set. He had his chances when he had his first set point, and Soderling fired a power packed ace to save the point and levelled the score at 5 all.

The Tibro resident from Sweden broke the Chilean in the next service game and comfortably went on to hold his next service to seal the second set at 7-5.

The 12th seed was hanging by the thread in the third and surged ahead to a 6-5 lead. Soderling was serving to stay in the set and it was expected that the match would head to a tie-breaker. Gonzalez found his shots which Soderling had no answers and was able to break the Swede's service game to be able to stay in the match snatching the third set at 7-5 in 40 minutes.

Other than the first set, Soderling was always serving second in the other sets. A momentum shift was on the cards with Soderling dropping his intensity by a tad at the end of the third and in the beginning of the fourth set.

The God father from Sweden, Bjorn Borg was present in the stands and was watching his countryman spank shots from both the wings at the Chilean. Body language of Soderling was not quite as good as it was in the opening sets and Gonzalez had hopes of extending this match to a decider.

Soderling was seen missing few forehand shots which he made them comfortably at the beginning of the match. Gonzalez finding his first serves in, holds his service game to love to take a 4-3 lead in the fourth set. The Chilean managed to do that for a brief moment and Soderling was seen pumping his fist after winning his service game.

Gonzalez was seen arguing for a ball that Soderling hit which landed just on the edge of the side line. He lost the argument and erased the mark by sitting on the court and rubbing it off with his back. Gonzalez managed to keep his cool and won that game to lead 5-4 in the fourth set.

Soderling hit his first double fault of the match in the next service game. A wide forehand smacked by Soderling landed outside the sideline and had given Gonzalez the fourth set.

Serving first set again in the fifth set gave Gonzalez the advantage and his confidence was soaring after taking the match to the decider. He led the set 4-1 and Soderling was seen missing his forehands.

Soderling finally decided to go for broke and it has paid him off. He got his mojo back and could find his forehands hitting their mark. He reeled of the next five games in a row to finish an emphatic win over the Chilean.

He was put under the gun and prevailed in five sets after controlling Gonzalez for most part of the match. Credit to Gonzalez for hanging by the skin of this teeth to make a match out of it. He almost pulled it through until Soderling started finding his display of shots in a keenly contested match.

Norman reached the French Open finals in 2000 and choked at big moments, to lose a four set battle to the eventual Champion Gustavo Kuerten. What has the Master got to offer the student at the finals?

"Playing in a Grand Slam final is an incredible experience. I am well aware of the errors I made. I was too nervous and didn’t manage to use that stress productively. If Robin goes out on court on Sunday, I know exactly what advice to give him.”

Norman's student has reached his first Grand Slam final. Soderling did not show not much emotion after thumping a forehand shot which won him the match. He felt on his knees, put his head down and got up quickly to shake hands at the net.

Soderling would love to follow the advice given by his master and make it a remarkable coach - player combination to script one of the amazing runs in a Grand Slam.

To their credit, they should not be complacent over their accomplishments to play a match on the second Sunday.

Soderling without showing any nerves should try to deploy the same tactic in the final which had been working for him all through this tournament, which is, "Go swinging".

One-on-One with Roger Federer (Subtle Humor)

Rock — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:41:57 -0400

Since Roger Federer is the most popular guy on the circuit and already everybody knows enough about him, Roland Garros officials decided to do a late one-on-one talk at the end of the tournament as a surprise package and as a grand finish to the event.

But unsure of his quarterfinal outcome with Monfils, the authorities tried to contact Federer's manager to do a quick one-on-one, and they were left aghast when Federer's manager did not give the approval. The real reason behind it was that he already had given an appointment to one Bleacher creature.

Moderator: Questions please.

How do you like your chances against Monfils in the Quarters?

For sure, he is an exciting player to watch. He plays way behind the baseline and that is where I think I can exploit him. I have the big match experience and I know a thing or two about winning a slam. We shall see.

Rog..gerr, people who have defeated you this year so far have lost early in this tournament. Will that give you a better chance to lift Roland Garros this year?

That does not make any difference to me. I do not look too far into the draw. I take one match at a time and hopefully, I can get through every match from here on with better numbers.

Soderling is making news in this tournament how...!!! Guys!!!...what...do...you.

I think we are doing one-on-one here. I do not want to make it a post match interview. Please keep in mind that I refused to do one with Roland Garros officials.

Moderator: One-on-one questions in English please.

Do you think Roger, if you win this tournament without defeating Rafa, will make it a memorable one for you?

Hopeless. Next question.

What song are you currently listening to in your ipod?

Balboa's—Eye of the tiger.

Listening to it even when Rafa is out?

To me everyone looks like Rafa now. Did you expect Tommy Haas to be leading 2-0 before I came back magnificently?

What is your favorite color?

Definitely not dark pink and yellow.

Can you please cool down Roger?

Okay, I like black. My best so far was what I wore in the US Open in '07 or '08. Top to bottom and inside. Everything black.

What is your favorite training exercise?

I like climbing the hills. Four times I've attempted but only managed to reach half the way. I always love to conquer the summit (with obvious reference to FO, 14th and 15th slams).

What puts you in a bad mood?

Novak Djokovic.

We asked what, not who Roger?

My bad, I answered it as usual. The sight of untidy dressing in people and their unclear minds.

What sun sign would you have preferred if it were not for Leo?

Another Leo.

Your favourite hang out place?

My backyard in Basel which I modeled on the lines of Wimbledon.

If Mirka allowed you for a day on your own, whom would you have dated?

Pamela Anderson. I know she is old now, but I prefer older women.

If you are given powers right here, right now, to wipe out one bad incident in your career?

Probably my tears at this year's Australian Open.

Your favourite food Roger?

Anything that is made in South Africa. I prefer Musli too.

The thing you like the most in you?

My hair style. I love to push it back when it is falling over my bandanna. It is more evident for you when I do it after a break of serve.

The thing that you hate in people?

Crookedness.

If you were not to be a tennis player then what profession would you have ended up with?

I would have started as a medical representative assistant to my Dad and then would have seen how things unfolded.

Who is your favorite sporting idol?

It used to be Borg but now none. I admire Tiger Woods though.

If you are given a chance to portray one of the Hollywood actors, whose skin would you have donned?

Arnold Schwarzenegger, owing to his German connection.

What is your best moment in life?

My first Wimbledon title and the last US Open title.

Do you do adventures Roger, like para gliding, kayaking, or rock climbing?

Yeah...I do fishing.

Salsa, jazz, break dance, hip hop?

I'll leave that to Mirka. I do foot tapping and head nodding like Chris Tucker in Rush Hour.

Did you already plan a name for your kid?

Not really, but if it is a boy, then we put a boy's name and if it is a girl we put a girl's name.

You have a good sense of humour Roger, do you know that?

That's what I've been told by my many. Remember my twirling of racket imitating Blake?

Last question which I suppose should be a romantic one Roger.

Yes please.

When is your first real kiss?

The day I won the Olympic doubles gold with Stan.

Moderator: Enough is enough, disperse please.

Roger: Moderator! Come and see me at my office.

Moderator: Why?

Roger: Cuz you did not tell me the questions beforehand.

French Open '09: Gael Monfils Dumps Andy Roddick in Pre Quarter Finals

Rock — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:04:45 -0400

Elastic Frenchman Gael Monfils has extinguished Andy Roddick's hope of making it to the quarterfinals and has set up a clash with an out of sorts Roger Federer in the French Open. It was Roddick's best showing at Roland Garros after improving his third round appearance in 2001.

Roddick was out played in all departments of the game where he capitulated 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 to the Frenchman. A comprehensive victory for the France native where he was in control of the entire match right from the word go.

First couple of games went on serve before Monfils broke Roddick. He went on to capture the first set 6-2. Second set was when Monfils started getting into the match trying his drop shots and lobs whenever possible. Roddick tried to throw whatever he can at the Paris native, but Monfils was in good form throughout the match.

Roddick had a head start at the beginning of the third set when he broke in the third game to gain a 2-1 lead. Monfils immediately broke back Roddick's service game and leveled the scores.

The Frenchman was able to find his range of shots from the back of the baseline and Roddick was seen missing easy overhead volleys into the net. Roddick was broken and Monfils was leading 5-3 in the third.

When the American was serving to stay in the match, he hit two back to back unforced errors to trail the score by 15-30. A screaming inside out winner had given two match points to the Frenchman.

Monfils was able to convert his first match point to make it through to the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year when the American dumped an easy volley yet again into the net.

He now faces the No. 2 seed who scraped through a five setter against Tommy Haas after trailing in the first two sets. It should set up a mouth-watering contest between the two, for Federer is chasing his 14th Grand Slam title with the top contenders out of the tournament.

It was in the semifinals last year that Monfils lost to the Swiss native in a tight four set match.

With the crowd strongly behind the local boy, Federer should tighten up his screws if he wants to make most of the opportunities that was presented to him in a platter.

Any traces of the lethargic performance he had displayed against Haas will be magnified by the rubber Frenchman. The energy shown by Federer with his ecstatic leap at the end of his previous match is what is needed to send the message to Monfils for the entire duration of his quarterfinal encounter.

Monfils, with his undying spirit to chase every ball, knows a thing or two on how to get the support behind him with his captivating on-court theatrics.

French Open '09: What Did Robin Soderling Do?

Rock — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 03:07:18 -0400

Robin Soderling defeated four time Roland Garros Champion in four sets at Philippe Chatrier in less than four hours in the fourth round.

If you are Rafael Nadal or one of his loyal fans, then the word should start with 'D'. Devastated. Disgusted. Disappointed. The tournament suddenly should not matter to you no matter whoever wins from here on.

There should be a huge void left in this tournament and you are not that keenly interested to take stock of who is facing next in the coming rounds.

But that is about it and you will pin up your hopes on him and move on to the next Grand Slam as your icon expressed at his press conference rather than whining over the loss, "but in the end is one more match, yeah".

It surely was a shocker which no one expected Nadal to falter to a man whom he last defeated by just giving one game at Rome Masters series.

Speculations now are rife whether Nadal should not have played so many clay tournaments or must not have tried the garish pink-yellow outfit.

When asked on whether, this defeat makes your victories even greater? Nadal replied, "No. No, defeats never make you grow, but you also realize how difficult what I achieved up until today was, and this is something you need sometimes. You need a defeat to give value to your victories".

Soderling's achievement has suddenly left the draw wide open, none more than to Roger Federer. The prayers by his supporters had worked big time and angels had shown mercy over the to-be-newly become dad, by taking out the top contenders in two back to back days.

The stars have aligned in the best possible way for the Basel resident and if he plays anywhere close to his potential, it should be cakewalk from here on. His probable line up now includes Haas, Monfils, Del Potro and Murray. He could be playing his four important matches of his life.

It is like an exam that you most fear and you are shell shocked to find questions for which you definitely know the answers. One should be feeling ecstatic the moment the burden of expectation to clear the test is relieved on the shoulders.

Federer is just now in that territory and he is experienced enough not to be complacent till he achieves his goal.

Watch for the first serve percentage, break point and ace count statistics to surge and expect a straight set clinical performance from here on till he lifts the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy.

Soderling also has jolted Nadal's chances for Wimbledon and the trophy is up in the air for grabs. The pressure and expectation would be considerably lesser now on the Spaniard and the media should project the one who wins the Stella Artois or Halle grass court warm up tournaments in a big way.

Magnus Norman coached Soderling showed what could be achieved when you step on the court with belief. Being the underdog also helped him in taking down the bull by it's horn in his backyard surface.

If he is on a red hot from like Tsonga was in Australian Open '08, then his probable line up to the finals would include Davydenko, Murray and Federer. After taking out Nadal, people really do not wish him to reach that far. He is the least preferred player to watch in the circuit.

Soderling has displayed a fearless attitude and put up a magnificent performance over —not one set—but over four sets to take down the reigning champion. He even has shown his other side by not celebrating wildly or by rolling on the clay or thumping his chest or sending a glare to the champion.

He threw his racket to the crowd, raised his arms and was the first one to leave the arena with the applause.

Soderling's service was working and was able to adopt the one-two punch by serving wide and dispatching the return short ball from his forehand side to put the opponent out of the court. He played the match of his life.

Despite this achievement, few would still like to remember him as the ugly Sod and would be mighty pleased if he falters in his Quarter final against Davydenko. Imitating Nadal in Wimbledon '07 might have caused the displeasure to tennis fans but that should not shadow his on court achievements. Infact, he is no cockier than Djokovic.

Much to the dismay, if he racks up his first Grand Slam title possibly by taking down a red hot Federer, he would still wonder thinking what did I do such a thing that led to the hatred amongst many tennis pundits.

Winning a title of significance, for once, may help in putting his nickname to rest and should provoke people in talking about his game than his demeanour or antics.

French Open '09: Nadal Versus Hewitt In The Third Round

Rock — Thu, 28 May 2009 04:18:07 -0400

For the ones who had nothing to do but just tuned into this site, Rafael Nadal is taking on Lleyton Hewitt in the third round of the French Open 2009. If there is one player who peaks into top form as the tournament progresses, then Nadal should be one of those contenders who should top that list.

Both are equally competitive as players, perhaps Nadal a notch higher considering his visible emotions on the court.

Nadal so far had Daniel and Gabashvili in his victims list who are not your day-to-day tomato cans. Both the players threw what they could throw at Nadal, but the man in dark pink was better by more than a tad.

Hewitt, unlike in this years Australian Open where he lost a 5 setter to Fernando Gonzalez in the first round, showed why he is called a gritty player after scraping through the 5 setter where he lost the first two sets in a tie breaker to Karlovic in his opening match. He had a relatively easy straight set win over Golubev in the second round.

Hewitt made considerable progress this year after he sustained a hip injury at Olympics 2008. He won his first title on clay in more than a decade at Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston this year.

Followed were the Master's series and he could not get past Safin in the first round and admitted that he ran out of the gas in the second set. This just goes to show that a player would be drawing tough opponents in the tournaments he contests after an injury break or rehabilitation.

The motivation to sustain in the circuit after the break should be much higher than what a player had during his initial years as a young professional player. Hewitt's got motivation and a half. A fierce competitor utilising his abilities to the highest possible level.

But he is running into a colourful machismo man in the third round who plays the game with an intensity that Hewitt would be proud of. Hewitt must have ran out of his limited reserves of gas at this age against Karlovic. He refuelled it and preserved it well in the second round.

Under hypothetical conditions, if his third round match gets to a decider then Nadal will not be shy of reminding Hewitt his age. A statistic that Hewitt would quickly like to forget was when he was defeated 6-1, 6-2 in last years Olympics by Nadal.

If Nadal dispatches Hewitt to the cleaners again, the shouts of 'Vamos' can just get bigger sending the waves to as far as a certain Swiss lurking at the bottom in the other half of the draw.

Goran Ivanisevic Vs Ivo Karlovic: Why the 6' 10" Guy Is Boring?

Rock — Mon, 25 May 2009 04:56:38 -0400

We are talking about players who possesses the best services of the game, the Croatians, Goran Ivanisevic and Ivo Karlovic.

Before I was threatened at gun point, molested and was forced to accept that Roger Federer also has a good service which often goes under rated, I totally accept that the Swiss has a serve that wins him cheap points but he cannot hit aces at will. Federer finds that extra zing to his serve when he is serving for the match.

That is the definition of best services as far this article is concerned—pure ace hitting machines—and the two Croatians are the default candidates to make the list with their past credentials.

Goran Ivanisevic is a lefty and stands at 6'4". He is known for his placing his serves in the service box with laser like precision. He has a typical service motion and one gets a feeling that he is extending his left arm like how one stretches the string of a bow, aiming for accuracy.

The shorter (at 6'4''?) Croat is known for his volatile temper and charming personality with which he could attract fans all over the globe. He was one of his kind in his era with a spectacular ability of hitting aces and had a significance attached to him with the likes of Sampras', Agassi's and the Courier's.

Infact it won't be a gaffe to say he had fans just because of his serve. He was a serve and volley player and once his service was returned with spunk, the chance of him winning him a point in the rally were very bleak. His weaknesses include a very weak backhand and the high double fault count.

Just at the turn of the new millennium, another player who stood at 6'10'' hailing from the same country, became a professional in 2000, with a nick name Dr.Ivo. Rumour mills often state this guy is the most boring of players to watch. A right handed single handed back hand, a forehand with real venom and an ace count as good his former 'Ace King' and yet be termed as boring?

Karlovic services does not have the precision that Ivanisevic had. But he has a knack of serving down the middle of the 'T' and often you do not get to see the second bounce of the tennis ball in his ace. Points played by Karlovic are short too but he has a tendency to hang at the baseline and go for a wild swing from either of the hands than rushing to the net.

If someone does a number crunching, then Dr.Ivo, the tallest player ever, never went past the third round of any Grand Slam he had played so far. He hit an incredible 1377 aces in 2007 which is next only to Ivanisevic who hit an all time high of 1477 aces in 1996. To state the claim, he launched 55 aces in his first round encounter against Lleyton Hewitt at the French Open '09 and broke the record for the most number of aces hit in a match.

Ivanisevic was a clear contender at Wimbledon where he was a semi-finalist twice and a finalist thrice. He had a single digit ranking during his prime years where as Karlovic could never break into the top 20 rankings.

Karlovic lacks the personality as Ivanisevic. He hardly received any financial help from Croatian tennis federation because of the rifts he had with its bosses. He is less emotional on the court compared to his other country man.

May be he is cleanly shaven and he lacks the French beard that Ivanisevic had when he won his only Wimbledon title in 2001. All these do not necessarily qualify for a person to be put under the 'horrible to watch' category.

Both their games are primarily dependent on their services. If an X is a fan of Ivanisevic that does not automatically qualify him to become a fan of Karlovic. But what is baffling would be to see the same X terming Karlovic as boring.

With just tennis in mind, if Ivo Karlovic is called boring because of his ace game, then Goran Ivanisevic should not be light years away from not being called as boring and the odds should be shared equally between the two.

Former Players Test the Wimbledon Centre Court with a Closed Roof

Rock — Mon, 18 May 2009 02:32:18 -0400

With tempers raging on whether it was Roger Federer who won the Madrid Masters title by sending Rafael Nadal into submission or was it a tired Rafael Nadal who did not have enough in his legs to compete against his nemesis—it was worth a visit to the pristine Centre Court at Wimbledon yesterday.

It was an opening ceremony at the Centre Court with the newly added roof and the authorities wanted to see how the players could cope with the indoor conditions. Hundrerds of tonnes of iron girders were present over the roof and it needed a solid support structure. It would take approximately eight to nine minutes for the roof to close.

In addition to roof, authorities have also increased the seating capacity by 1500.

Four former champions, two male and two female players, were invited to play a set with their counter parts to check the conditions of play under closed roof. Hogging the limelight amidst 12,000 spectators were Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, Tim Henman and Kim Clijsters.

Mixed Doubles

Tennis' star couple Agassi/Graf took on Henman/Clijsters in the mixed doubles event. Most of the points were played in good spirit and it indeed looked like an exhibition match for most part. Agassi showed glimpses of his forehand shots and Henman showed his deft backhand volleys which are almost extinct in today's generation of players.

After a decent work out in the middle, the star couple lost the set in the tie-break to the British-Belgian pair.

Agassi/Graf pair smooched on more than two occasions in the one set they played and that prompted BBC commentator Sue Barker to put a question to Graf at the end of the set. "You were kissing a lot on the court," and Graf quipped, "That's what we always do."

Men's singles

The good spirit that the two teams played was quickly vanished when Agassi took on Henman for the singles event. They were smiling all during the match and after couple of games the determination to win the set was visible on Henman's face.

Agassi was rifling his forehands and showed Henman as to why it is not easy to win a rally against him. The sting in the shots and serves was there in both the players arsenal. The fluid backhand was missing in Henman's game and he opted to play slice backhands whenever possible. But the touch he showed at the net was exquisite.

The humidity perhaps was a little higher under the roof and Agassi was seen profusely sweating. The 39 year old American was solid on the forehand wing but was unable to chase down the balls barring a couple of times.

Henman was touch nervous to start the proceedings and as the match wore on, the grit to perform better against the 8 time Grand Slam champion was conspicuous. Agassi clearly seemed the better played even at this age and he claimed the set 6-4.

The Las Vegan resident raised his hands high after the victory and both the players cherished their stay on the Centre Court.

Women's singles

Steffi Graf was the first to serve and held her service game without a mess. Her high ball toss and the 'not-so pleasing to the eye but effective forehand' was very much intact. Kim Clijsters who wanted to make a comeback into women's tennis could not hold her opening service game and Graf was up with 2-0 lead over her younger counter part.

Graf was smiling but Clijsters was focussed not to lose the set to the 22 time Grand Slam champion. Clijsters plays the game quite fast compared to others and that did not give Graf the breathing space. Graf once went and sat beside one of the linesmen and was talking to him how close the ball was to the line, in an attempt to catch her breathe.

Clijsters got into her groove and snatched the set 6-4. After the match, Graf jokingly said, "I might, might just ask a Wild Card for the tournament again".

All the players were given mementos for their participation and were given a huge applause for the entertainment provided.

What's interesting to note was the English crowd was still firmly behind the local favorite who had a hill named after him. The loyalties were evident when someone shouted, "Come on Andre," back came the retort in no time, "Come on Tim!"

Nadal Wins Another Five, This Time in Barcelona Defeating Ferrer

Rock — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 13:08:55 -0400

Defending champion Rafael Nadal defeated David Ferrer for the second consecutive time in the Barcelona finals to register a 6-2, 7-5 victory over the fellow Spaniard.

Nadal captured his 35th ATP title in his illustrious career and defended 500 ATP points successfully to regain his position at the top as the best clay court player.

The match started with Ferrer losing the first game on his serve. Nadal started confidently but Ferrer showed his fighting spirit, as he demonstrated in his semifinal match against Gonzalez, to immediately break Nadal and put the match on level terms.

Ferrer later conceded his service game again to his countryman in the next game and Nadal raced away to a 3-1 lead. The lesser built Spaniard was unable to counter Nadal's helicopter-like forehand shots, and has handed him the first set.

The second set started in exactly the same fashion as the first set, with Ferrer losing his opening service game. Both the players traded breaks for the first three service games, but later held their service games till the scores were levelled at five all.

Nadal broke Ferrer when it mattered at the business end of the set to seize the second set and the Barcelona championships for the fifth time. Both players had their first service percentages in the mid 50s, but it is the left-handed Mallorcan resident who was in control over the entire match.

Ferrer could not do what he was able to do against Gonzalez by coming to the net often to Nadal. He managed to win few points when he approached the net but those were rare occasions when Nadal was pushed out off the court.

Nadal was very relieved to win the tournament but did not fall on his home clay. In addition to the huge trophy, he also gathered a few more trophies which were given to the winner. Ferrer on the other hand was contended with a simple plate.

Champagne bottles were given to the players at the end and both players sprayed them on each other. While Nadal totally drenched the little man with champage, Ferrer could not chase down his country man even to pour the champagne as a part of their celebrations.

Barring another blister on Nadal's feet, which was primarily responsible for his shock defeat in the hands of Juan Carlos Ferrero last year, the defending champion at Rome, Novak Djokovic, has got his task cut when he has a possibility of meeting the No. 1 ranked player in the finals.

As the Spanish bull mows his opponents from surface to surface, capturing titles which he most cherishes, the possibility and threat of him claiming another five, this time at Roland Garros, are appearing bigger and bigger.

Roger Federer's Dream Preparation for the French Open Final (Humour)

Rock — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 04:37:30 -0400

After getting knocked out in the third round in Monte Carlo by his doubles partner, Roger Federer was enjoying a honeymoon vacation.

Federer's wife Mirka was, for once, happy that Roger lost so early, simiply because she could now get her pregnancy wishes fulfilled and could spend quality time with her husband at their undisclosed location in the Amazon rainforest.

Federer, being a Leo, is a romantic person at heart, and has found a luxury hotel with modern amenities even in such a remote location. In fact, Roger also found a guy there who would charge his normal 800 pounds for the hair cut.

The Swiss superstar is quite delighted that everything is going according to his plan.

He thought he was completely shut off from tennis and the outside world until he opened the main door of his luxury suite to pick up his morning newspaper.

Hardly a day passed after the Monte Carlo final that Federer started receiving large amounts of advice via the mail on how to tackle Rafael Nadal.

He knows he is the second-best clay court player of his era, and being stubborn as usual, watched the DVD clips of the second set of Monte Carlo final that were lying at his doorstep.

Unable to say "no" to the very first advice given by Mirka after becoming his wife, Federer picks up one particular DVD that does not have the word Djokovic on the label.

Federer joked to the hotel maid that Djokovic "now he knows what it is like facing Rafa".

He knows what's about to happen on that DVD and was about to turn it off, but he suddenly sees the B/R article that says Nadal can possibly be cracked on clay.

He turns his eyes to the screen and watches how Djokovic approached the net. He then takes a cue on how acute the backhand angles should be to push Rafa off the court.

He later admires how such shots let the court open for Djokovic to drill his forehand without going too much for the lines.

Federer also comes across two superbly played points in the set and realizes that any player has to win point atleast three times against Rafa, but keeps that to himself.

Federer was stunned to see drop shots working against Rafa on clay—a thought that has never come to him in his three final appearances at Roland Garros.

He even takes note of how Djokovic celebrated by showing his teeth after gaining a break early in the second set.

All set to go, Federer begins his dream preparation on tackling Rafa at the Roland Garros final '09.

Federer starts eating the native forest food available and starts fighting with the indigenous forest tribals on a daily basis to improve his mental strength and physical fitness. After only a couple of days of rigorous fighting with warrior tribals, Federer's biceps bulge by an inch.

He does Kayaking in the dense forest on an hourly basis every day and taps on the heads of pythons and crocodiles to get rid of any Nadal demons in his head.

He also practices with wooden rackets, hitting to the flat surface of the hill.

After gaining enough confidence, he later adopts a Don Bradman style of practice when he turns the racquet face vertical and hits the ball to the wall, with just the frame. This technique is used to improve the concentration and can also allow miscued shots to land in Nadal's half of the court.

Federer skips the next two Masters tournaments in Rome and Madrid, instead setting his sights on the French Open final where he was given a bye for all the rounds considering his poor form of late.

At the Venue

Nadal, as usual, slogs hard to reach the final, and was puzzled to see a rejuvenated Federer with a new look in the locker room.

Federer has been listening to "Lose Yourself" with volume blaring out of his iPod when he steps on the court to keep his spirits alive. He even knows the lyrics by heart.

Rafa just gets a hint that it is not the usual Federer he is going to face this time. That was confirmed to Rafa when Feder gave him the three finger "yo"' style greeting that is used by rappers upon entering the stadium.

Rafa follows his pre-match routine and aligns the water bottles perfectly. Federer and the umpire would be waiting for Rafa at the net for the toss.

Rafa squeezes the liquid chocolate from the tube and eats it. He keeps shaking his legs while eating and tries to pick which water bottle to drink from before the match.

The sight of Rafa taking time makes Roger nervous, but he follows the advice given to him by the tribal guru during his practice at the Amazon to perfection. He stutters at first, but later runs confidently towards Nadal to do the unthinkable.

He kicks over the carefully aligned water bottles of Nadal.

John McEnroe, who has been an ardent Federer fan to the core, could not believe what he just saw and mutters to himself, "He cannot be serious ?!"

Nadal gets the message and immediately comes for the toss. Uncle Toni throws his over-sized cap on the court but gestures Nadal to calm down.

Nadal wins the toss and runs like a mad bull to his side and the match begins.

After all the hard work put in by Roger at the Amazon basin, he could finally take Nadal to a tie-breaker for the first time at the French Open since his 2006 final. Nadal, however, seizes the tie break 9-7 and shouts the biggest, "Vamos" he has ever done.

That puts the breaks on Federer's charge on Nadal, and his demon of self-destruction returns in the second and third set. He loses 6-3, 6-2 in the next two sets and hands Nadal his fifth French Open title.

Rafa, as usual, congratulates Federer for the hard work put in and he says humbly, "You are the best, Roger. You will get to 14".

While departing, Rafa sets the song in his iPod to "Fix You" and asks Roger to listen and follow the lyrics of that particular song.

Meanwhile, world leaders call for an immediate G8 summit to devise plans that could bring Roger home the 14th Grand Slam. Never has sports become such an international issue, and Federer is mighty pleased with how everyone is bothered for him.

Nadal, unaware of all these global developments, will be enjoying his win merrily on Spanish beaches with his girlfriend Xisca, so that he becomes mentally fresh for the Wimbledon.

Photo courtesy of the state of Alaska.

Nadal's Clay Complex in Monte Carlo Possibly Cracked

Rock — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 13:56:31 -0400

Rafael Nadal was finally given some competition on the red dirt when Novak Djokovic took a set off him in the Monte Carlo Open on Sunday. But the final score was in favour of the Spaniard, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1, for the historic tournament.

The first ATP Masters clay tournament of the year gives a very good indication of how comfortable the Mallorcan resident will be for the rest of the season. This is his home.

Nadal has made history by winning this tournament for the fifth consecutive time. No other player has won so many in a row.

The match started with Djokovic racing to a quick 3-1 lead in the opening set. Nadal then showed why he has been unofficially anointed the best clay court player of all time, taking the next five games to seize the opening set.

The crowd did not raise any eyebrows when the Serbian called the trainer over after he had been broken in a particularly long game in the first set. After the first set was captured by Nadal, he probably went over to his chair thinking that he had the third seed's number in the final.

Djokovic, who is shy, seemingly lacks confidence, and has been facing the wrath of his fans and the pundits for not living up to his potential, just showed what he could do when he played his best tennis since his first Grand Slam victory at the Australian Open 2008.

Djokovic took Nadal out of his comfort zone and started dominating the game on Nadal's favourite surface in the second set. He stood his ground at the baseline and was moving Nadal from side to side.

He was rejuvenated and traded shots with Nadal. He approached the net more confidently as the game progressed and won all nine of his points approaching the net in the second set. The high looping backhand was being returned with interest.

The crowd, now firmly behind Djokovic, boosted his morale, and he suddenly looked like a wounded tiger that meant business against the raging bull.

After breaking Nadal twice in the second set, he aced him twice in the final game to take the match to a decider. Barely a fist pump after winning the set, Djokovic was feeling good about his chances for the win.

The first three games of the third set went over 40 minutes, and Djokovic could not convert the break point opportunities which he had on a consistent basis.

This resulted in Djokovic launching some "F bombs," throwing the racquet on the turf, looking to the heavens, and feeling helpless as Nadal hit screaming winners off the backhand when the Serb approached the net.

Novak was pushing Nadal to play defensively, but when Rafa broke Djokovic, the Serb started feeling the heat. Nadal broke Djokovic twice in the third set, and the Spaniard raced to a 5-1 lead to serve for the championships.

Nadal comfortably served for the set and registered a hard-fought win over the 21-year-old. The joyous and forceful closure of eyes to supress the tears showed what the victory meant for Rafael as he fell on the clay.

Djokovic should definitely be proud of his accomplishment after knocking off a set. He came up with a definite plan and believed that he could take on the four-time champion. Even though he lost, a warm smile at the net for the champion showed the mutual respect they have for one another.

This victory will definitely be sweet for Nadal after winning his first clay tournament as the No. 1-ranked player. He grew up on the red dirt and is starting his run on this surface as the defending champion yet again.

While this win is pleasing for the Spanish camp, Djokovic definitely showed that Nadal can be beaten on clay, a thought which was not so common before the season commenced.

Younger players, like Murray and Del Potro, should be facing Nadal more confidently from here on in than they normally would.

A certain Swiss who is currently No. 2 ranked in the world would probably love to duplicate the approach shots that Djokovic showcased on Sunday when he next faces the Spaniard.

Nadal was extended to a tie break in his semifinal encounter with Murray. People said that Murray did a good job when he gave a fight at the trailing end of the second set, but now it's Djokovic who has stolen a set from Nadal with a spirited fight back after losing the first set.

Are these the first visible signs that, as Nadal evolves and dominates the game incredibly well on other surfaces, he is going to lose his stranglehold on the sliding surface?

Answer coming to theatres near you when the suave-looking Spaniard in the sleeved shirt readies himself to defend his Roland Garros title in the last week of May.

Cricket Versus Football: Reason why C Comes Before F for This Cricket Fan

Rock — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 05:31:56 -0400

To begin with, it is not the highly armoured gladiator like sportsmen, pushing themselves to cross over the line with the ball—American football—is not the definition of football here.

It is the game that is played on grass with light weight metal spike shoes worn by players, of which the elite ones are traded for millions of dollars from one club to another—called Soccer is the focal point.

The only common point between Cricket and Football is there are 11 players who take the field at one time. Similarities end there for the good.

There are decent number of good to diehard fans all round the globe who follow both the sports with equal passion. And there are few people who watch football just for the clubs and the players who are tied up with.

Probably people who watch both the sports with moderate to high level of interest are the ones expected to throw brickbats or bouquets on this article.

Being some sort of cricket fan, I always forced myself to see football during the World Cups to feel the excitement and develop a liking to the game. And these are some of the reasons why I could not develop an interest for the game which was started in the 18th century that is played for 90 minutes.

1. You have to wait for an age in that short span of 90 minutes to see a goal scored. Often I find watching the goals in replays than seeing them Live.

2. The crowds singing their team songs are the ones mainly responsible to build the tension on the football field. Muffle the crowd noise and see the difference it adds to your excitement.

3. Every ball in cricket is new and can change the course of the game. In football, unless a player scores a goal, it is not going to matter to the opposition.

4. Wickets and runs equally play a good part in cricket. Fouls and penalties unless they result into goals, are not affecting the end result.

5. A cricket match can get right down to the wire like three runs of the last delivery. A counter part of it does not exist in football. No, penalty shoot outs are as good as D/L method in cricket which is to bring a result when there is a stalemate.

6. Cricket players can have multiple skills like batting, bowling and fielding to prove his selection worth in the team where as football is a uni-dimensional game.

7. Exceptional skill by a batsmen, bowler or a fielder can change the face of the game at that instant where as exceptional dribbling skills in football can at the maximum result in good passes which again depends on the other player to shoot the ball in the goal post.

8. Barring the traditionalists, there are shorter versions of cricket which will keep you hooked. Never heard of a football match played for just 45 minutes.

9. The coloured clothing also enriches the viewing experience. Football often confuses with the jerseys and in fact, you really have to observe the players to know which team they are playing for.

10. Cricket tests the players calibre and mind set to the core when put under pressure cooker situation. In football you have the luxury to hit the ball out when you know someone is approaching you.

In addition to these, fans have a chance to compare and admire the shots played by one batsmen to the other. The line and length maintained by one bowler can be spoken for generations. Impeccable bowling and fielding standards are always there to keep one hooked to the sport.

Atmospheric conditions also play a huge role and brings the best out of the players.

If nothing else works, the curator has the luxury to change the texture of the 22 yard strip on which the game will be played anything ranging from three hours to five days, depending on the format.

The Taylor Who Does Not Have a Dent in His Confidence

Rock — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 16:59:26 -0400

"Fortune favours the brave" was the line used by the commentator when Safin staved off break points when serving at 4-5 and eventually managed to hold his serve and win the first set against Monfils 7-5 at the Sony Ericsson Open.

Before the Live coverage started on those Russian and French entertainers, the broadcasters showed the match point between Tommy Robredo and Taylor Dent, where the American seized the match with 7-5, 6-3 scoreline.

(As I type, I see the Russian stud threw the racket in the direction of the chair umpire which hit the base of the chair, when he could not break Monfils serve at 1-1 in the second set.)

Those were the days when I was waiting in anticipation to see if there could be anyone who could bring down the might of Sampras. Mark Philippoussis could not do justice to his potential since his debut in 1994 and another bloke with a big serve is Andy Roddick, came in 2000 could not make any inroads either.

And there was one guy on whom I immediately zeroed on because of his strong serve and tall stature, the 17 year old that time who turned pro in 1998 by name Taylor Dent.

Dent has a big serve and huge forehand before Gonzalez changed the definition of huge forehands by hitting the lines. The Florida resident playing style belongs to the old school mode-the serve and volley one.

Plagued by injuries all through out his career, Dent's most impressive performance came in 2004 Olympics where he reached the semifinals and was defeated by the eventual gold medalist, Nicolas Massu.

Monfils has a lucky net cord at break point and leads 5-3 in the second set.

His recurring back problems prevented him from playing top level ball and he went under the knife in 2007. He played a challenger tournament later and was given a Wild Card for his ATP tournament in more than two years in July 2008.

Unsure of his tennis career Dent has chosen to hold a mic in the commentary box for the US Open coverage for couple of years.

Safin breaks back immediately and holds his serve to level the score at five all.

Dent has registered his biggest win after his rehabilitation against Robredo at his home tournament in Miami to proceed to the fourth round.

Owner of the third fastest serve next to Karlovic and Roddick, Dent is mighty pleased for his win over the 15th seeded Spaniard.

He is sponsored by Adidas which has the tag line, "Impossible is nothing." He is up against a player in his next round who is sponsored by shoe-clothing apparel which has the tag line, "Just do it," marketed by a certain Swiss called Roger Federer.

Monfils hits two screaming winners in the 12th game of the second set and wins it 7-5. The match is having everything.

Being more of a Dent fan before I became a Federer fan, it would be a perfect comeback if the American finds his booming serve in and manages to win a set from the 13 time Grand Slam champion.

But he would be totally aware that Federer has got 80% of his first serves in against Keifer in his previous encounter.

Nonetheless, Taylor Dent would dearly love to see the italicized quotes in this article to atleast become half true if he has any plans to continue his re-run on the tennis courts after rehabilitation.

What Is the Davis Cup?

Rock — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:11:36 -0400

Before someone jumps the gun and gleefully advices "Google it," I would love to dodge that bullet and say I am not going to Google it.

I've been watching tennis for quite some time now, but I never understood the intricacies of the Davis Cup. The only thing I remember of this special cup of tennis to few fans, which is played between countries, is Spain was the last year's winner.

There are Grand Slams and then there is one tournament that does not have the vigor and color of a Slam, the Davis Cup. It lacks fans in the stadium, lower preference is given by the top ranked players and to (someone tell me) the prize money.

The fact that it is played year round instead of being wrapped up in quick time is quite boring to fans. With players prior commitments unaltered and being themselves unavailable for all the matches, probably is one of the reasons why it is not ranked quite high in the priority list of ATP players as a Grand Slam.

In addition to the above mentioned things, there are few things that I am unable to fathom whenever I see a news article on Davis Cup.

Each team invites some countries to their nation and fight like it is the ultimate battle.

It is not as if one team is inviting all other countries, which could avoid confusion. There are different countries playing on their favorite surfaces at different places at the same time.

They would probably stop and resume their invitations after couple of months to play the next rounds. During the stoppage fans are expected to remember which country is playing which one and also has to keep track of their favorite schedule of play for the day. Plus, are there multiple Davis Cup winners in different parts of the world?

This is the only Cup in tennis that is played as a team by one nation. If the organizers do not want to push this event into history books, then they have to schedule it in such a way that it does not clash with the bigger tournaments. In doing so, they can attract more fans, avoid opinion based articles in B/R on Davis Cup, rope in top players, and also mint some money during the process.

Tough five setters, which are played in this tournament stay for a transient amount of time in the fans mind. "Yeah, it needs a overhaul mate", quips a fan's inner voice.

If the fans and the concerned sports authorities are not really cherishing it, then does it not affect the psyche of the players who had finished a slug fest with his opponent for just one dead rubber victory? Doesn't the player who has moved up the ladder in his singles career think twice to participate in the same tournament where he once played his heart-out for a win?

If the organizers really want to lift the Davis Cup tradition from ground levels to the stratospheric one, then they should have concrete plans to attract the younger folk into the game. If they want to keep the tradition alive, then it's high time they begin marketing in a grandiose way to have a fun-filled passionate atmosphere for the players and the fans alike.

PS: For the Davis Cup enthusiasts, this is the Googled Wikipedia link.

Djokovic Downs Ferrer to Win the Dubai Championships

Rock — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 04:27:29 -0500

The lanky Serbian finally made his mark this year. He overcame the lesser known Spaniard, David Ferrer, with a 7-5, 6-3 scoreline to accumulate solid 500 ATP points in the 2009 Dubai Championships where he failed to do so in his previous two attempts.

The match had it's fair share of rallies where both players excelled and also failed to capitalize their comebacks into the game with a dominating show.

Djokovic was leading 4-2 and 5-3 in the first set but allowed Ferrer to claw his way back into the game by losing the next eight points to level the score at five all. A total of eight points won in the next nine points allowed Djokovic to close out the first set.

Second set wasn't at it's best game of tennis either. The diminutive Valencian resident was playing the catching up game in the second set despite claiming that he is satisfied with his performance.

Ferrer agreed that his opponent is a better player than him after his match—a trait that is appearing seemingly common to his fellow country men. Their previous head to head record stood at three all and experts expected this finals to be a close contest than what the scoreline conveyed.

Both these seasoned campaigners could potentially meet in their Davis cup tie at Benidorm next week. And the third ranked player in the world was quick to concede the advantage to his opponent when he said, "There he will be having 15,000 Spaniards supporting him. He will be the favorite."

Statements of this sort will make you wonder if Djokovic could ever overcome the crowd demons which is similar to Nadal demons in Federer's head. This underscores that a huge part of his performance and behaviour on that particular day is directly connected to the amount of support he receives from the crowd.

Cocky but straight talking Djokovic continued, “And as the season is going on, I feel more comfortable with the racquet and I feel comfortable on the court more. I try to release the pressure that I have and just play the tennis that I played in the first part of the 2008, and if I do so, I think I will be pretty successful.”

It took the former world No. 1, current world No. 1 and the English No. 1 in Mens tennis to pull themselves out of the prestigious championships to hand the first title of the year to the ambitious No. 1, who has been beating on his aspirations since he defeated Federer at the Toronto Masters in 2007.

This title win by Djokovic reverberates the win he achieved at the year end Masters cup 2008, when he defeated Davydenko to finish the year on a high. He really cherishes each of his final wins in a big scale.

A couple of blistering forehand shots in his recent final may just raise the expectations of his fans that he may be finding his rhythm that he had in the early part of 2008.

With Djokovic on the court you can always expect something is going to happen—be it sore throat retirements, out of the blue celebrations or comprehensive performances to put every other person on hold and take notice of this once on-court entertainer.

The Reason Why IPL Is Hurting Me

Rock — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 06:03:57 -0500

It's back to big bucks, gorgeous cheer leaders, film stars gracing the event, younger cricket players getting to meet their screen icons, action heroes doing their bit to hog the limelight, and not the least—boundaries and sixes being hit at will.

I thought I was done with my cricketing viewing experience when India exited out of the World Cup 2007 in the preliminary round. But with no other sport really flourishing as big as cricket in India, everyone is forced to follow cricket and I am no exception. The interest rekindled in me when India won a closely fought Test series against Australia.

The IPL thoughts surfaced when India won the first inaugural T20 championships which were held in South Africa in September 2007, when they defeated their arch rivals in the finals. IPL was first launched as a counter measure when ICL was the first league to bring this sort of county championships into cricket.

IPL was the brainchild of Lalit Modi and he was credited for bringing and executing a novel concept with a huge backing from the BCCI.

Few teams with names ending with Challengers, Royals, Riders, Tigers, Lions (Sparrows and Pigeons were excluded so far) etc. were formed and are now funded by the corporate honchos and the big wigs of the film industry. A festival of colours, explosives and sixes is awaiting the cricket fans (real fans?) come the April 2009.

IPL 2008 was a huge hit and they are trying to at least double the success of it and cash in on it. Pietersen and Flintoff were traded for US $1.55 million which was a tad more than the uber cool MS Dhoni was traded for and nobody has any idea where the money is heading from.

Amidst this chaos there are few fans who are left wondering about this mayhem and man handling on cricket. They too like sixes being hit but not with ease and reduced boundary ropes. There were bountiful number of fours and sixes which were left unapplauded. Anything in excess vexes.

One day cricket was once a fans' delight is taking a backseat. And I for one will not be surprised if the purest form of cricket, Test cricket, becomes a part of the history. When players were able to stand the Test of cricket, I wonder whether Test cricket would be able to stand the test of time with such advancements and money flow in the game.

A batsmen who can hit the best of straight drives ever seen cannot find a place in the wham-bham, thank you mam cricket. A square cut hit in IPL will not be compared to David Boon's style. A half pull shot executed on one leg by a left hander is not admired.

The lazy elegance at which players hit their off drives and square leg strokes will be ridiculed because they lack the brute force. Commentators will be pressed to talk on how innovative a batsmen is for his switch shots rather than discussing the legality of it.

Being a cricket fan, who applauds a single over defended by Courtney Walsh to save the Test match for his team with more passion than six sixes being hit in an over, I begin to wonder where cricket and in particular Test cricket is heading to.

With torn heart, I for one do not support IPL just to keep the cricket alive—despite the fact that cricket is getting globalized.

And yes, I am a traditionalist.

The Day Roger Federer Became a Kittycat

Rock — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 08:44:28 -0500

It was a day that would be more remembered as Roger Federer who turned into a kitty cat than Rafa getting the credit for his hard court Grand slam title. For the retarded, Rafa won his first Australian Open title this year and he has now a collection of six Grand slams at 22 years.

There are die hard Roger fans who would ramble mindlessly over Roger's extremely low first serve percentage which was the key for the meek surrender by Roger in the fifth set. But they don't give credit that it was Rafa with presence both in Roger's mind and on the court had forced those statistics.

Rafa played tough in the finals for over four and half hours with nerves made of steel and mind of non diminishing grit. He played a gruelling five hour 14 minute match, the longest in AO history, to register a win over his fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in the Semi finals.

Stepping into the finals everybody expected Rafa to be tired and some even thought it won't last long more than four sets. Rod Laver, John McEnroe, Pat Cash and yours truly (this is a chance to put my name alongside the greats) predicted Roger to win easily.

The moment match went into the fifth set I gave up my hope of Rafa's chance for a win. I was pretty sure that he cannot turn around this time and started browsing the web. To everyone's dismay Rafa won convincingly in the decider with some help from Federer who cannot kill the demons inside his cranium.

A Rafa lightening struck Roger sometime after trailing Rafa 1-2 on serve in the 5th and then he suddenly started shanking his forehands and putting in uncharacteristic double faults. Nadal seized the set in no time and the finals was over without a dramatic finish unlike their last meeting at SW19.

Roger was asked first to receive the plate. He started confidently by saying, "Hey guys." The crowd roared and clapped. "Thanks for the support," he said. The crowd admired and applauded in jubilation.

He then did the unthinkable. He put his head down, the crowd cheering, took a deep breathe and said, "God, it's killing me." No one knows what 'it' he was referring to. But everybody knew that precise moment that he was heartbroken. The guy was sobbing like no loser has ever done on the podium.

The tears of sorrow were gushing like water from Niagara falls. He was wailing. Everyone including the dignitaries on the podium were dumbstruck. Rafa din't expect this kind of reception for his first hard fought hard court slam victory and obviously his celebrations were muted.

Rafa as usual, started his victory speech on the stage by saying sorry. The crowd din't like the apology for his hard earned title. They were almost anticipating that Rafa would be apologizing for the victory. It was evident the way they laughed after hearing it, instead of applauding it.

No body knows why on earth he apologises Roger. Some say Rafa is humble. Some nut heads argue is he humble enough to hand him the French Open title if they meet in the finals again?

The finals are now being remembered as the day Roger cried like a kid. He was unstoppable. It's as if Roger "The Mighty" Federer was literally begging Rafa by saying,

"Can you please get the hell out of my way till I achieve the coveted No. 14 and No. 15 slams. I do not know what else to do to counter your bloody top spin forehand to my backhand. You were running me ragged and I am feeling ashamed that I cannot cope that.

"I am the most talented player that ever since tennis has been introduced and you have been tormenting since you were 18. I am even afraid that you would take the GOAT status by winning slams on all four different surfaces. You've already won the Olympic Gold to add to my misery.

"Your game is not even half as good as mine and yet you were able to achieve the same reputation and stature as mine with lesser Grand slam titles punctuated with not even 50 weeks of No.1 ranking. 15 years down the lane when we both retire, people will be talking your name the moment somebody says Federer is the greatest ever. I can never digest that fact.

"I thought I could sweep all corners of the world with my game, glamour, dignity, smile, and grit. You have a fake smile and you can't even look straight into the eyes of the interviewer while talking.

"I thought we both had a mutual unspoken agreement that I won't take your French and you would not take my Wimbledon. You have violated it and are now taking my hard court titles as well. I would love to see you once struggling with your knees at my finals in the French Open '09.

"I am a Leo and love hogging the limelight. I know I have loads of ego but it was never so evident on the courts. People mistook it for my humbleness which has done me a huge favour for my global fame.

"I am even getting ridiculed by non tennis people like this stupid Rock who minces no words and loves to see me getting beaten. 13 - six is our head to head in favour of Rafa and I still do not know how much more he wishes me to lose.

"How I wish to see this writer cry after taking a dig on his weakness for programming? What more should I do to please the small minority of tennis fans who are not mine ?

"I would not have bothered if you had all the shots in the book like I do. You have a ugly double handed backhand with some sort of serve that doesn't justify your muscle. You started hitting the ball really hard of late and tennis is not to be played that way.

"You are still developing your game where as I was almost perfect when I was your age. You are hitting me now below the belt and I am unable to withstand those blows.

"You don't even have fans crying for you after your marathon loss. I have ladies, gents, and gays weeping all alike for my loss.

"I am such a tennis phenomenon which the world hasn't seen ever before and will never ever see after my retirement, and that is why the mere thought I lost to some rusty lefty from Spain, is killing me!"