An Acknowledment and Request To Rafael Nadal

Hola Rafa...Congratulations!

I saw your match against David Ferrer and once again I accepted the fact that right now you are ruling the roost. Good, good...keep it up!

Oh sorry, I forgot to introduce myself; I am one of Roger Federer's fans and these days I am turning into your fan as well [only when Roger is absent, period!] and yesterday all throughout, I was pledging my allegiance to you and you alone.

And when you lost a couple of games in the second set, I even prayed for you, you know that? P-R-A-Y-E-D!!! That's a monumental word in my dictionary because I did it for you and trust me [the devout, God-fearing girl that I am] when I pray for any player, it means that he has become the "De-Facto" thing in my life.

All this while, I used to do it only for Rodge but now, I have extended it to you; you know why? Because I like your game. Now, how many times you will have heard a total, die-hard, rival fan openly appreciating your game without grudges?

But I do it and I do without any compunction. No one forces me to support you or make myself hoarse when you lost an entire set against Nole in Monte Carlo. See, how noble I am [not to mention self-obsessed]?

So why am I telling you all this? I am telling you all this because even in spite of all my new-found dedication and devotion to you, I still find that you disappoint me and countless other Federer fans!

You keep on winning and winning and winning....I mean don't you get tired of winning all the time? Believe me, Rafa at the rate you are going, you will soon suffer from burn-out and we...."WE" [ the word is highly important] will be denied to see you in the highest realms of tennis history!

Think about it....Roger Federer is one close to Pete's record, correct? And you are the one who is denying him that [no accusations]. As a player, you have entered his mental self along with physical domination on the court.

No I am not saying you shouldn't win at all or just give away your matches like he did against Nole in Miami. Federer and his fans aren't used to match charity. What I am trying to say is this: Let Roger Federer get that 14 and go beyond that; and then you can go about conquering that record.

You have age advanatge too right? and therefore you have a long shelf life....it's not that hard as it sounds and you can do it, right?

Like I said before you don't just let go of the matches; that would be like match fixing and I will be the first to go behind bars! You fight, like you generally do and instead of attacking his backhand, you attack his forehand. When you give the shots to his backhand, it's cheating isn't it? You don't give him a fair advantage and opportunity to get back in the game and hence he losses!

Please Rafa, please try and understand our plight...we Federer fans are waiting expectantly for him to crack that magical number and he would have done it, had you been just physically imposing; coupled with the fact that you have become a ghost for him and trouble him mentally and psychologically!

And though we love your rivalry and each and every match that you both play [barring 2008 French Open: it was insult to injury!] it pains that it has become much one sided in your favour which ends up delaying his chances of 14 and more!

Personally, you are my favourite for any path-breaking records to be created in the future but right now it's Federer who I want to achieve all that and due to your continuous one-dimensional domination, and sadly like I misunderstood you before, I don't want to hate you for all your amazing, shining brilliance and athleticism you display while playing; you just don't deserve that!