Monday, February 2, 2009

Rafa Rafa and Rafa

I'm living in the Golden Era of Sports
Congrats Rafa
He did it again, he did it again with a Force. Rafael Nadal won the Australian Open 2009, first grand slam in the calender. 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-2 Did you witness the match? Did you see those forehand and backhand shots from both the champion tennis players. They just re-wrote the history books for a tennis game. It would be fair to say that Rafa would have covered a distance of a full marathon during the match. It was a fight between skill, determination, temperament, physical and mental strength. The better stood out at the end. He ruled "The Clay", he went and conquered the grass. Now he is here are his first hard court grand slam and proving every critique wrong and thus conquering. With a total match time of about 10 hours in 3 days is like super human.  Congrats Nadal..

Whats next for Federer?
"God - This is killing me?" - It was not Federer who was beaten, It was Fed's Morale that was beaten. All the tears at the end of the game spoke for it. He was once written as a champion who is supposed to equal pete's record with this win. He din lose because he din have the skill or he din have the stamina to stand at the center court for 5+ hours. Its because he din think he can win. 3rd set was the turning point of the match. Twice Nadal was able to save him to 0-40 and take the game. I can say loud and clear that Fed tenure is over. If he got to take an other championship, he need to give double best. He needs to cross people like Nadal and Verdasco in his path.

For Federer fans
My friend said, "Federer Failed, Not Destroyed". I say this is what they call step1. You guys take a break and great ready to fanatically follow your legend and keep your biased review and comments about Nadal coming. We love feedback.

WTF was that?
Arun has captured it here (Rafa means Positive Energy). Adding to it, I was totally annoyed by the commentary given by Espnstar commentator Vijay Amritraj. At least he annoyed less towards the end of the game. For a winning Federer point, he has these flamboyant commentary to praise Fed. But in case of Nadal he says, "That was close to the line and Fed misses it."

Ladies, you are boring
I have stopped watching Ladies tennis for good. They have lost the charm of Steffi, Monica, and Hingis. It has become a muscle game. Who can hit the fastest! For instance both the finalist are like power houses. Ladies have learnt that speed and strength can beat skill. That is true. I wish the beauty will revive again soon. 

I'm living in a Golden Era
I learned first rules of tennis in my TV video game that my Dad got me. Whats a fault, double fault, tie breaker et al. Also I decided this was not the game for me in real life after playing few shots in my college days. I grew up in the era of Sampras and Agassi. Its was Federer who ruled after that with his class. He had his own style to be with. Less expressive and calm until he wins the game. Who can beat someone with such exquisite touch. Nadal proved it wrong, speed with skill can do it. What would be next? Who will conquer Nadal? Skill, strength or something different. 

8 comments:

Puthali said...

Liked the 'Congrats Rafa' para, but i don't agree with your "I can say loud and clear that Fed tenure is over."
i definitely believe he will win atleast 2-3 more grandslams, as Rafa himself said - "you are one of the best players of the history and you are going to improve the 14 of Sampras"...its another matter that i don't want him to...
'n yea totally agree abt Amritraj, man he just got on my nerves, was so tempted to mute the tv 'n listen to commentary on AO radio...
'n as far as who will conquer Nadal, i think its not a matter of who but what? My greatest fear always is that he will get injured, we've seen what happened to Safin, so i just hope Nadal doesn't pickup ne serious injury...

Amudhan said...

I have to admit that, though I am a Fed fan, Nadal's game on that day seemed humanly impossible. He deserves that victory. Though, I can't accept the truth that Fed lost his 3rd(?) consecutive grad slam championship to Nadal in the finals, I can at least believe that he wins the forth coming grad slams. Lets see what the master of Grass Court does in the future. I wish all the very best for both the best players.

Vijesh said...

@Puthali
Well, I agree Fed is not history. He will come back, but as I said he needs to give his double best. Yupse injury is a scare. :) Lets hope for the best.

@Amudhan
Hmm wishing both of them the very best.. Waiting for another treat to the eye with some extraordinary tennis.. :)

Karthik said...

Yes, Nadal played well!!! But one has to accept the fact that Federer is still as good as a player he was before Nadal took on him. Both these players are simply amazing!! As for Federer, it's his style and grace and for Nadal it's his stamina and brutal!! Two exactly opposite style of players... And as by the law of physics, opposite ploes attract each other!!! So we can keep our fingers crossed, for many such matches between these two incredibly great tennis players of modern era!!! : ) As a FedX fan, I wanted him to win. But Nadal deserved to win, for all the double faults and unforced errors the legend made!!! And with regards to this "I could say loud and clear that Fed tenure is over" - FedX will come back!!! After all, he is already a legend!!!

Vijesh said...

@Karthik
My wishes to him too. Hoping for another historical showdown.

Srihari said...

Congrats Rafa, even i repeat it three times!!! I cant take the fact that Fed's tenure is over. He will rise like a phoenix.

And you comments that "Ladies you are boring" is another piece of crap. Do you think Serena Williams, Ivanovic doesn't have the charm of Hingis, Graf and others. If you feel they are playing muscle game then they cant be playing tennis at the highest level and win grand slams.

I am not sure how want it to take it, i can never take this very point that "Ladies you are boring". You better watch the quarterfinal match of Australian Open between Serena and Kuznetsova to know what mental strength Serena is made of. Watch it for yourself.

~Srihari

DK said...

Nice post...I am very happy for Nadal. Fedex, is still in top of his form as he is reaching finals of every grand slam. Nice to see Fedex fans starting to respect Rafa. In sport no one is GOD, everybody is strong and want to win.

Vijesh said...

@Srihari
Best wishes to the Phoenix. Dude you are comparing the charm of Serena willams with Hingis. Something got to be wrong with you.. :) I'm not denying that they are great players, Just that this power game bores me.

@Dk
Totally agree There is no GOD.