Roland Garros, bulleted.

Few thoughts on the French Open…

• Time is such a rare commodity these days that I took nearly 3-4 days to realize that French Open had started.
• Was wishing for a Nadal-Federer cracker, got the wish Got to see exceptional tennis from the two masters.
• Djoker was blown away in the SF. Federer was majestic in that match, seemed to me he was intent on taking revenge for the Aus Open SF loss to him.
• Earlier there was Fed, Nadal, daylight, others. Now it is Nadal, Fed, Djoker, daylight, others. Murray is still no match for the top three.
• While I’ve always been a Nadal supporter, I’ve no doubt that Federer is the best player of all times; it is just that even though he is the best, Nadal is almost always better than him
• And while I’m talking about Federer-Nadal rivalry, this article is a must read: How did Rafael Nadal humble the great Roger Federer. Bear in mind it is a two year old article.
• It was good to see Li Na cross the final hurdle. Was rooting for her in the Aus Open, but Clijsters had been a better player that day.
• Can someone tell me how is Caroline Wozniacki still the world number 1? Guess it is akin to SA getting the top ODI/test rankings despite not winning any major tournament. Consistency is rewarded…

It is so easy to write a post in the form of bullet points

Tennis Time

Last week was spent in watching the Australian Open anytime I could, else listening to commentary if possible. And surprisingly this year, I enjoyed the Women’s matches far more than the Men’s Singles (talking about only the QF, SF and Finals). Only one match among the Men’s draw was thrilling to watch – Federer vs Joker was an awesome match. Apart from that this tournament I preferred watching Li Na and Clijsters play some awesome tennis.

It was bad that Li Na lost in the Finals but at least, Kim Clijsters won a hard fought match. All the three sets were equally watchable, and thrilling – both of them produced exceptional tennis regularly. After a long time – post the Serena and Venus era – there were some other players who were playing awesome tennis. Caroline Wozniacki played wonderfully till the semis and then she lost her cool in a pressure match – how can she justify being the world number 1?

I was looking forward to the Men’s Final but it was a letdown. Novak Djokovic was playing a game that reminded me of the way Federer used to toy with his opponents before crushing them. I did not even feel Murray turned up for the Final, rather he sent a clone of his who played passable tennis. There were flashes of brilliance from Murray, but one cannot win a Championship with just a few flashes – there has to be sustained brilliance which was produced by Novak Djokovic. I enjoyed his defensive tennis, when he would be running from one corner to another and then out of nowhere would produce either an exceptional lob or a sizzling cross-court winner while off-balance.

I was hoping for a Rafa-Fed encore, but I think that can wait till Wimbledon This Australian Open was only the 3rd in last 24 Grand Slams that has not been won by either Federer or Nadal – that is an exceptional statistic! And not a good read for players ranked 3 or more.

Bloglets-2: Of Sports and more Sports

Looking forward to the final race of the season on Sunday. I have no favourites; I just wish that Alonso does not win the Driver’s Championship. Kimi or Hamilton, any one of them would do

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I want tickets for the Sampras vs Federer match Will need to check the TV schedules, where and when is it being televised live.

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I understand why there is brouhaha over the senior players in the Indian Cricket team, considering that a team not having any players aged over 30 (not counting Agarkar, as he hardly contributed anything) won the T20 World Cup. What I fail to understand is why are the three (SRT, SG, RD) being treated as one entity by the media? They are three individual players, with very different styles of playing with very different fitness levels. Treat them individually, not as one entity. I still feel SRT is the best batsman India has, although I would not deny he does not have the same destructiveness he used to have in late 90s, but then has the media heard about something called “maturity”. Anyways go and read this, Rakesh puts it in a much better way then I can.

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Viswanathan Anand rocks

Technorati: Sports, Viswanathan Anand, Sachin Tendulkar, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer