16th kiss!
Posted by Anantha | Posted in Federer , Grand Slams , Sports | Posted on Tuesday, February 02, 2010
To know who kissed whom or what, and why am I counting them, read this.
The spotlight was on Andy Murray, the runner up of Aus Open 2010. Whole of Rod Laver Arena was silent to hear him speak.. And he broke down uttering "I am sure I can cry like Federer, but I am sorry I can't play like him!” Yes, this time too the runner up of Aus Open was in tears like Federer did it after losing to Nadal in the great 5 setter finals of Aus Open 2009.
I could see only the third and the final set of the finals, thanks to KPTCL there was a power cut in my locality. I kept messaging my colleague who is also a Tennis maniac for the updates till the power came back. When the power came back, the third set was going on. Murray was fighting hard to stay in the match, taking the set to a tiebreaker. For the first time in my life I wanted Federer to lose that set! Only to satiate my thirst of seeing him play another set. But Federer not only denied me the pleasure of watching him play, but more importantly crushed the dream of Andy Murray to become the first British to win a Grand Slam. British press always has projected Murray as the next-big-thing on tennis court, the tennis experts say he has got the near perfect techniques to match Federer on any surface, he might be a capable guy but personally I do not enjoy his game!! There could be lot of factors why Murray lost so easily to Federer in that match, the fatigue would have taken a toll on the young chap, there could also be a great amount of pressure on him as he is yet to win a Grand Slam. Though I am happy as a fan of Federer, but as a fan of tennis, the match did not excite me much. It seriously looked one-sided with Federer winning the first two sets so easily. I think Murray fought hard only in the final tiebreaker. Only the third set had some awe moments.
Looking at Federer's journey to final, he never played 5 sets in the whole of the tournament!! He got to play with very few big names in his draw; Lleyton Hewitt(22) - who is not as menacing as he was 2-3 yrs back, Nikolay Davydenko(6) - not a serious threat to Federer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga(10) - who is playing the best tennis of his career. Where as the other draw had many big fighters; Andy Roddick(7), Juan Martin Del Potro(4), Andy Murray(5), Rafael Nadal(2), Marin Cilic(14), Gael Monfils(12). So comparing them, I feel Federer had relatively an easier draw this time.
I am keeping my fingers crossed for the French Open, expecting the battle for title to be fiercer and more aggressive with hopefully Nadal back to his usual fitness and many other hungry contenders.. Lets hope for a great tennis season ahead.
Lastly I want to quote an excerpt from ‘The master and the apprentice’ - "If Federer plays as he did in the semi-final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the Frenchman believes that no one can stop the Fed. And if Murray plays like he did in the quarter-finals against Nadal, Nadal does not think anyone can stop him either.
The only certainty is that if both men play to the peak of the abilities, we are in for a belting final". I totally agree with that.
Pic courtesy: Australian Open
I tried for so many days to comment on this! finally here it goes!
Even after a month after, it feels so good to comment on a post that speaks about Fed's achievements.
Even I agree with you that he did not have very threatening opponents this year. Maybe his greatness will be permanently stamped with complete authority when he defeats all of Murray in Australia, Nadal in Paris, and [whoever they say he cannot win against]in Wimbledon :)
@Shashia,
Good the problem got solved.. [not sure how it occurred in the first place]
Yeah man.. my fingers crosses for a great tennis season ahead..
why are we so excited when its Federer who gets to keep the trophy ? I wonder.. ;)
@Deva,
Why do we talk about Sachin's centuries still..? He has scored almost 100 centuries at the international level..? :)
'I' talk about sachin's centuries only because I do not want Ricky pointing to overtake sachin. :) Sachin is an India. thats another reason. :)
what crap application is this ? If i post a comment as anonymous it promptly displays it . if i post a comment with a name it says waiting for approval ! what business logic man ;)
@Deva,
I too write about Federer's grand slam wins for the same reason. But I do not quite agree with your latter part of the sentence, My love for a sportsman is unconditional of his nationality.
About this comment moderation, I hv got lotta complaints from other readers too. I have to dig up some Blogger blogs for info on this.. :-/