The Greatest Ever

When we think of champions of tennis we are likely to think about Perry, Budge, Laver, Borg, McEnroe, Sampras, Federer and Nadal in the men’s game and Goolagong-Cawley, Billie Jean King, Graf, Navratilova and the Williams sisters in the women’s game. Those who have a keen interest in the game might even think about someone like Pancho Gonzales.

But chances are that most won’t think, even if they are aware, of Esther Vergeer.

Esther Vergeer serves at the 2011 Australian Open

For those who are not aware, here is her fact file:

20 Grand Slam singles titles – 9 Australian, 5 French and 6 US.
20 Grand Slam doubles titles – 7 Australian, 4 French, 3 Wimbledon and 6 US.
14 consecutive year end championships, 1998 – 2011.
World No. 1 since April 1999.

And she is on a 444 match winning streak.

Esther Vergeer has become the most dominant athlete on the planet at her chosen sport – Wheelchair tennis.

After a surgical mishap that left her without the services of her feet, Esther Vergeer was introduced to sports as a part of The Netherlands rehabilitation schemes for the paraplegic. She received coaching in volleyball, basketball and tennis. She became a professional basketball player, even representing her country in the European championships, before switching to full time tennis in 1998. The results were immediate – she won her first major and her first year end title in that year itself. By early 1999 she reached the World No. 1 spot; a spot which she hasn’t left since then.

Her dominance in the sport is overwhelming. In her 20 grand-slam wins, she has won 5 finals in a double-bagel, some of them against former World No. 1 players. Her overall record in singles in 666 wins against 25 losses. She has only lost one match since 2001 and the only reason she hasn’t won a major since 2002 is because she was either absent, or the event was not held.

The sports-persons community has certainly acknowledged her.  She has won the prestigious Laureus Awards, twice and every year since 2000, the International Tennis Federation has honoured her as their World Champion.

Credit also goes to the Dutch rehabilitation program. One look at some of the top athletes across various sports for the disabled, or just tennis for that matter, is sufficient to observe that many are from the Netherlands – this isn’t a coincidence. The program is specifically designed to rehabilitate those who developed a disability due to an accident into sports. The scheme provides specialized training, equipment, physiotherapy and most importantly, the motivation needed for someone who recently lost the services of a part of their body. An accident of the sort that happened with Esther could have easily shattered anyone, let alone an eight year old child. This scheme does the wonderful job of motivating via sports, something every country should draw inspiration from.

Esther Vergeer said during the 2012 Australian Open (which she won of course, double-bagel) that she always thinks her streak of 444 match wins will come to an end soon. Whether it remains intact or not, she is undoubtedly on of the greatest athlete of all times.

Six Hour Showdown

The Longest Ever Grand Slam Final

The moment that summed up the match and made both players even more adorable was when Nadal and Djokovic said in their acceptance speeches, “Good morning everybody!”

At quarter to 2  in the morning, after 5 hours and 53 minutes of mind-boggling and ferocious tennis, two things emerged.

Firstly, the current men’s game is probably as high as it gets.
It seems almost impossible to even imagine what level could exist beyond what we are seeing presently. Two weeks ago, several of the top 10 players had a fair chance of making it in Melbourne. Tsonga came in behind a strong finish last year and a confident start to this season in Doha. Tomas Berdych came with confidence after what was his best year on tour since he went pro. David Ferrer came in hot after winning in Auckland. Andy Murray came in with significant change to his camp. With multiple grand-slams champion Ivan Lendl as his coach, many reckoned that Murray has now the advantage of experience too, on his side. With Nadal's knees creaking, Federer's back spasming and Djokovic's shoulder and ankles barely managing to maintain the functionality, many expected a fairly open field in Melbourne.

But here is where men’s tennis is currently so good. To be at the top, you have to earn it. And you have to earn it in so hard a manner, that once you are there, you will break your back, pop a tendon or crack a rib, if you must, to stay there. After the first week, only 1 of the top eight seeds did not make it. And by the semi-finals, the gap between the top four and the rest of the pack elongated a bit more. The final three matches served tennis fans across the world, 14 hours and 25 minutes of high quality, mind numbing and sensational tennis. That's how good it is.

The second thing to emerge from this match is that Novak Djokovic is now, truly and deservedly in place as the World No. 1 and the leader of the field in this extraordinary sport. Many said that he achieved it when he won at Wimbledon. However, they also said that his run of 2011 will never be repeated, not even by him. That is why, to achieve all that in 2011, and then to come back, and defend his title, and defend in such difficult circumstances in such a spectacular fashion, marks for me, the moment when Novak Djokovic earned his spot.

Djokovic collapses after hitting the winner.

Meanwhile, Uncle Toni and Rafa need to figure out what exactly is still missing. The two probably started to think about the Djoker puzzle after back to back losses in Indian Wells and Miami. Five more losses later, it still remains unsolvable. He has lost now, three Grand Slam finals in a row. He has come closer to the solution in each match, yet not managed to find it.

However, after the contesting the longest grand slam final ever, after being up in the fifth set, after being only a few points away from the match and yet losing the match, those sure were some great words, not to mention a formidable spirit, from the champion Rafa.

Lip-smacking tennis is on offer in 2012. Do not miss it for the world.

Origami and more...

1. From a relative anonymity to the Hall of Fame - the jump that Marcos Baghdatis made in the sport of racket smashing.

Sure you have heard of the champions of this sport.
Goran Ivanisevic is undoubtedly one of the greatest. A Wimbledon champion and a fine tennis player. Finer than him were the pieces of his equipment after he was done with them. This is what he said after his semi-final against Kafelnikov -

"I was pretty nice to the racket all last week. I was surprised how easy it broke. Maybe there is something wrong with it, or I'm too strong."

Another famous champion is the Russian, Marat Safin. If you were to consider only his racket smashing reputation, then this man should be sending shivers down the Russian Duma (all 140% of them). He is estimated to have smashed over a thousand rackets in his career.
In his own words, the logic behind his passion for racket origami -
"Today I smash rackets, for tomorrow we die."

Safin: Using the Force to destroy this particular one

Even the great Roger Federer is a nondescript in this sport. Then how did Marcos Baghdatis achieve his feat, you might ask. In a highly explosive fit of rage in the match against the Swiss, Stanislas Wawrinka, the Cypriot destroyed not just one or two, but FOUR rackets, all within a minute, before smiling, accepting a code violation and resuming the game.

Thank goodness Cypress is no longer a part of Greece.


2. Clash of the Canines - A poor joke that can be made on two very talented youngsters on the circuit.
But the Aussie, Bernard Tomic (read more about him here) and the Ukrainian, Alexandr Dolgopolov (nicknamed Dog) match up to showcase the most extraordinary brand of tennis. As Vijay Amritraj pointed out -

"If Ferrer and Hewitt played a match, no doubt it will be of excellent quality, but they will end up playing the same point over and over again.

They will come no where close to matching the variety of these two youngsters."

          

And in a true display of rising confidence, the younger Tomic battled past Dolgopolov in five electrifying sets to advance to a personal best fourth round in the Australian Open and set up a clash with four-time champion Roger Federer. This performance also justifies his new title of being Australia's No. 1.

3. After shattering and grinding all records, and then sweeping them and throwing them into the bin, all in one Wimbledon match, one would have thought he'd had enough of five set marathons.
But clearly, five set marathons have not had enough of John Isner.

The American giant with a powerful service game had two of them, back to back. Against the Argentinian, David Nalbandian, he went on for 4 hours and 41 minutess before winning 10-8 in the fifth set, which alone lasted for 99 minutes. And against the Spanish lefty, Felicano Lopez, he toiled for 3 hours and 26 minutes. But this time he ended up on the losing side.

Isner: After someone kidded that they're abolishing tie breakers.

Of course, these encounters do not compare at all with that Wimbledon match (Isner's, not the 08 final). But it would seem Isner is making himself into a professional long-distance runner.

-----------------------------------------------

Read the first of the articles on the One Hundredth Australian Open here.

A-Tomic and the Slam from Down Under

In a recent interview, Rafael Nadal said that the game was getting faster than ever.

The balls are flying quicker and heavier off rackets designed to impart more spin and power.

He is himself an excellent specimen to testify his claims. And with the likes of Djokovic, Tsonga, Soderling, Del Potro, Fish and Berdych filling the upper ranks, the factor of power seems to be the key to top flight tennis.

That is why, Bernard Tomic comes as a refreshing change.

Born in Stuttgart, Germany to parents of Croatian background, Tomic shifted to Australian when he was three. He first made headlines when he became the youngest ever male winner in the main draw at the Australian Open, in 2009 at the age of 17, as a wildcard.

His playing style is certainly unorthodox and the two most striking aspects of his game are his forehand and his footwork.

He hardly takes a swing behind his forehand, despite which it is generally effective.

His footwork is, to say the least, minimal. Unlike most players who take several strides and then a bunch of mini steps to work their way into a position from which to unravel the shot, Tomic simply takes a couple of steps in the direction of the ball before using his giant wingspan and the above mentioned forehand (or backhand, which seems to be more or less orthodox) to make his shot.

His movement about the court is not as busy and fast as Nadal's or Djokovic's. Nor is it as immaculate as Federer's. It is lazy and laid-back, almost clumsy.

But the bigger picture is not at all ugly. In fact, to watch Tomic play is almost mesmerizing. You are absolutely captivated by his shots - under-paced balls, drop shots (some of them played from well behind the baseline), slices and the squash-like defensive retrieve. He has the ability to change the pace of the rally.

An ability that was on display in his 2nd Round match of the 2012 Australian Open against the American, Sam Querrey (an excellent server with a strong forehand).

He has already displayed moments of brilliance against the current top three in the last year.

Against Djokovic in Wimbledon, where he reached the quarters and took a set off him. Against Rafa in Melbourne, where he spanked his way around for a greater part of the second set to force his opponent to raise his game. And against Federer in Davis Cup, in Sydney, he took a set off in the fourth rubber. He lost that match but he did give Australia hope when he defeated Stanislas Wawrinka in the opening rubber.

Add to his game a little bit of maturity and he could well be the next Grand Slam champion from Australia (who need to go back only as far as 2002 for one, unlike Great Britain).

Five: Steps I need to take to cover the whole court.

Meanwhile, other Aussie Open news:

1. Federer and Rafa are in the same half of the draw. Which means they could meet in the semis. Which will be the first since Roland Garros 2005.

2. The most dangerous crown these days seems to be that of the reigning Grand Slam champion in women's tennis. Kim Clijsters won here last year . She went out in the 2nd round in Paris, where Li Na won. Li Na lost in London in the 2nd round where Petra Kvitova triumphed. She promptly crashed out in New York in the 1st Round. Aussie Sam Stosur won there and in her home slam, completed the cycle by going out in straight sets in the 1st Round.

3. Caroline Wozniacki has been at No. 1 for more than a whole year now. During which time the above ladies won the slams. Come on Caro, for Rory's sake!

4. From Twitter: Sania Mirza exited the Australian Open after losing her first match, as the Indian cricket team looked on with jealousy.

The Prime Time Show of Tennis - 1

You see, I'm not in the best of spirits when Roger Federer loses a match in a Grand Slam. It's no good if the slam is Wimbledon and it only gets worse that he lost from a two sets to love lead. And so naturally, I wouldn't be seen talking about it. But I still want to write on this blog so I tactfully skirt around the issue like this. But given recent events, my spirits seem to have lifted enough to bring that episode out and compare it what just happened.

Of the many records he has set in his career, the 178-0 stat after winning the first two sets is not the most monumental one of them. For instance, it doesn't compare with the 23 straight semi-final or better performance he accomplished starting Wimbledon 2004, or the 285 weeks he spent at the No. 1 spot. But its tells everyone that Federer is certainly one of the best home stretch performers. So when Tsonga snapped that streak, it must've raised doubts. When Federer goes two sets to love up, it doesn't necessarily mean he is going to win. Even more so when you consider that Federer did not stop playing well, just that the opponent started playing much better. Another thing which people started pointing out was that most of Federer's recent grand slam losses have come against players who hit the ball hard. And when I say hard, I mean rip the fluff out type hard. Berdych, Soderling and Tsonga all do that. The same guys who he would've beaten two years back in surprisingly short straights, were bombing him with unplayables and getting results. Perhaps the time had come when he was getting passed by younger, bulkier models.

The excitement in the build up to the US Open quarter-final had several contributors. No one must have failed to notice that both were drawn in the same quarter. And no one expected either to fall anywhere less. And Tsonga's recent demolition of Roger in Montreal was still fresh in everyone's minds. (People generally do not forget important Wimbledon matches) Both players lived up to their seeding and set up the clash too. And then even nature contributed by washing out a couple of days of play, just to give enough time for all the press and tongues to set the anticipation to impossible heights.
The match wasn't of the same level as Wimbledon. But one thing was pretty much in plain sight. Federer was out hitting Tsonga and except for a few more errors, things were 2007 Roger-esque. Funnily enough, by winning this match, Federer has setup an even more talked about and highly wanted semi-final with Novak Djokovic.

The top four have made it to semi-finals yet again in a major and the peak of men's tennis certainly looks good. I'd recommend you keep your schedule free at 2130hrs IST on this Saturday.

Djoker: Why So Serious Rafa?

People who watch cricket and tennis, cannot fail to notice the similarity between South Africa and Andy Murray. Both enter the big tournaments in red hot form. Both have copious amount of talent and carry a large amount of hype with them. Both perform nervelessly at the preliminary stages. And both choke.

They said sometime back that as long as Roger Federer is around, Murray cannot win a major. Federer is past his prime now and his loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the QF, while still a shock, was by no means an unthinkable. So Murray found himself a raging Rafael Nadal to choke against. The turning point of that match was a Rafa service game in the second set. At 15-30 and a set down, Murray set himself up for an easy forehand at the net only to push it long. That was enough to bring out the Rafa juggernaut.

But this tournament wasn't about Rafa, Roger or Tsonga (clearly it wasn't about Murray). The man of this tournament travels on a diplomatic passport. His countrymen revere him and ever since he won them the Davis Cup, he seems to have decided to play only in matches where he will win. His box is always full of people-two brothers, mum and dad, coach, fitness trainers and a girlfriend, a boisterous lot; he bounces the ball a hundred times before he serves at break point, and he is the current Wimbledon and Australian Open Champion. And he has won 48 of 49 matches this year. When Novak Djokovic lifted his maiden Wimbledon title, he sort of capped his lifetime ambition. Having assured himself the number 1 rank by making it to the finals, all he needed to do was secure one more win to fulfil, what he says, he started playing tennis for.

The match itself was one of excellent quality. As expected, both players displayed exceptional court coverage, made very few errors and struck clean winners. Both players displayed remarkable defensive skills and the difference came down to who held his nerve when the other forced yet another ball back into play. In short, Djokovic did to Rafa what Rafa did so well against Federer. Even Rafa admitted that he had no answers that day.

Djokovic is 5-0 against Rafa this year, all their meetings in finals. He sure doesn't find this Djoke amusing.

Notable mentions:

1. Nicolas Mahut vs John Isner - Part 1 lasted more than 11 hours which probably led to part 2 being held on the summer solstice. Isner amused everyone by wrapping in in just over two.

2. Juan Martin Del Potro is a brilliant tennis player. He was destined for greatness when he was brutally constrained by a wrist injury. But he did show why he is considered good in his 4 set loss to Rafa.

3. It's winter in Australia but their Barnard Tomic shined like the northern sun on the lawns of SW19. He became the youngest quarter-finalist since Boris Becker and the No.1 ranked Aussie.

4. I don't follow women's tennis much but this tournament will make me keep an eye and an ear open for it. Credits go to Kvitova, Lisicki, Pironkova and Sharapova.

Dear Roger

Much like Santa Claus is the ultimate source of joy for kids, you have provided me endless joy since 2005 when I first started watching tennis. The sheer elegance of you small stepping across the ball to hit an inside out forehand winner in the hallowed Centre Court is almost as if out of a ballet. The precision of the ace you hit to win the Wimbledon 04 final was almost unreal. And if tennis is difficult to play, then it is because you make it look so easy.


You represent so many qualities. Perfection, perseverance, hard-work, level headedness, politeness, humility and importantly, good sportsmanship. And over time, I have tried to imbibe these qualities in me as well. It wouldn't be too much to say that anyone would have come a long way if they became half as much as a person you are.


I stood beside you with several others when you awe inspiringly won so many matches. I witnessed you raise in your arms so many trophies and clapped hard on each one of your "Come On!" moments. I also spent hours agonising over those few moments that sprawl the what if questions and silently suffered when you did.


Therefore, this is to say that(at least for me)


Roger Federer Forever...


Cheers

Game, Set and Match

Mr. Bhupati is a great tennis player, a businessman and a socialite. In some time, he is going to marry Ms. Dutta, a former beauty queen and an actress. This is just one more of those highly gossiped about nuptials between sports-persons and models/actresses. In fact, if the rumour engines are to be trusted, the wedding(in Goa :D) invitation list even includes Mr. Bhupati's dear friend, Mr. Federer!

Now this news has got me thinking about the state of Indian tennis.

In the 50s and 60s, there was a highly gifted Chennai lad who was making good name for India in the tennis circles. In an era dominated, almost overwhelmingly by Laver, Newcombe, Emerson and Pancho Gonzales, it is quite an achievement to make yourself even visible, and Ramanathan Krishnan was more than just visible. Known for his extreme finesse on court, he reached two Wimbledon semi-finals, losing both times to the eventual champions. His greatest achievement was perhaps the remarkable comeback from 5-2 down in the fourth set against Brazilian Tomas Koch to take India to its first Davis Cup final. His victory over Laver in Davis Cup(1959) and the Wimbledon junior title in 1954 were some of career highlights.

His son Ramesh Krishnan too made the tricolour a force to reckon with. Thrice a grand-slam quarter-finalist, he led India to their second Davis Cup(1987) final by defeating Australians Masur and Fitzgerald in the semi-finals.

India's best chance by far to win the tennis doubles gold were in the 2000 summer Olympics at Sydney and Athens respectively. In 1999, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati reached all four Grand Slam doubles finals, winning the French+Wimbledon double. It was a a new peak in Indian tennis. In 2004, they had quarter and semi-final runs in several events leading up to Athens. The only tennis medal yet was the Bronze medal run by Paes in Atlanta(1996), where he lost to Agassi in the semifinals.

Several controversies aside, Sania Mirza was once World No. 27.

Currently, there is only one ATP level tournament in India and barring one, all male players rank well below 200.

This sport needs some attention, and the "Bhutta" wedding is not the kind of attention it needs. Hopefully we'll have a grand-slam champion in the next 10 years.