Desicritics Category: Sports: Tennis

The New Roger Federer

Nishit — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 09:24:50 EDT

Let me start with some facts. Federer has not won a single Grand Slam title this year, he may not even defend his US open title. Heck, Federer has not even won a single Masters series this year. He lost on his favourite turf, Wimbledon, to his arch-nemesis Rafael Nadal. His lead at the top of the ranking will be cut down to sub-300 by end of this week and definitely subsequently will be given to Nadal. He may not be year-end number 1.

Here is my answer: I DON'T CARE!!! Not that the Wimbledon loss did not hurt. Not that after almost 250 weeks Federer will have to give up his #1 ranking wouldn't wrench my heart. This was supposed to be the year where he could potentially have a golden slam (four Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold, only achieved by Steffi Graf -- men or women), but it has been totally the reverse. A consensus has been reached by fans who have realized that the time has come to accept that their hero is a human. Stupid journalists are getting courageous enough to ask questions like "To some extent, do you agree with Justine Henin's decision to retire at the peak of her career?" only to see Federer red-eyed and replying "Do I agree with that? Not today. Ask me another day. Please don't kill me with questions like this."

In spite of all these points, I am still looking forward to the rest of the year. I will not even say how I have savoured being a Federer fan with not just winning but subtletly and perfection that took the tennis to a new level. I will stay in present. As Monx put it, now is the real time to be a Federer fan. I will no longer be a supporter of man-at-the-top but an underdog. An underdog, whose competition now will not only be with Rafael Nadal but also with the rest of the world. An underdog, whose every victory will not be taken for granted and an underdog, whose win will pump up the adrenaline rather than "yeah.. it was just another victory" For long Rafa fans have enjoyed his dark horse status and Federer fans have faced the questions "oh, so he lost? Is that end of Federer?"

No more my friends! NO MORE! All Rafa fans around me, beware. As wonderful a player as Rafa is, be prepared to face the taunts as he is the number one, while I sit back and see my hero challenging #1. Go Roger!

Wimbledon 2008 - Warrior Rafa Dethrones King Roger

sufferingsocrates — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 09:10:31 EDT

An epic final which was like a blockbuster movie. And in the end, a deserving winner. That is what the Wimbledon 2008 final proved to be. It was show time again, with the World No. 1 Roger Federer, up against the ever improving Rafael Nadal on Centre Court. If last year's 5 set thriller between the same two champions was awe-inspiring, the final this time around was breath taking.

It had drama, suspense, excitement, brilliance, perseverance and emotions. Rafa led Roger 2 sets to love, and had taken the fifth set to a tie breaker after a rain delay. It seemed divine intervention as far as Roger was concerned. Rafa had 2 championship points in the 4th set tie break leading 5-2 and serving for the match. Federer incredibly managed to save them both and took the match to a final set decider. With the last set at 2-2 and deuce, rain again came down on Centre Court, and the players took another break. Would this be a divine intervention again for Federer or for Nadal, who got agonisingly close to winning the coveted crown ?

The time was ticking past 9:00 in the late evening at Wimbledon, but the 2 champions fought on, until Nadal broke Federer in the 15th game of the final set. Nadal, the champion that he is, closed out the match at 9-7 in the final set, dropping to the floor, emotions still running high. An unbelievable match, which is truly a tribute to the relentless shot making and ahtleticism of Nadal, against the grace and genius of Federer.

Rafa has been snapping at Federer's heels for more than a year now. Federer has had a moderate year so far in 2008, and the aura of invincibility seemed to be disappearing after a straight sets loss to World No. 3 Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open semi finals. Federer has only won 2 events this year. For someone who is used to winning 2 Grand Slams before the second half of a year, Federer is empty handed this year, with only the U.S. Open to play for. At 26 Federer is not getting any younger, and Nadal is ready to take the mantle of the best player from Federer.

Any gifted player would have felt proud to have played in an amazing 16 grand slam finals, which included all the 4 major slams. But with Federer, he is expected to win all of them, atleast the non-clay ones. That is what he had been doing, whenever he got to any of the Grand Slam Finals except for the Nadal owned Rolland Garros. Federer had never lost a Grand Slam final on any surface against any player other than French Open. With this loss at Wimbledon, Nadal certainly has dented that record. The funniest part is, Federer is so good, he would still make it to the finals of all the Grand Slams. But does he have the mental strength to overcome the relentless Rafa ?

There have been champions and Grand Slam winners who have hated the grass court tournaments and called them as good only for cows. Marcelo Rios, Ivan Lendl and lately Marat Safin. Though there was always a question mark as to whether a clay court specialist and winner (Nadal at Rolland Garros) can in a span of 2 weeks win a grass court title at Wimbledon, the spirit of the young 22 year old Nadal came through eventually. Never did Nadal complain of the grass court not being his favourite surface. In fact he always dreamt of winning the Wimbledon as a kid, and that kept him motivated to win the crown.

Rafa now leads Federer 12-6 (as on 7th June 2008) in their head to head and Federer has many others waiting to clip his wings, as he fights off opponents younger, more spirited than him. Alfred Tsonga, Djokovic and Nadal are definitely the select few in that club. With only 555 points separating Nadal from Federer for the No. 1 spot, things could change by the end of this year.

But Federer, the champion that he is, will always challenge the best, as long as he is fit. Nadal has done so much of running around courts, through sheer will and stamina, he may not be able to withstand this level of performance for very long. Compare this to the grace of Federer, who is elegance personified, and seems to hit winners off impossible angles, one would think Federer would last atleast 4 more years. Nadal doesn't have a great service which comes to his rescue in times of crisis in a match. Federer can hit aces, at times at will. But with Federer, there is always a susceptibility of losses in concentration, which never happens with Rafa. Especially when Rafa plays Federer, he is at the peak of his game, knowing fully well, that a blip in conecntration is the only chance that Rafa has in winning against Federer.

The great rivalry of the 2 champions, whose styles of play are poles apart can only create more tennis followers and inspire children to take up the game. It would be tough to emulate Roger Federer's game, for his is a game of sheer genius. But one can always emulate and be like Rafa, for the hard working, relentless athlete that he is. To conclude, all one can say is, to defeat a Federer one needs to be a Nadal. But to defeat Nadal, you need not be a Federer.

Rafael Nadal's Wimbledon Win - Birth of a New Champion

Emma — Mon, 7 Jul 2008 10:38:24 EDT

It was the summit of champions. Five sets and almost five hours later, in near-darkness Rafael Nadal scrambled up the Wimbledon stands to embrace his family and break down in tears. And nobody summed up the moment better than the winner himself. Asked how did he feel when he collapsed on Centre Court - in relief, exhaustion and probably disbelief on having dethroned the five-time champion, Rafael Nadal said, "It is impossible to describe it, no?"

It truly was impossible to describe. No player had beaten Federer on grass since 2002, and it had to be an epic final of this kind. Two sets down, Federer staged one of the most incredible comebacks in the history of tennis to ta ke the next two sets in tie-breaks. In the closely-fought 4th set tie-break, the champion even saved a championship point. But 7-8 in the final set, with Nadal serving, Federer finally succumbed. He had converted only 1 of the 14 break points he had and his 25 aces to Nadal's 6 finally came to naught.

Nadal was on course right from the beginning. He broke Federer in the third game of the first set and accomplished what no player had done in the last 15 days: take a set off Federer. The champion came right back breaking Nadal in his very first game of the second set; unfortunately, that was the only break Federer managed to convert in the five-hour final. Nadal broke back using the same tactics as he did in the first set: awesome forehand that just seemed to work and hammering away at Federer's backhand rally. It seemed like a repeat of the French Open final was inevitable: a straight-set trounce of the great champion. But the rain-interruption half way through the third set, when both players were still on serve, helped Federer rethink and recoup. He was simply unstoppable in the tie-break, serving four aces to force a fourth set.

If the game was extended to another set and yet another rain break, it was purely because of Nadal's loss of focus for a moment. Leading 5-2 in the tie-break of the fourth set and on his serve, the challenger played his two worst points of the entire match to give Federer a reprieve and a step-in. The momentum seemed to swing Federer's way. But Nadal was not the one to give up - he probably knew he couldn't let a 2007-final happen again. His athleticism was relentless as was his grit and determination. And finally came that one last shot that Federer couldn't handle. And in fading light, a champion faded into darkness while a new one was born.

Watching Nadal lift the cup with Federer's dejected face in the background, one wished this was one cup that could be split. It wasn't to be. As Nadal rightly put it, "I am very happy for me, but sorry for him, because he deserved this title, too."

Sania Mirza, You Rock!

arZan — Wed, 6 Feb 2008 00:58:53 EST

Sania Mirza, India's premier tennis woman, has backed out of playing at the WTC Bangalore Open. This has sent a shock around the country because besides being Asia's highest ranking woman, she is also an icon of a young resurgent India.

Hats off to her to come out and honestly state why she is not playing. It takes guts to do that. And the blame for her not playing squarely lies on two parties. The first are the Islamic fundamentalists within our country who have raised a hue and cry about what she wears as a Muslim woman. A similar fuss was created when Sania was recently seen "disrespecting" (sic ! ) the Indian tricolor by letting it rest near her feet. The second group to take the blame is the establishment - both political and professional tennis.

The government should have come out strongly and refuted the Islamist fundamentalist claims that she is not being a true Muslim woman because she wears skirts! At the same time, they should have also come out and categorically stated that she did not insult the flag. The Indian Tennis body should have stood up in unison and asked people to back off and let her do what she does best. A "BCCI for Bhajji" show of strength effort was needed but sadly Sania was on her own here.

Sania has brought a lot of fame to India in her young career and has become an icon to loads of girls who are wielding tennis rackets in courts all over the country.

Sania has enough reason to fear for her safety. Not too long ago one will remember that the same Islamist fundamentalists went out and attacked Taslima at a public function. Images of Monica Seles, the one time tennis great being knifed on court come to mind. There is a strong possibility that something like this could happen to her, although we hope she stays safe.

Some of the tennis stars of today and yesteryears have not come out in support of her in as vociferous a manner as would be expected.

I hope that this will send a loud enough message to the government and the professional tennis body to stand up and be heard when it is necessary. Her impact will be all the bigger by her absence.

Sania, my respect for you just went up a couple of notches. You go girl!

Sania Mirza Advised Rest for Adductor Injury

Tony Tharakan — Fri, 1 Feb 2008 04:34:50 EST

Indian Tennis number one Sania Mirza has been advised to take three weeks off to help heal a five cm tear in her adductor (upper leg) muscle, her father Imran Mirza said.

"According to the doctor, an adductor muscle tear of 10 cm or more requires surgery but a 5 cm tear should heal on its own with rest," Mirza told the Indian Tennis Blog.

The 21-year-old Hyderabadi player, now also ranked number one in Asia, has been sidelined since last week's Australian Open mixed doubles final which she lost partnering Mahesh Bhupathi.

"She is in intense pain when she bends down on a low ball and needed six pain killers before being able to play in the final," Mirza said.

Hopes of an Indian victory in the ongoing WTA Fed Cup in Bangkok were also dashed after Sania was rendered unfit for the ties.

Mirza said Sania had been keen to play at least the doubles rubbers but it depended on whether non-playing Fed Cup captain Enrico Piperno thought it worth taking a risk of further injury for the sake of the country.

Sania Mirza Gives Venus Williams a Fright

Tony Tharakan — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 09:59:18 EST

A spirited challenge by Sania Mirza wasn't enough to prevent a 6-7, 4-6 loss to current Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the third round of the 2008 Australian Open.

Mirza, whose previous best at Melbourne Park was a third round loss to Venus' sister Serena in 2005, gave millions of Indians hopes of an upset win as a flurry of her forehand winners sailed past the six-time Grand Slam champion.

But Venus wasn't going to let Mirza add to India's quota of impressive wins on Saturday - what with the Indian cricket team thrashing Australia in the Perth test earlier in the day.

The 21-year-old Hyderabadi had begun in promising fashion, breaking the American's serve at two-all in the first set.

A few minutes later, Mirza was up 5-3 as a Venus serve rocketed past her. Sania responded with a smile and an outstanding return of serve on the next point. At 30-30, the Indian was two points away from the set and hopes of an upset loomed large.

But it wasn't to be.

The game went to deuce twice before Venus dug in to take the game and Mirza found herself serving for the set.

A costly error by Mirza at 30-all set up breakpoint for the American. The eighth-seeded Venus revved up a notch, broke back and then sent down a flurry of aces to go up 6-5.

All seemed over when the Indian went down 15-40 but a bunch of winners and Venus errors saw Mirza take the match into the tiebreaker. The number 31 seed was all smiles as an ardent fan shouted "Sensational Sania" and the spectators in the Rod Laver arena settled in for a slugfest.

But the 27-year-old Venus played a flawless tiebreak (7-0) and grabbed the first set in 50 minutes.

Mirza's serve let her down and Williams pounced on the Indian's weakness - edging forward inside the baseline to face her second serves.

The momentum had clearly shifted in the American's favour but Mirza seemed determined to give a good fight. The opening point of the second set was the best of the match - the 19-shot rally ending in Mirza's favour.

Games went with serve until 3-3 when Williams broke Mirza's serve in a game which saw two points challenged by either player and replayed. A costly doublefault (her fourth of the match) didn't do the Indian any good.

Mirza's unforced errors crept up - she was to make 30 of them in the 92-minute match. And Venus was serving better in the second set with more aces (5), more winners (10) and fewer unforced errors (8).

Her confidence back on track, the elder Williams was soon 5-3 up and two points from victory on the Indian's serve. But Mirza responded with an ace (her only ace of the match) to take the game.

Serving for the match at 5-4, Venus sent down two aces and wrapped up the match on the first of her three matchpoints.

Harsh Mankad Returns and Ashutosh Singh Proves His Mettle

Tony Tharakan — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 16:40:07 EST

Pakistan may be in the headlines for all the wrong reasons but India's National Champion Ashutosh Singh made sure it wasn't all bad news by reaching the final of the ITF Pakistan F3 Futures in Lahore.

Singh lost a tight match 3-6,6-3,7-6(6) to top-seeded Czech Adam Vejmelka in the final on Saturday but the 25-year-old Indian won't be too disappointed by his performance against a player ranked 240 places above him on the ATP list. Partnering Vivek Shokeen, Singh had earlier grabbed the doubles title beating Vejmelka and his Romanian partner Bogdan-Victor Leonte 6-1,6-4.

The 575-ranked Singh also leads the Indian contingent for a bilateral tennis series against Pakistan starting in Lahore on Tuesday.

Doubles was the key for India in women's tennis this week with both Sunitha Rao and Prerana Appineni reaching the doubles semifinals at separate ITF events. Second seeds Rao and American Jill Craybas bowed out to an American pair at ITF Pittsburgh while Appineni and American Beatrice Capra lost a thrilling super-tiebreaker in the ITF Lima (Peru) semifinals.

But the big news this week is the return of Harsh Mankad after a year-long break from the tennis court thanks to knee injuries. Currently ranked 1456, Mankad is playing the qualifiers at the ATP Challenger in Champaign, USA.

Mankad turned 28 on Saturday and the Mumbai resident knows only too well how hard it will be for him to crack the ATP Top 200. His career best singles ranking of 222 was a milestone achieved two years ago.

Also playing next week is Indian number one Rohan Bopanna. The 261-ranked Bopanna has the unenviable challenge of playing 75-ranked German Benjamin Becker in the first round of the ATP Challenger in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine.

At least doubles specialist Leander Paes has better odds. Fourth seeds Paes and Czech partner Martin Damm will fancy their chances at the Shanghai Masters Cup when they take on defending champions Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi on Sunday.

In women's tennis, India's number two Sunitha Rao will try her luck at the ITF $50,000 La Quinta, US tournament while Tara Iyer will lead a phalanx of fellow Indians at the $25,000 ITF Pune tournament. Both events kick off on Monday.

Karan Rastogi Back in Action in Delhi Next Month

Tony Tharakan — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 11:35:38 EDT

Karan Rastogi, India's number three tennis player, is all set to make a comeback at an ATP Challenger tournament in New Delhi next month.

Rastogi, sidelined with a back injury during the ATP Mumbai Open in September, told the Indian Tennis blog that his back was better and he planned to play both the hardcourt challenger events in the Indian capital at the end of 2007.

The 21-year-old Mumbai player, currently ranked 344 in the world, had won the Morocco F5 claycourt Futures in July this year.

News of Rastogi's comeback should please fans of Indian tennis, which has seen many of its stars fall prey to injury this year.

Sania Mirza finished her season early while Prakash Amritraj, Harsh Mankad and Mahesh Bhupathi are also recovering from injuries. With Sunitha Rao withdrawing from two consecutive Challenger tournaments in the US this month, speculation about another injury scare were rife.

Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes have also not played since the Stockholm Open and the BA-CA Tennis Trophy in Vienna earlier this month.

With the country's top players taking a break from tennis courts, the India F10 Futures in Gulbarga got more than its share of attention.

But India's second-string players, with the exception of world number 605 Sunil Kumar Sipaeya, failed to make it beyond the second round in the singles. Eighth seed Sipaeya lost to eventual champion Ivan Cerovic of Croatia in the quarter-finals.

There was better luck for India in the doubles with the second-seeded pair of Vijay Kannan and Kazakhistan's Alexey Kedryuk beating Tushar Liberhan and Rupesh Roy 6-4,3-6,10-3 in the final of the $15,000+ hardcourt tournament.

Across the border, sixth-seed Ashwin Vijayragavan justified his seeding by making it to the quarterfinals of the Islamabad Futures. Pairing up with Korean Jeong-Han, Vijayragavan lost to home crowd favourites Aqeel Khan and Asim Shafik in a closely fought doubles semifinal 6-2,4-6,9-11.

Other Indians had little success abroad. Mustafa Ghouse lost in the singles qualifiers of the ATP Seoul Challenger before he and Israel's Dudi Sela bowed out in the opening round of the doubles event.

World number 728 Prerana Appineni also lost her opening singles and doubles encounters at the ITF tournament in Valencia, Venezuela. Down under in Traralgon (Australia), world number 359 Tara Iyer lost her singles opener and then forfeited her doubles quarterfinal match.

The action now shifts to the Pakistan F2 Futures grasscourt tournament in Lahore starting on Monday where a host of Indian players, led by Sipaeya, are in the fray.

Tennis News: Stephen Amritraj, Ashutosh Shine This Week

Tony Tharakan — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 00:10:58 EDT

The big names of Indian tennis couldn't weave much magic in tournaments this week, leaving little known players Stephen Amritraj and Ashutosh Singh to impress with breakthrough performances.

Amritraj, who grew up in the Californian city of Calabasas, partnered American Adam Davidson to reach the doubles semifinal at the ATP Calabasas Challenger.

The duo, who gained entry as lucky losers because of an injury default to Jan-Michael Gambill, stunned top seeds Bobby Reynolds and Rajeev Ram 6-3,6-4 in the opening round.

Amritraj, 23, and Davidson eventually lost 5-7,2-6 to fourth seeds Robert Kendrick(US) and Cecil Mamiit(PHI) in the semifinal.

Stephen, son of former tennis player Anand Amritraj, had partnered cousin Prakash to reach the semifinals of the Fergana Challenger earlier this year.

Back home in India, newly crowned National hard court champion Ashutosh Singh spearheaded the country's challenge at the India F9 Futures in Bellary, Karnataka.

Singh's splendid run in the singles event, which began with ousting top seed Pavol Cervenak of Slovakia 6-3,6-4 in the opening round, came to an end in the semifinals.

Singh, ranked 659 on the ATP list, lost to third seeded Austrian Rainer Eitzinger 4-6,3-6.

But he gained revenge by partnering Vivek Shokeen to beat Eitzinger and Philipp Oswald 7-6(4),3-6,10-5 in the doubles final.

Wildcard Rupesh Roy, who lost in the quarterfinals to Singh, also impressed with a second round win over Romania's Adrian Gavrila.

Elsewhere in Europe, Sania Mirza lost in her Zurich Open opener before retiring for the season while Leander Paes and Martin Damm lost in the second round of the Madrid Masters doubles.

Sunitha Rao, who reached the finals at the ITF San Francisco Tennis Classic last week, withdrew from the ITF Lawrenceville Challenger at the last minute.

Down under in Gympie(Australia), Tara Iyer couldn't do much against fourth seeded home favourite Monique Adamczak and lost 1-6,6-7(5) in the first round.

Partnering Nungnudda Wannasuk of Thailand, Iyer also lost to Adamczak and Briton Jade Curtis 7-6(2),6-7(3),5-10 in the doubles quarterfinal.

Injury-hit Sania Mirza Cuts Short 2007 Tennis Season

Tony Tharakan — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 14:51:22 EDT

Sania Mirza has returned to India after a string of first round defeats at European tournaments compounded by a strained abductor muscle.

India's number singles player pulled out of the WTA Generali Ladies Linz tournament starting next week and said she will not be playing any more in 2007.

"It has been a long and hard year for me, where I had to make repeated comebacks from two serious injuries and a surgery," Mirza was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

"I am mentally tired and my body is crying out for a break. I'm looking forward to a rest and then a great season next year."

Mirza, currently ranked 30 on the WTA list, had lost to lesser-ranked players in the opening rounds of the Kremlin Cup and the Zurich Open this month.

The 20-year-old ends the year with a 30-19 win-loss record on the WTA Tour having recently touched career best rankings in singles (27) and doubles (18).

Mirza reached the final of WTA Stanford in July and can boast of wins over the likes of Martina Hingis, Dinara Safina and Patty Schnyder in an injury-riddled season. A knee injury had kept her out of action in the first half of 2007 while a wrist injury forced Mirza to withdraw from Kolkata's Sunfeast Open in September.

Her best Grand Slam result for the year was a third round spot at the US Open in August - eventually losing to good friend and nemesis Anna Chakvetadze.

Four doubles titles came her way this season with victories at Morocco (with Vania King), Cincinnati (with Bethanie Mattek), Stanford (with Shahar Peer) and New Haven (with Mara Santangelo). Mirza ended the year with a 32-11 record in doubles.

India's performance at this year's Hopman Cup mixed team challenge has earned Mirza and Rohan Bopanna direct entry into the 2008 edition in January but it remains unclear whether Mirza can recover in time for the event in Australia.