Posts Tagged ‘tennis’
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Roger Federer (Left) and Rafael Nadal (Right) had a wonderful year 2010
Article first published as Tennis 2010: Year of Nadal and Federer on Technorati.
The year 2010 in tennis marked yet another year of domination from the two modern greats of tennis Nadal and Federer. Federer began the year by winning the Australian open but Nadal aced the rest of the Grand Slams this year to become only 7th man in the history to win a career grand slam. The year ended with these two stalwarts competing again with each other and rightly so, in the London Masters where Federer got one up on Nadal at the end of the year setting up an exciting 2011.
Even though these two giants have dominated the Grand Slams, there have been others who have made giant strides. The biggest achievers of the year have been Robin Soderling, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. Novak Djokovic has yet again finished as the number 3 player in the world just behind Nadal and Federer for the fourth straight year and has had a great 2010. Even though he hasn’t managed to win a major slam this year he has been brilliant as he led his team Serbia to Davis Cup glory. He played some of the greatest games in the US Open this year where he took out Roger Federer in a 5 set marathon in the semis, only to lose to Nadal in the finals. He for sure would want to do better in 2011 and hope that he can break in to the top 2 at the end of next year.
The other player who had a wonderful year is Andy Murray. After Tim Henman, Murray took over the expectations of his nation in a bid to become the first British player to win a slam in 64 years. Even though he came pretty close in the Australian Open 2010 when he reached the finals only to be denied by Roger Federer at the summit clash. He though had a fantastic year as he became just the 5th player to beat both Federer and Nadal in the same tournament as he went on to clinch the Toronto Masters. Murray also reached the Wimbledon semis for the second straight year and has finished the year at number 4 yet again for the 3rd year in a row. Even though Andy Murray has to wait little longer to become the first male player to win a Grand Slam from Great Britain, no one can deny that he has had a great year personally as a player and would for sure be looking forward for a better 2011.
The final player who has had a brilliant 2010 has been Robin Soderling. Even though the year began on a low for Robin losing in the first round of Australian open, the Swede quickly brushed aside his indifferent start to have another great year. Soderling became a giant killer in French open where he ousted Roger Federer in Quarters, only to lose to Nadal in the finals. He had a brilliant Wimbledon too as he made the quarters there for the first time and reached the US Open Quarters for the second straight year. Him following up on a brilliant 2009 meant that he ended the year at number 5 in the rankings.
Even though men’s tennis this year had some standout performances, no one can deny that this year yet again belonged to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The two greats are not letting up yet and the challengers have to still raise their games to upset these champions. But with Djokovic, Soderling and Murray close on heals 2011 promises to be an interesting year in men’s tennis. Will one of these three be able to kick one of the Grand Slams from Nadal and Federer? We have to wait and watch. Till then lets revel in the success of the these two tennis superstars who have taken the word rivalry to a new level.
Indo-Pak Express:- Rohan Bopanna (India) and Asim Ul Haq Qureshi of Pakistan
It has been a great week for the Indo-Pak duo of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (Known as Indo-Pak express by their fans) as they have been conferred with the “Peace and Sport” award by a Monaco based foundation. With both their countries at the loggerheads for the past 60+ years the duo has proven that there can be in fact peace. It’s not like these two have suddenly gotten together and received this prize but have been together for the past few years and their sudden raise in the rankings have finally got them some attention.
Both these players should be really proud of this achievement as this has proved that sports can be devoid of politics and can surely extend a hand of friendship. It will be great if others can follow the example of this Indo-Pak duo and shed all their differences and work for a peaceful existence. Kudos to the Indo-Pak express for setting up a brilliant example for others to follow.
Finally I would like to sign off with the quote of the “Peace and Sports” founder Joel Bouzou “”Sport is ready for peace. But will governments rise to this challenge?” he asks, a question to both the governments. Something for the governments to think about.
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Federer exults after his brilliant win against Nadal at the London Masters
The London Masters singles final was a cracking one. It was yet again between Federer and Nadal, a rivalry which has already become a part of tennis folklore. The players did not disappoint. Federer and Nadal have played their share of great games in the past and this was as exciting as any of them. Federer won the first set 6-3 and Nadal came back in the second with a 6-3 win himself.
This is where it required one of them to up their game in the third set to grab the initiative and Federer was the one who did it this time. Roger was brilliant in the third set and I am sure that this was one of the best he has ever played against Nadal. The third set saw Fed playing risk free game and hitting winners with precision. It seemed as though Nadal was getting a little frustrated and errors started creeping into this game. Nadal started missing some of his trademark forehands and Fed was just unrelenting.
The third set was comfortably won by Federer with a score line of 6-1. This would have been one of the sweetest wins for the champion as he hasn’t had a great time in the finals against his nemesis Nadal. For Nadal though this was a rare loss against Federer, he hasn’t lost that many against him in the recent past. Probably this was the spark Federer was looking for to have one last hurrah before he retires. So people, look forward to another fantastic year for the champion, Could he push towards 20 Grand Slams? Let’s wait and see. Anyways another brilliant match between these two great players and yet another special win for Fed.
India’s golden man
Posted on: November 23, 2010
- In: Cricket and Sports | Davis Cup | General | General Lunch Time talk | Real Life | Somdev Devvarman | Sports | tennis | Tennis
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Somdev acknowledges the crowd after becoming the first Indian to win a gold in Asian Games in Singles
Somdev Devvarman became the first Indian to win a gold in Tennis in the Asian Games singles event. He also became the first Indian to win two gold medals in Asian games history. Just a month ago he had won Gold in the Commonwealth games, also becoming the first Indian to do so. This has been a brilliant year for Somdev as he broke into the top 100 for the first time in his career and also has won 2 gold medals in two major events representing India.
He had also led India to the world group in Davis cup earlier this year. History beckoned Somdev when he stepped on the court in the finals against Uzbekistan’s Dennis Istomin who is ranked 44 in the world and the Indian ace did not disappoint. It was a lopsided final as the Indian won it comfortably with a score line of 6-1, 6-2. The win gave Somdev his second gold in the Asian games to go with 1 bronze which he had won earlier in the team event.
Speaking to the media after his historic win an ecstatic Somdev said, “I am very, very happy to get the gold here. It’s a dream come true. No one comes to an Asian Games with the intention of winning two gold medals. Representing the country gives me the greatest pleasure,”
A brilliant year for a fantastic player and I hope that he can repeat the same success in the world events in the coming year. With this brilliant performance Somdev has for sure become India’s “Golden Man”.
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Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have made it to the season ending World Tour doubles Finals with their respective partners. Rohan Bopanna though misses out on a chance to complete with the world’s best doubles teams as he and Qureshi failed to qualify for the mega event. Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy have been placed in Group A and Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi have been placed in group B.
Leander and Dlouhy have to contend with the top seeded Bryan brothers in their group whereas Mahesh and Mirnyi have the second seeded Nestor/Zimonjic pair. It is brilliant to see both these players participating in the London Finals and I hope that both of them do well. It will be great if one of them wins the title this year. This is probably one title which is missing from the resume of these two greats. Best of luck to both Bhupathi and Paes and hopefully we will see one of them emerge victorious at the end of it.
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Just few years back, India tennis was all about Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. They held the hopes of an entire nation for a long time until Sania Mirza arrived on the scene. She was probably the first tennis icon for the current generation to look up to. Sania broke into the top 30 and gave us the hopes that probably this time we will see a Indian player in the top 10. In the last couple of years though her carrier has taken a nose dive and she is nowhere near her best anymore. Her ranking over this time has had a free fall from the top 30 to 166 where she is currently perched.
While Leander and Mahesh still battle on, we have new players on the scene giving some hope to the tennis fans in India. Somdev Devvarman is one of them. He became the first Indian player to win an individual gold in Tennis for India in Commonwealth games and also broke into top 100 this year. Then there is the young Yuki Bhambri who has just started to wet his foot in the professional world. While Somdev Devvarman takes over from Leander as India’s flag bearer in the Davis Cup, Yuki Bhambri has the making of being the first top tennis player from India.
Even though the singles scene is still uncertain with how the careers of both Somdev and Yuki will pan out, the doubles though has been healthier as ever. Leander and Mahesh have always been in the top 10 pairs in the world with their respective partners, the sudden raise of Rohan Bopanna should give the Indians additional hope. His partnership with Qureshi from Pakistan has grown leaps and bounds this year. They are in fact in contention for the Masters event later this year in which the top 8 doubles team participates every year. With Leander already qualified for the masters event, the battle will be between Bhupathi and Bopanna for the 7th and 8th spot. It will be wonderful if both of them can make it.
If that happens I guess this will be the first time when 3 Indian players will be participating in the year end Masters event. The rise of Bopanna and Qureshi has been amazing as the pair made giant strides in the last couple of years to reach the top 10 in the rankings. Amidst the animosity between the two countries, it’s great to see a Indo-Pak pair do so well as a team in world tennis. If only the others can learn something from this pair and understand that in spite of all the differences we can still work together for a peaceful existence.
So with just couple of months to go the battle is on. Bhupathi/Mirnyi pair has now climbed up to the 6th spot, strengthening their hopes of qualifying for the Masters. It will be up to Bopanna and Qureshi to raise their game to grab one of the final two spots. It has been a great year for Indian tennis and it seems like once Leander and Mahesh hang up their boots, Indian fans will still have something to look forward to in Tennis.
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Fed-Ex still has lot of tennis left in him
Roger Federer burst on to the scene when he ousted defending champion Pete Sampras from 2001 Wimbledon championship in the 4th round. The 2001 championship is more known for the fairy tale journey of wild card entrant and 3 time finalist Goran Ivanisevic. Federer though did not make it beyond the quarters and lost in the very first round of the 2002 championship.
No one could have predicted at that time that this guy will become arguably the best player in the world. Federer won the Wimbledon 2003 by defeating Mark Philippoussis in the finals and what followed that victory was the stuff of legends. What struck me during that championship was the kind of ease with which Federer demolished his opponents. I remember Andy Roddick’s puzzled look in the semis when the champion kept passing him every time he played a great approach shot on his way to the net.
It was how Sampras in his prime used to play on grass. It is quite ironic that Federer who ended Sampras’s hold on Wimbledon will go on to break his Grand Slam record 8 years later. Federer was almost unbeatable for the next 3 years to come on all surfaces except for the clay, the only surface which Sampras was never able to master. Federer though had more success on that surface than Pete as his game was more suited to clay. But as far as the other Grand Slams go, there was only one winner until Nadal came on to the scene.
Nadal often met Federer in the French open finals and defeated him and reminded me of the South American players of the 90’s who were unbeatable on that surface. Nadal began that way, great on clay but could not translate that success to the other surfaces. But the only player who could challenge the domination of Federer during his prime was Nadal. The guy improved leaps and bounds on other surfaces and proved to be more than handful for the champion to put him away. Nadal actually dominates Federer in the Grand Slam finals and holds a proud 5-2 winning record against the champion.
In the last few years though Federer has lost the consistency in his game and lot more errors have started creeping in. Lot more players are now able to defeat him who had no chance of getting close 3 years back. Age might also be a factor as he is not quick around the court as he used to be. He is though still one of the top players in the world ranked second just behind his long time nemesis Rafael Nadal. 2009 probably was the greatest year for Fed as he was able to win the French Open for the first time, the frontier which Sampras was never able to breach. He also passed Sampras’s world record Grand Slam tally in 2009.
It’s hard to call Fed out of form as he has won at least one slam every year since his first in 2003. He is still an amazing player but the old spark is missing. As a great fan of his, I just hope that he has one final hurrah at the top. When Federer is in full flow, it is like poetry in motion. The smooth one handed back hand and power forehand is an amazing sight to his fans. He is probably one of the most graceful tennis players in the history of the game.
Federer still has few more years left in him, which will give him the opportunity to repair his record against Nadal and also a chance to push his Grand Slam tally to 20. He has just added another ATP title to his kitty by winning in Stockholm and thereby equaling Sampras’s record of most singles titles of 64.
Sampras bowed out of the game with a brilliant win in the US Open in front of his home crowd and I hope that Federer to can end his carrier on a winning note and also as the number one player in the world. I guess he deserves that. He is one of nicest guy on the court and humblest off it.
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Somdev created history by becoming the first tennis player to win a gold for India in CWG 2010
Commonwealth games (CWG) just concluded in Delhi with a grand closing ceremony earlier last week and India had pulled it off after being in the news for all the bad reasons. All in all a great games for the Indian contingent as they finished second in the medals tally just edging England out.
The games was special for lots of athletes none more so than Somdev Devvarman who got the first gold medal for an Indian tennis player in CWG. Even though the top players from Australia and England did not make it to the CWG 2010, it was a fantastic effort from the Indian. Somdev had a great year where he led India to the world group with a brilliant win over Brazil and also broke into the top 100 in the ranking for the first time. Sania Mirza too brushed aside her lackluster year to come up with an inspired performance in the games.
Sania played very well throughout only to lose to the top seeded Australian Anastasia Rodionova in thrilling 3 set match in the finals to settle for the silver. Somdev though did not have such troubles as he coasted to a comfortable straight set victory over Greg Jones of Australia to claim the gold medal. It was a good CWG 2010 for the Indian tennis team as they won at least one medal in each of the disciplines. Sania also won the bronze in the women’s doubles playing with Rushmi Chakravarthy.
The biggest disappointment though was the performance of the Indian star doubles pair of Leander and Mahesh as they ended up with just the bronze medal. Lot was expected from this pair as it was touted as their last time playing together. Leander and Mahesh were the favorites to take the gold this year but it was not to be. They lost in the semis to Australia’s less fancied pair of Paul Hanley and Peter Luczak. The other shock was the loss of Leander Paes and Sania Mirza in the quarters which deprived India of another medal in tennis.
But overall this was a good return for India as they ended up with 4 medals in this year’s game and Somdev’s gold made is all the more special. Hopefully Somdev goes from strength to strength from here and has a great year ahead. It is sad to see that Leander and Mahesh will not be playing together anymore but for all these years they have kept the country’s hopes alive. I hope that they continue to play for team India in Davis Cup.
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Champions Trophy (Cricket) and Davis Cup (Tennis), the two major events which took place last month had one thing in common. The common factor was Chennai, my hometown. The Champions Trophy cricket was won by Chennai Super Kings and the Davis Cup tie between India and Brazil was held in Chennai. I was in India while both these events took place and was fortunate enough to witness them at a convenient time zone.
The Davis Cup was held in Chennai’s Nungambakkam stadium where the yearly Chennai open takes place. The venue was chosen by India’s number 1 player Somdev Devvarman as hard court is his favorite surface and he felt that the city’s heat and humidity will work against the visitors. But when Bopanna took on Thomaz Bellucci who happens to be ranked 27th in the world, the weather in Chennai was uncharacteristically pleasant. The game which was supposed be an easy one for the Brazilian turned out to be a 5 set marathon.
Bopanna played a brilliant game and should have won it but mistakes at crucial times in the final set cost him the match. With Brazil leading 1-0, Somdev stepped on the court to face Brazil’s second best player Ricardo Mello. This game was supposed to go India’s way and after the first set it did not seem otherwise. Somdev breezed through the first set and it seemed like the first day will end with the honors even between the two teams. After the first set Ricardo Mello upped his game quite a bit and Somdev started wilting under the pressure exerted by the Brazilian. It was another 5 set epic and another victory to Brazil and India got off to the worst possible start. Brazil would have been thrilled to be 2-0 up after the first day. The decision to play on the hard court seemed to have back fired and it seemed like the Brazilians were not minding the Chennai weather either.
After the disappointing first day the onus was completely on the champion doubles team of Leander and Mahesh to keep the Indian team in the hunt. Leander and Mahesh played a brilliant game defeating the Brazilian pair of Marcelo Mello and Bruno Soares in straight sets to get the first victory for India. The third day began with India needing to win both the reverse singles game and boy did they play well. Both Somdev and Bopanna played brilliant tennis to win their respective games to had India one of the most famous Davis cup victories and an entry into the world group.
The other major event which concluded just a week ago was the Champions trophy. The event this year was held in South Africa and three IPL teams participated in the same. Chennai Super Kings who were the IPL Champions began their campaign in style when they demolished Central Districts by 57 runs in the opening game. Chennai seemed to have the best team suited to the conditions in South Africa. Their batting was strong and had one of the most balanced bowling attacks for the pitches in South Africa. Chennai just lost a single game in the round robin stage to Victoria and that too in the super over.
Things weren’t that rosy for the other IPL teams in the championship. Mumbai struggled for consistency in both batting and bowling and Bangalore had issues with their bowling attack. The Royal Challengers though made it to the semis with the help of couple of big wins as Mumbai Indians made a sorry exit from the event. The Royal Challengers faced the Super Kings in a one sided semifinals where Suresh Raina hammered an unbeaten 90 odd to steer his team to the finals. Bangalore though struggled throughout the game after their strike bowler Steyn injured himself taking a difficult catch to dismiss Hussey. Their bowling and fielding completely fell apart and they allowed Chennai to pile up 170+ in 17 overs. In the end the target proved too much for the Royal Challengers team who succumbed without a fight.
Chennai’s opponents in the finals were the home team Warriors who had been brilliant till then in the competition. The finals though again was a one sided affair as Chennai demolished the Warriors batting to dismiss them to a modest 128. Chennai knocked of the required runs without much fuss in 19 overs with 8 wickets still in hand. It was a brilliant win for the team from Chennai and they once again proved that they are one of the most consistent teams in the IPL pack. This was also an emotional moment for the franchise and the players as this was a last game for them as a team before the players will be shuffled again in a fresh auction later this year. In a way this was a nice farewell for a bunch of players who had worked extremely hard and have emerged victorious in the IPL 3 as well as in the champion’s league becoming the first team from IPL to achieve the double.
All in all a brilliant win for Dhoni and Chennai Super Kings. Hopefully we will see the franchise carrying this legacy forward, no matter what team they put forward next year. All in all a good month for Indian sports and I had a blast watching all of it during my vacation without the worries of losing my sleep in doing so.
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Saina and her coach P Gopichand return to a warm reception in India after her fantastic win in the Indonesian Open.
In India it would seem for an outsider that cricket is the only sport in existence. Hockey (India’s National game) has been on a wane for a long time now and nothing has been done about it. Indian Hockey team had to face the ignominy of not qualifying for the world cup and have pretty much struggled at the world stage over the past decade or so. So even though until the last few years we haven’t achieved anything great in cricket the major difference between cricket and other sports were the stars and individual achievements.
Cricket has always given its fan a star to idolize, which was something lacking in other sports. In the 90’s Leander and Mahesh captured the imagination of the Indians with wonderful performances and so did Gopichand with this All England title but not much from the other sports. But the last few years has changed the trend. Starting from Abhinav Bindra’s brilliant gold at the Olympics to Saina Nehwal’s wonderful run in Badminton, Indian sports has come a long way in that time. We have Vijender Singh in Boxing, Somdev in tennis, and Saina in Badminton and Abhinav Bindra in shooting and Viswanathan Anand in Chess. Saina I feel will end up as the best Indian women sportsperson in the history of Indian sports. At just 20 she has scaled enormous peaks and has become world number two and I hope that she becomes the best player in the world soon.
That is quite a line up I mentioned above, adding to that list is Armaan Ebrahim (Formula Two racer), Parthiva Sureshwaran (Formula two) and Karun Chandhok (Second Indian after Narain to represent in Formula 1) and Narain himself in NASCAR (US) reviving India’s interest in motorsports. So considering all this the last 10 years has been a golden period for Indian sports. I always believed that you need stars in other sports to get the kids interested. Media needs to play an important role in this too.
The next major hurdle now is the sponsors. Recently I was in conversation with one of our American colleague’s at lunch during the Soccer world cup and we asked him why American youngsters are not taking up Soccer as their career considering how well their National team performed at the event. He said it all came down to the money. Other sports in US such as Football, Baseball and Basketball ensure million dollar contracts, scholarship in a good college etc which soccer doesn’t here. Which was a very valid point as for parents to encourage their kids to take up a sport as a career, they will consider the financial aspect as their major criteria. That’s where cricket scores over the other sports in India.
Now with stars like Saina, Abhinav and Vijender in the mix I hope that these sports receive sponsors too. All the money right now goes only to one sport and it will be great if the respective associations try and get sponsorship and promote other sports to encourage youngsters to take up the same. I know this will be a long process and cannot be achieved overnight but we have to move in that direction.
A good talent should not be lost due to lack of money. We have a world number 1 middle weight boxer, World number two badminton player, Olympic gold medalist in shooting, Top 100 men’s tennis player and 4 players in world motorsports. This is indeed the golden era for Indian sports and we need to make full use of the same and hope that this scenario is not wasted. Good luck to Saina and others for the Commonwealth games in India. I hope that they make India proud win lots of medals in the upcoming CW games.
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