Monday 6 June 2011

If not for you* - Olivia Newton-John

So Nadal wins his 10th Grand Slam! At the expense of Roger Federer again, equalling the record set by Borg to win 6 French Open tournaments! Congratulations! Well done.

I am disappointed, to be honest. I have always been a huge fan of Roger Federer - and while i do not argue with the rankings, i personally rank Federer as the most complete tennis player. In addition to his skills, he brings a touch of grace and elegance to the game - not just the brute force and sheer tenacity shown by others. This is - to me - a gentleman's game!

So last nite, as i watch Nadal triumph over him again, i felt really really sad for him. One thing that was said by the commentators was pretty interesting - Federer is actually quite a good clay court tennis player! Only 2 other persons have played more times in the finals at the Frebch Open than he - Borg and Nadal.

With all due respect to Borg, perhaps he did not have an equal back in those days. And today, if Nadal never appeared in the tennis scene, there would be few - if any - who can challenge Federer as the King of Clay!

Unfortunately, he has only won once at the French Open - not because he is not good on clay but only becuase there was someone else better than him!

I wonder how many times it must have crossed his mind - albeit briefly as he like us is just human - that if not for Nadal, things would be so different for him. If Nadal was born in a different time - or if Federer was born in a different time - things would be different.


(Pic taken from gototennis.com)

But they both are with us in this lifetime, in this generation, and it has given us some some really great tennis to watch!

Now for Wimbledon! =)

*One of the earliest songs i listened to as a little child - now i find out that it was actually a cover of Bob Dylan's song! This cover however was her first international hit.

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