As the night curfew loomed in Paris, the two arch rivals stood at a set apiece. Djokovic had broken first in the third set, but Nadal had broken back to make it 5-5 and had subsequently saved his own serve. Now while serving to remain in the set (at 5-6), the Serb seemed perturbed with…
Category: Tennis
Don’t Count your Nineteenth yet! Remember Wawrinka in 2015?
Novak Djokovic might have improved his head to head against Rafa to 30-28 overall, 2-7 at the Roland Garros, 8-19 on clay and 7-10 in Grand Slams. Rafa might have been denied another free run at the Roland Garros where his 14th title would have allowed him to steer free of Federer’s count of 20…
Trash Talkers to Top Contenders – Medvedev V. Tsitsipas is the Marquee Contest of French Open 2021
After the cold, damp French Open of the previous year, the sunny edition of 2021 is quite a welcome change. Sun is out in its full glory, terre battue are well-baked and harder (and faster than Rome and Madrid) and balls are lighter. Low bounce and fast pace plays almost like hard courts. These factors…
Settling the Score- A Netflix Documentary on Guillermo Vilas & His Unrecognized Claim to be the Number One
Guillermo became one of the most popular names in Latin America following the grand success of Vilas on the Tennis Tour. Guillermo Coria and Canas were both named after him. Bjorn Borg could never correctly pronounce his first name. That did not stop them from becoming good friends. They used to eat out and practice…
Wilander’s First – A Soporific French Open Final
The duo kept hitting top spin lobs from behind the baseline. They seemed content to keep the ball above the net and inside the court. Not much running was involved. It was as if they were feeding each other balls for practice, forehand to backhand, back to forehand, testing the rival’s patience, while making some…
Stories OF Two CLAY Bagels, While the THIRD is ON its WAY
Novak Djokovic has a lot to avenge, and many records to set right, when he takes on the GOAT Rafael Nadal on the Foro Italico in the final of the Italian Open today. Amid all the talks of Grand Slams, Masters, head-to-head records and weeks as Number One, one ignominious data point is often overlooked-…
Daniil Medvedev – The Next Australian Open Champion?
Daniil Medvedev is achieving supreme levels of consistency. The quarter-final win over his good friend Rublev was his 19th straight one on the tour. Incredibly, he is 11-0 against top-10 players since USO 2020. Medvedev had earlier enjoyed such consistency during and after the North American hard-court swing in 2019, when he had reached six…
The Fedal Final @ Rome 2006: The Greatest Clay Court Match of 2000s
Roger V. Rafa had already achieved marquee status. The scenario at the top had become tense. Nadal seemed to have a measure of Roger, and Roger knew not why or how was he regularly losing to the Spaniard. Roger still found him ‘one-dimensional’ despite losin losing four times to him in their five meetings. Rafa…
A Long Rant – On Djokovic Being Ruled Out (A Poem)
Footage finds the crime but did the ‘perp’ intend? Oh! so grievously hurt ,the lady didn’t pretend! Such better ways to fake it, Neymar left ashamed, Rules mean rules only if they cannot be bent. (4) Serena is never asked why she’s obliged to offend, Don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to defend Novak,…
DJOKOVIC- 17 & Counting
“Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row.” Vitas had beaten Jimmy Connors the first time they played at New York in 1972. In the next 7 years, Jimbo thrashed him 16 times in a row. After he finally overcame Connors in January 1980 at Masters, New York, Gerulaitis had exclaimed the famous…
A LONG RANT – AGAINST CROWDS BOOING NOVAK DJOKOVIC
Crowds don’t owe anything to anyone. Novak is a great champion , one who has won 17 Grand Slams and has been Number One for 276 weeks , and counting. Yet crowds cheer for Roger and boo him when the two play final at Wimbledon , applaud when he commits faults or misses points at…
NO FIZZ NOVAK
If and when he gets over his constant whinging over feeling unloved, Novak must ponder over the necessity and timings of his injury revelations. If mass popularity is the prize he seeks, it would pay to be seen as slightly more forthright about his ailments, and a tad more gracious in defeat. Gamesmanship never…
