Red-hot Rune came all guns blazing in the rain-delayed final at Forzia Italia, but Medvedev was ready to slam back everything that was hurled at him by the pocket dynamo. The relentless Rune forced many break points in the first few games served by the tall ‘Russian without the flag’, but could not convert any…
Category: Tennis
There’s Not Enough Love for Novak Djokovic
( I wrote this piece for the print magazine FINAL in 2022. Reproducing it here for it stays forever relevant) “No one gets to enjoy the entire Universe, Some scrap of land or a handful of sky is denied, It’s not as if your life is a loveless desert, But not a drop falls where…
Destiny Stiched it for Michael
Destiny has a way of finding the best course for everyone. It conspires to get what you want, and eventually bring home the prize you earnestly desire. If you hang in, things and events occur in a manner to take you to the destination. It might not even be your good luck working on that…
Tennisflashes (a poem)
(Played in the morning. Got high on dopamine. The high did not leave me throughout the day. I have written this poem only to record my feelings, and to verify if others who play tennis also experience something like this. Recorded below are the flashes that keep springing before my eyes.) Eight hours after we…
A THING OF BEAUTY IS FEDERER FOREVER
You don’t rate a rainbow based on the amount of time it is visible. The beauty of the Ring of Fire cannot be described in a passage. Roger Federer’s greatness cannot be condensed into mere words. Beauty cannot be delineated by writing it down on paper. Aesthetic joy is beyond monetary value and human expression….
STROKE OF GENIUS – When Rafael Nadal bit his first Golden Pineapple
Rafa’s foot was asleep during the whole match, as it has been throughout his career. Roger had still not fully recovered, or so his backers later claimed, from mononucleosis, which he had contracted more than six months back. Yet the King of Clay and the Emperor of All Else put on a mesmerizing show for…
ARBITENNISNESS
Go to You Tube. Type ‘Novak hits a lineswoman’. You will find a 2:16 minutes long clip of Nine News Australia. Watch the lineswoman’s theatrics which should have fetched her the Razzies, but did not. What’s clear is that Novak had intended to loft the extra ball towards the ball boy (since his serve game…
NICK KYRGIOS NEEDS TO CALM DOWN
If a six feet four inches tall man does not understand that throwing down a racquet on a hard court from his height would cause it to bounce and slide, and break it into small pieces which might fly at random angles, he is either being dishonest or is plain stupid. Nick Kyrgios did not…
Just when You think they’re Done, the BIG 3 Strike Back
Just when you think, they are done and dusted, one of the Big 3 pulls a rabbit out of his hat, wins a Slam against all odds, awakens the others two and the race begins all over again. Just when the NextGen, the GenNextNext, the adolescents or the toddlers think that their time has finally…
WHAT WOULD NOVAK DO? (Poem)
At two sets down, and out of sorts, Meddy asked, “What would Novak do?”, The bumpkins of Melbourne didn’t like, What else could they do, but ‘siuuu’. (4) No way would Nole ever give up, Djoker shall always find some way, He shall keep coming back at you, His spirit cannot be wished away. (8)…
Novak ‘Cassius Clay’ Djokovic – The Beacon of Free Will in the Age of Covid Madness
The current week of adversity might just be the finest moment of Novak Djokovic’s life. If Cassius Clay had stood up as a ‘conscientious objector’ and had ‘refused to serve’ on a matter of principle, Novak has also remained firm on his convictions. Your body is the Temple of the Lord. Getting vaccinated or not…
John V. McEnroe- Portrait of a Perfectionist as a Troubled Man
“Can you show me the mark? Please! Why not? No, why not? Why can’t you show me the mark? That’s all I am asking. Show me the bloody mark. You can’t see your shoelaces! Oh, he made up the mark! Can’t fucking believe it! He just put his finger on the line, on the line!”…
Abhinav Pancholi 