Sunday, July 05, 2009

Roger Federer , King of Tennis - The Final Verdict

The debate about who is the Greatest Tennis Player ever was concluded today when Roger Federer took Andy Roddick through over four hours of brilliant tennis to emerge winner of the 2009 Wimbledon Men's Singles tennis championships 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14. In this single match alone Federer served 50 aces - a record at the Wimbledon championships. The final set went to 16-14 and lasted over one hour.
All the Tennis greats were on hand to watch him prove his mettle. Rod Laver of Australia had won the tournament four times, Bjorn Borg of Sweden five times, Pete Samparas of the US seven times. Pete Sampras flew in from the United States especially to watch the final and to witness Federer break his record of 14 Grand Slam titles, a record which Federer had equalled when he won Roland Garros in May. At the post match interview with BBC Sports journalists, their verdict was unanimous - Roger is the greatest of all time, and come to think , he surpassed Pete Sampras's seemingly unbreakable record in a spate of just six years.
Long live the King of Tennis!!

Serena Williams - True Grit


Serena Williams showed class to overcome her big sister Venus to win th 2009 Winbledon Ladies singles championship trophy. She exhibited a real thirst to win Wimbledon one more time. Serving very well and dishing out aces at will, she totally broke the resolve of her big sister in the second set of the final. She stopped any expectation of a classic when she overpowered Venus with her serves and finished off the second set at 6-2. This was the fourth meeting of the sisters in the finals of the ladies singles event and Serena's third victory in the ladies singles, having previously won in 2002 and 2003.
A few hours later, the two sisters teamed up to defeat the No.3 seeds in the Ladies doubles final. By these victories, Serena has reclaimed the No. 1 spot from Dinara Safina in the WTA rankings.

Friday, July 03, 2009

The Williams sisters - Too hot to handle


Wimbledon 2009 has seen a fresh resurgence of Venus and Serena Williams. Throughout these two weeks they have exhibited a new standard of tennis. All the '..ovics' '..ova's and ..'evas' that have attempted to stop them have been literally brushed aside. Elena Dimentieva was the bravest and best of the lot in this year's championship. Having been knocked down by big sister Venus in the semi-finals in 2008, she tried to explore the possibility of going to the final via Serena this year. Once again despite a spirited battle which has been described as epic, she fell by the wayside. The anguish of Elena Dimentieva's mother who was watching the semi-final match just behind Daddy Williams was palpable.
In January this year at the Australian Open, the honour of teaching Dinara Safina tennis lessons fell on Serena. She took the task seriously and properly trounced Dinara. Dinara herself acknowledged the absolute dominance of Serena. Serena not only beat her but also prevented her on that occasion from becoming World No.1. Since then by dint of hard work and compettion in several WTA events, Dinara has snatched back the No. 1 position.
As the ladies World No.1, many expected that she would have the courage and audacity to challenge Venus's seemingly easy ride in this tournament. Alas it was not to be; she instead took in a few new lessons from Sister Venus. She was made to look not only ordinary but totally out of place in a Wimbledon semi-final event. Such was the severity of the trouncing that she looked dazed and humbled as BBC journalists tried to interview her just after the match. The ladies World No.1 position was embarrasingly disgraced. Again Dinara honestly conceded that she learnt a few more lessons from Venus. I am sure Venus and Serena do not mind giving the lesson 'free of charge'. They get their rewards shortly afterward in fat purses.
As if the singles dominance was not enough, the sisters have so far terrorised all opponents that have come their way this week in the ladies doubles game. The blowing away of the ladies doubles World No.1, the seasoned pair of Black and Huber at the semi-finals at 6-1 6-2 today tells a lot about their current form. They are simply too hot to handle and therefore unstoppable. Top of the Ace Table was Serena with 60 aces in this tournament at the last count. With their combined arsenal of hot serves, beautiful groundstrokes, agressive volleys and intelligent net play, Venus and Serena have placed themselves in a class apart from the pack at least on grass. Venus, afterall has a natural claim to the Venus Rosewater Dish which is the trophy that is awarded to the ladies' singles champion at Wimbledon since 1886.
On Saturday, they will again have a monoply of the ladies singles and doubles trophies. Long live good tennis!!