They came, They saw, They conquered…
1:37 PM
JITIN
,
Samuel Johnson, the 18th century English poet & critic, once said:
“Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance”.
Now, this post is on TENNIS.
But it is not about the ‘genius’ of Roger Federer.
It is not even about the heroics of the glam girl Maria Sharapova ( two sportspersons I have written about earlier).
Nor does it deal with the Roddick’s, Hewitt’s or Safin’s of men’s tennis.
& Neither it describes the exploits of the Williams sisters or former no. 1 Amelie Mauresmo or the Russian brigade: Kuznetsova, Dementeiva, Myskina, Chakvetdze etc… (this is a long list indeed).
Infact, this is about the quotation of Samuel Johnson…
And this perseverance was on show aplenty during the French Open’07.
As for three years running now, the tennis folklore has been amazed by the sheer dominance on the red clay of Roland Garros by 2 players.
Well for those tennis dimwits who have not guessed it by now, I am referring to:
Justin Henin-Hardenne & Rafael Nadal.
Justin Henin-Hardenne:
A snapshot of her performance in French Open’07:
Quarters: def. S.Williams 6-4,6-3.
Semis: def. J.Jankovic 6-2,6-2.
Final: def. A.Ivanovic 6-1,6-2.
Which means that she overcame the current Australian Open champ effortlessly & then steamrolled past her miserable opponents dropping just 7 games: semifinal & final combined!
& If you thought that it was just a showcase of temporary form by the little Belgian, then beat this: The indomitable star has now won 3 straight Frenchies from 2005 onwards, 21 matches in a row, without breaking a sweat ( most of the times ). One of the rarest feats in the modern era indeed!
Rafael Nadal:
There is just one match on one court during the whole year when the King himself becomes the miser. When Federer sheds his favourite tag & plays like an underdog. When His Majesty, Your Highness, The Emperor himself bows towards his more fancied opponent. The occasion is:
FEDERER vs NADAL on a clay court.
But this year the tables were turned around during the Hamburg Masters, when Roger, after many failures, finally succeded in beating Nadal, with a 6-0 thrashing in the final set.
The million-dollar question was:
Will the history repeat itself during French’07 grand finale???
Well, the history did repeat itself, but it was not of the Hamburg Masters but on the contrary, it was of the French’06 finale!!!
With the title of GOAT (Greatest of All Time) at stake, the Swiss maestro gave it his all… But when you are facing this clay perfectionist, one thing you know for sure is that sometimes even your best efforts are good for nothing… And Roger learnt it the hard way: Vanquished in 4 sets yet again & for now the GOAT title took a backstage!
Conclusion:
They came almost like nobodies at Roland Garros in 2005…
They saw the red clay, the French hospitality & their opponents…
& then,
They conquered one & everyone who came in their path…
They are now the King & Queen of the French Open…
Queries:
Would Federer be able to win the French open ever?
Is ‘he’ the GOAT himself?
Would ‘they’ conquer the red clay yet again in ’08?
Remember Samuel Johnson & his golden words…
PS: I would really like to know your opinion on the above questions & I owe the origin of the term GOAT to one of my fellow bloggers. And I am fond of it :-)
1. Yes, Federer most certainly will win the French some day.
2. He is the GOAT without the slightest doubt(and I was extremely flattered about your reference to me in your post, but I didn't coin the term 'GOAT' - the word is used very often by tennis columnists), .
3. Neither one of the celebrated 'they' will win next year. I whole-heartedly agree that Nadal and Justine ARE the best claycourters at the moment, but for some reason I don't think either of them has what it takes to make it 4 in a row.
P.S. Forgive me for my apparent pro-Federer, anti-Nadal bias, but I'm still very very sore about yesterday's match. The fact that Federer played so carelessly makes it all the more painful.
@ musab
i wholeheartedly agree with you on the second point... but somehow i am not sure about 1 & 3... bcoz i think 'Nadal' is the numero uno on clay & he has the potential to leave Bjorn Borg record far far behind... Lets see what happens then!!!
( & actually I have not come across this term GOAT in any of the tennis articles & really thought that it was you who coined it... Anywaz still thanx for introducing me to this term :-) )
Raffa will never ever let roggi win at roland garos.........
Hamburg was a totally different story as it was more like a hard court ........dere was no feet griping problem dere.......which is the most annoyin problem for roggi at roland garos.....he always slips one inch further at roland garos......
Roggie is a very excellent player if he is in his comfort nickers.......bt whenever he is pushed to the corner ........u very well knw wat happnd last year when he threw his racket....so called coolest player.....
HE IS NT A FIGHTER BT A GOD GIFTED PLAYER........players like boris baker and aggasi were fighters.....
even nadal is a fighter......he reachd semiz on grass court ...widout a service to earn aces.....
And yes nadal will win next year also.....i dnt follow women tennis........
Nd to clarify dat Raffa won bcz Roggie commited mistakes bt my frnd Roggie commited mistakes bcz he was playing against Raffa...........frustration could be clearly seen on roggiez face when nadal reachd for almost unreachable balls......
Yes,I definately feel Roger will win French open next year.......
He is the greatest player of all time(GOAT)..
As ajaypal meintioned that he is not a fighter but a gifted player,i completely agree with him....Roger plays very strategically but somehow on Roland Garros, he committed stupid mistakes which his true fans can never think of..
@ ajaypal
i agree with you buddy... even i think that rafael wld go on winning Frenchie for next 5-6 years... but one can underestimate Roger at his own peril... so if Nadal thinks that it wld b a cakewalk for him next time also, then i think he is highly mistaken... bcoz the GOAT will fight back!!!
@ harsimran
well on the contrary i think that Rafael will go on with his 'Frenchie love' for yrs to come... but no doubt Roger is the GOAT indeed & he wld keep fighting!
This is one reason i dont like French Open. Its a totally different matter that i have stopped pursuing tennis (almost that is) ever since i came to college. But the winners of clay court generally have feets of clay. There are always great exceptions. But in recent past the winners have mostly turned out to be sissies when it comes to playing on grass or hard court! Just lookat Sergi Bruguera or Gustavo Cuerton or Carlos Moya - these are kings of clay who did nothing much on other surfaces. Nadal doesnt seem to be doing much either .. but thats more because he is playing in the same as someone who goes by the name Roger federer ! Roger that !
@ arunabh
well i am surprised that u hate french open, bcoz it happens to be my favourite grand slam of the year. And i dont quite agree that claycourters tend to perform badly elsewhere. Infact, most of them like Moya & Nadal even r very good at hard-court too & average on grass. e.g. Nadal has won quite a few hardcourt events & even reached Wimbledon final. & though i agree that Roger is definitely in a different league altogether, but others r not doing very poorly either. Its just that 'he' is the GOAT!!!