Wimbledon's gonna be fun...

We have 3 people who have a very good chance of winning at Wimbledon. We got Novak Djokovic, a great all-court player, the Aussie open champion and arguably the next world no. 1. We got Rafael Nadal, who is on cruise control right now, blowing past Federer in the French Open and then running though the draw on the grass courts at Queens. And then we got Roger Federer, the 5 time defending champion, one of the best tennis players of all time.

Going by current form, I would not bet against Nadal actually winning Wimbledon. He is playing the best tennis of life, even on grass, where he beat Roddick and Djokovic back-to-back at Queens. Federer, on the other hand had a horrible start to the year, but is playing much better now having made it to the French Open finals and winning the Gerry Weber Open on grass. Is this going to be the year Federer is finally toppled at Wimbledon? Or is Federer going to turn around the year, with his 6th consecutive victory at his favorite venue?

Watching Federer live

Thanks to the 2 people who actually read my blog, for egging me on to write this post. It has been long overdue.

The big story is of course that I went to see the US Open mens semis and got to see Roger Federer live. The GOD himself. Now I can strike that one safely off my list of "Things to do before I die". It was a simple 3 set affair in which Roger easily beat Nikolay Davydenko. At the end of it, I was actually rooting for Davydenko to take a set, just so that I can see more of Roger. Not to be. Anyways watching Federer live is a treat, as he stands out from the rest of the field with his graceful and elegant strokeplay, if not anything else. Something not to be missed even if you are even a casual tennis fan.

Here are some pics:
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The other semifinals Djokovic vs. Ferrer was decent too, with Djokovic showing some big time potential. While he does not have the finesse of Federer, he looks to be the next great all-court player, more so than Nadal who is by and large ineffective on hard courts, where his top spin isn't as lethal. Lets see if Djokovic can back his potential with some Grand Slam wins.

Back to Federer, we should consider ourselves lucky to be around watching him play. In the 90s it was Sachin Tendulkar with his batting masterclass and this decade it is Federer with his flawless tennis. Here's hoping that such geniuses continue to be born, regaling us with their wizardry....

Federer v Nadal, for the final time this year

The setting was the semifinals at the season ending Master's Cup at Shanghai, the biggest tournament of the year outside of the 4 Grand Slams. It pits the top 8 players of the year against each other in a round-robin followed by the semis and finals.

Federer won 6-4, 7-5 in a match that was way more competitive than the scoreline suggests. It featured some ridiculous hitting from both the players, and some of the rallies were just out of this world. Especially the last 3-4 points of the last game with Nadal serving at 5-6 were just incredible, given the kind of pressure these guys were under.

I have said this before and will say it again: We are looking at the best tennis EVER played. Better than Sampras, Agassi, Rafter, Becker, Edberg, McEnroe, Lendl, Borg or Connors.

With this victory, Federer has won the last 2 matches against Nadal, after losing 5 consecutively before that. I can't wait for next season and Federer's quest for the French Open and a place in history as the greatest tennis player ever.

Here are the highlights.



P.S: Federer went on to blow away Blake 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 in the finals. As if anyone really had any doubts.