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Football Soccer Formula 1 Rugby Racing Golf Blogs TennisPublished: May 14, 2012
Sometimes, monumental losses prove not how far apart the talents of the winner and the runner-up were, but how agonizingly close. The 2008 Wimbledon final between Federer and Nadal proved just that. On any other day, losing a match by five points (204 of Federer’s to 209 of Nadal’s) would not have turned out to be so colossal. But it did. Such was the game and the rivalry. For most of...
Published: April 25, 2012
Some players like Djokovic and Nadal make news about pullouts as much as they do about their wins and losses. Djokovic has been off-colours lately. We have seen him struggling hard to catch a breath especially after long rallies in recent tournaments. And then came his loss to Nadal at Monte Carlo, putting to rest arguments about the likelihood of his continuing dominance. When the Spaniard withdrew...
Published: March 12, 2012
The celebrations of the truly epic final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal at the 2012 Australian Open had just begun. Firecrackers were lighting up the sky. Champagne corks were popping. Djokovic was being elevated to the highest ranks. Tombstones were being erected for Maestro Roger Federer. Federer became, yet again, a catchall for myriad epitaphs—some sorrowful, some dispassionate and...
Published: November 26, 2011
In my previous article, I wrote that Roger Federer had tweaked three things post-US open: Improved first-serve returns, clear posturing to attack the second serve and, most importantly, a more powerful backhand. In the first semifinal against David Ferrer in Barclays ATP World Tour Finals semis, a real and stern test of the improved Federer SHB was the most discernible aspect of his game. It is fairly...
Published: October 16, 2011
When No. 3 Roger Federer lost to J. W. Tsonga in the Wimbledon quarters this year, a friend of mine texted me, saying, “The soul is out of Wimbledon.” Once the reigning supremo Novak Djokovic of Serbia kissed the US Open trophy, I rephrased her message and said: “The soul is out of Slams.” And not just 2011—even 2010 was not Roger’s year, by his own standards. It...