Monday, June 8, 2009

FEDERER-R-R-ROARS INTO HISTORY

I AM ECSTATIC. Because ROGER FEDERER has won this year's FRENCH OPEN.

  • Equalling Sampras (another fave)' s record of 14 Grand Slams.
  • Becoming a champ on all four surfaces, a long ten years after Agassi.
  • Settling the debate on who is the greatest player of all time (in my mind, though, there was no debate, it was only a matter of numbers).

I know, there are the nitpicking-Nadal-naysayers who will smirk about his huge deficit against his Spanish-nemesis. It WAS a stroke of luck that Nadal got eliminated early on in this year's French Open. But then, champions are made of talent, hard work, determination, and a generous dose of luck-by-chance. And who cares, actually? The records books will write down his name as the winner, and that is enough for me.

Actually, I am not just a Federer-fan, but a Federer-fanatic. You may wonder at a sedate 36-year-old college-teacher behaving in such an uncharacteristically juvenile manner, but even I was surprised, a few years back, when I started following Federer's matches regularly, by my passionate involvement with his game and with his destiny as a tennis player. I had thought that kind of nail-chewing intensity of tension (while he played), that kind of euphoria of elation (when he won) and, yes, that kind of broken-hearted agony of depression (whenever he lost) was a thing of my volatile teenage past.

But then that is what Federer is all about. He has made me revisit my adolescence. He has made me feel again the pure see-saw of emotions that the best of sports can kindle in the spectator. During the French Open final, there was a fan in the stands carrying a banner which said ROGER and MAGIC, with the words written like a + sign, intersecting at the G.

That's Federer for me.

14 comments:

Nancy said...

I used to love Bjorn Borg. But it turned out to be just a phase.

Sucharita Sarkar said...

@ Nancy,

Borg was a bit before I started watching tennis. My first tennis idol, was believe it or not, Ivan Lendl, who was a tragic hero at Wimbledon in my eyes.

Sumandebray said...

You sound ecstatic!! It was a long overdue but FedEx finally delivered.
Not to forget the boy from Kolkata. “Leander Paes and Czech Lukas Dlouhy rallied from a set down to clinch the French Open title which was the Indian's ninth career Grand Slam.

Nona said...

Congratulations. It is not everyday that we can relive teenage days. Enjoy it to the maximum. :)

Anonymous said...

:D
I dont follow tennis that closely..used to long back in school :))
but yeah have gotten caught up in the Fed mania :))
Congratulations Federer fanatic!:D:D

sujata sengupta said...

Hey Sucharita good for you, I like Federer too, but not the way I loved Lendl or even Mcenroe, remember Matt Willander...uffff too good, havent watched tennis like I did after Aggassi.

lopa said...

I revisited my Boris Becker phase reading your blog.I really haven't gone thru that enthusiasm ever again.Enjoy!!

Lazyani said...

Yeaaaah. My fav too. The FEDEX is moving again.

Alexi Frest said...

Being a fanatic is absolutely all right! We all needs idols!

Ivan Lendl, whoa! He was rather well-known over here when I was a little girl!

Vivek S Patwardhan said...

Very excited you sound about the victory of Federer.

I understand you because I used to feel the same way about Steffi!

Vivek

Sucharita Sarkar said...

@Suman,
Paes is the pride of all of us Indians.

@Nona and Indyeah,
I do feel like an overjoyed teen.

@Sujata and Lopa,
Those long-ago crushes were such happy times.

@Lazyani,
I knew you were a Fed-ex supporter.

@Mina,
Lendl ruled my passions for a long long time.

@Vivek,
Women's tennis has never been the same since Steffi.

Mystic Margarita said...

Yay! Though it would have been sweeter had he defeated Nadal to do so, but I'm not complaining :)

nsiyer said...

I am crazy abot Federer. He is simply the greatest to me. You were talking about nail chewing. My heart was pounding for him and tears swelled when he won the French Open.
A genious and a gentleman.

Sucharita Sarkar said...

@NSIyer,

Tears of joy!!!