Federer feller?

This is the era where a loss to Roger Federer is a positive point on any tennis pro's resume. Everyone watching the game see him with awe and are still figuring out the opponent who could beat him. Rohit Brijnath has tried his best to build a superman to beat Federer. He has also got opinions from Ramesh Krishnan and Nirmal Shekar for the construction work. He has discussed various aspects like forehand, backhand, first serve, second serve, return of serve, volley, speed and mental toughness. I enjoyed reading the entire piece, more about the second serve. Rohit keeps it the shortest, but the sweetest - it made me proud to be a Sampras fan long before I became a fan of Federer, obviously. With Federer murdering just about anyone on the tennis court, this may be a hard statement to say, but this is my piece of the internet and I can scribble anything - I am afraid that so much hype might bring an end to Federer's dominance sooner than later.

Sporting Brilliance - Adore or Scorn?

Rohit Brijnath's lesson on today's The Hindu was a very nice read. In a nutshell he says - Sometimes it's good to halt for a moment, inhale athletes' brilliance, and marvel at what they do.

But, as always there are two sides to any coin. Some would agree to his words and believe that the internationals are a class apart and we should admire them even when they fall at some hurdles. On the other hand, one can also argue that we, as fans, have the right to complain as they are international stars only because they are equipped to avoid those hurdles. Also, they let down the faith of millions of people when they fall. Still, there are some people whom we love despite their failures - Sampras, Schumacher, Tendulkar,...

Whatever stand one takes, I just loved reading these lines - may be because I am a Dravid fan, as you may already know.


Cross-posted at Cricket24x7.