Ageless Federer, 20 and counting!

Ageless Federer, 20 and counting! Pic Credits: Google Images

Roger Federer does it again and again and again, but how? How does he do it, how is he going on in a sport where players used to fall of the wayside after 30 and where his contemporary legends are slowing down.

Here are some of the why's:

Talent: Roger Federer is an extremely talented tennis player. He is gifted in the league of Michael Jordan, Lionel Messi, Usain Bolt, Babe Ruth, Michael Phelps and Mohammed Ali. When backed with hard work as in all the above cases, they tend to be the best of the best. Federer has an impeccable handiwork and movement but once he sorted his head and temperament there was no doubt he will be a great if not the greatest. That is still relevant at 36.

Style: He's an Artist on court. Apart from being easy on the eye he is easy on his body as well. The ease of play, aggression, shot selection and finishing the points at the net gives him longevity. Case in point is the run up to AO'18. Although he played his Semi-Final on Friday as opposed to Cilic who played on Thursday - Federer had spent 6 hrs less than Cilic in his first 6 rounds. That's a significant number for a player of this mileage. Federer is, in general known for getting the work done quickly.

Conserving the energy: This is something I noticed in this year's Australian Open only but I am sure has played a role last year too. When Federer was up in the set or had a break, he will conserve energy. Rather than putting extra effort in breaking the opponent's serve again - he'll focus on winning his. This lead to the 6-3, 6-4 score lines in many sets but no real threat was posed to his serve either.

The break in 2016: While a break gets most players out of rhythm and matchplay, thus affecting their levels of play, it did quite the opposite for Federer. Being away from competition, it gave Federer a much needed break and family time from the grind on the tour. It also helped him focus on the technical aspects of training and fitness. A 2017 Federer was leaner and meaner than the previous 2 years and he had a new and improved backhand. THE backhand. With Ivan Ljubicic in his corner, it only seemed logical for him to take his backhand to another level. It helped him take down Nadal, something that was elusive earlier.

Relaxed Approach: He has won everything in the sport. He has even bridged some of his lopsided H2H against his closest GOAT contender. He knows all this is not going to last forever and he wants to enjoy the last few years. This reflects a lot when he is fighting the crunch moments. At 36.5, whatever he wins is more cherry than the cake.

Support System: While all top players travel with a horde of coaches, fitness trainers, family and friends - Federer is the one who sets the bar for all of them. Severin Luthi has been in Federer's corner for over a decade now. His parents almost invariably are there. So is his relationships with all his coaches be it Tony Roche, Peter Carter, Annacone, Edberg and now Ljubicic. After the death of Peter Carter, Roger has his parents for his matches for years now - bearing all the costs. However a huge differentiator here is Mirka, having been a former player herself, she is like a rock for Federer. She choses to travel with 4 kids and keeps Roger going around the world. While players like Murray and Djokovic are married and are fathers, it is rather difficult to witness the same level of effectiveness (after all everyone's different). Nadal meanwhile, wants to focus only on tennis as he avoids the marriage and related distractions in his quest to catch Federer.

Scheduling: Roger Federer is a genius at scheduling. Of course, his team gets the credit too here but it is mainly the player who decides when and where he plays. This highlights what happened in AO'18 a lot. Djokovic and Wawrinka weren't fully fit and Nadal got injured at the Quarter Finals. Nadal promptly blamed the ATP for the schedule in the press conference after. I respect Nadal for what he brings to the court and how he competes but this is pure whining. Nadal with his constant badgering of tour length and demand for more clay courts seems to be a sore loser more than anything else (all great champions are because they don't like losing). Nadal is now exempted from manadatory tournaments (by the virtue of 30+, 600 matches and 12 years on tour rule) and yet he chose to make a mess of his schedule playing Beijing, Shanghai, and WTF after USO'17. He chose it because he wanted to grab the year end No.1 ranking from Fed, which he did. That caused him sorely in this AO'17. Federer meanwhile let go of chasing the year end no.1 by skipping the clay season and not entering any ATP 500 tournaments for the same. It requires a certain strength and wiseness to think long term while letting go of some immediate success.

Loves the tour outside Tennis: Most players love Tennis and competition (even Nick Kyrgios,  whatever he says) but Federer loves the attention on the streets, press conferences, endorsement commitments, training and all the comes with it. You can't love enough if you only love the good.

So far, it's working for him well and he should be enthralling fans all over the world for another couple of years at least. May the force be with him! 

Roger Federer reigns supreme!!!

At 36 years and 173 days, Roger Federer is still lapping up Grand Slam titles. For his age, he is not expected to but for his resurrection post 2017 he cannot NOT be a favourite going into a slam. Federer is defying the logics and make the predictors eat their own words. 

Federer tweeted this pic after his AO'18 triumph. Pic Credits: Google Images

AO 2018 was expected to bring some change over the Federer Nadal dominance of 2017. Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka were all scheduled to return after an hiatus of almost 6 months; and were expected to apply some brakes to these oldies (if you say). The expectations of a fairytale return didn't pan out for any of them.

Andy Murray withdrew from the tournament, thankfully this time before the draw was announced and avoiding the mess he made at USO'17. Sadly, his hip injury did not heal from rehabilitation and he had to undergo surgery. He will return sometime this year hopefully; but the more pertinent question is will he be able to sustain his level of play post surgery. The scenario is not very hopeful.

Novak Djokovic's condition is only a little better than Murray since he has avoided surgery so far. The question is - how long? He lost to the up and coming Hyeon Chung in the Round of 16 where his elbow pain resurfaced. He is trying a new serve but does not seem in a healthy place.

Stan Wawrinka returned from knee surgery only to lose second round in straight sets to Tennys Sandgren (mostly a challenger level player who went till QF's here).

And when all expected a Fedal final once again, the Spanish bull was was dumped out by Marin Cilic with some ferocious hitting and some injury (yes, again). Nadal then decided to call out ATP for their scheduling citing injury to so many top players.

Where does it leave the ATP tour? Of course, in the safe and experience hands of Roger Federer. Federer outdoes his younger opponents - he sustained the pressure Cilic generated with his heavy hitting in the finals and took home the trophy for a record 20th time. He is now in the coveted company of Margret Court, Steffi Graf and Serena Williams for having 20 or more Grand Slam titles. He has been lucky for sure but pouncing on a presented opportunity is also a hallmark of a great champion. As for now, and for a long while now, Roger Federer is the Greatest of All Time!

Andre Agassi to coach Novak Djokovic - FO 2017

The rumour mills were not for nothing. Djokovic players box at the French Open 2017 will have the legendary Andre Agassi as his coach, at least for a certain duration.

As of now, there is no long term announcement as both would want to test the waters around their compatibility, interests and results at the French major. It's been one year since Djokovic has won anything significant and meanwhile has done away with his entire coaching staff. There have been criticism around Djokovic's attitude and hunger with Pepe Imaz around him instead of Boris Becker. This decision however, reasserts that he has the will to get back again to the top of the game. Watching his senior colleagues Roger & Rafa scooping the trophies in 2017 might have hurt as well. Yet, this is just a very first step in a long road, with lots of if's.

P.S. - Djoker Nole just lost to Next Gen poster boy Alexander Zverev in straight sets at Rome 2017.

Qualifier Brown blasts off Nadal

Wimbledon grass is increasingly looking more and more alien to the two time champion Rafael Nadal. For the fourth time in a row this year Nadal has been sent packing off the Centre Court by a player ranked outside the top 100. Add Dustin Brown to the list of Lukas Rosol, Steve Darcis and Nick Kyrgios who all carry the rare honor of beating Nadal on the lush greens when nobody gave them an off chance. 

Dustin Brown doesn't necessarily rings a bell in the tennis circuits. He is at best a journeyman player on the tour, currently ranked 102 but have never gone over rank 78 and at age 30 is by no means an up and coming player either. Standing at 6 foot 4 with maybe the best hair on the ATP tour hanging freely up to his back, several piercings, tattoos and loose shorts Brown gave an air of nonchalance and reckless abandon. So does his game.

Brown started with booming serves, crisp volleys and well disguised (sometimes not so disguised too) drop shots drawing admiration from the crowd but quickly fell behind 1-3 in the first set. He looked like a player who could entertain but cannot sustain the intensity and ferocity that Nadal brings to the court. To add to that this was Brown's fifth match on grass along with the qualifiers that he has come through; was part of a doubles match yesterday only that went 10-8 in the fifth and was playing at the Centre Court for the first time; although he was 1 out of 1 against Rafa having beaten him at Halle last year 6-4, 6-1. This was best of five however.

Dustin Brown played his game from the word go; the extinct tennis of serve & volley, drop shots, a mix of power & soft hands - basically the tennis that fits the grass (or rather did when Sampras made his name). Going after Nadal's first serve Brown managed to win about 69% of the first serve points (surprising stat) on Nadal's serve in the first set, in the process making some astonishing shots. The strategy worked in the first set, did not so much in the second and the match was leveled. And then in the next two sets Nadal could not break him even once.

One of the features of his game was he put Nadal in uncharted territories throughout the course of the match; Nadal was made to run for drop shots, lobs, volleys while he would have liked to stay 6 feet behind the baseline to dictate the game, Despite the swinging passing shots that Rafa made and threatened to make Brown never made any change to his game plan. He continued to send down bullets, chip and charge onto them and had the quickness to respond at the net. The average second serve speed of Dustin Brown was about 20 mph higher than Nadal in this match.

At 5-3 in the fourth set he had his first match point (on Nadal's serve) which he lost to a floating ball that he left at the net which went on and dropped just inside the baseline. He had it on his racket and it could have been game changing. In the next game however he stepped up and held his serve to send Nadal home registering the greatest upset of the tournament and his greatest win ever. Call it inspiration, being good on a day, Nadal not being at his best or whatsoever but Dustin Brown looked every bit the player who could threaten anybody on grass with the way he played.

For Rafael Nadal, the grass has been the graveyard for the past four years but that shouldn't be a shocker. Grass being the way it plays is the surface that gives plenty of upset opportunities to players who play big. There could be a few more in the days to come.

Note: And so with all the speculations about the draw, this quarter becomes wide open with Nadal's loss and Ferrer's withdrawal for Andy Murray to grab without beating either of them. 

Wimbledon 2015: Dissecting the Men’s Draw

The field of battle on grass is drawn - the possible layout of potential seven matches before one hopes to lay hands on the elusive Wimbledon trophy. Here is the breakup of two halves of the draw with the top 32 seeds divided as per the draw.

Top Half		Bottom Half
1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter
(1) Novak Djokovic	(4) Stan Wawrinka	(3) Andy Murray	(2) Roger Federer
(5) Kei Nishikori	(7) Milos Raonic	(8) David Ferrer	(6) Tomas Berdych
(9) Marin Cilic	(11) Grigor Dimitrov	(10) Rafael Nadal	(12) Giles Simon
(14) Kevin Anderson	(16) David Goffin	(13) JW Tsonga	(15) Feliciano Lopez
(17) John Isner	(19) Tommy Robredo	(22) Viktor Troicki	(18) Gael Monfils
(24) Leonardo Mayer	(21) Richard Gasquet	(23) Ivo Karlovic	(20) R Bautista Agut
(27) Bernard Tomic	(26) Nick Kyrgios	(25) Andreas Seppi	(29) G Garcia Lopez
(28) Pablo Cuevas	(32) Dominic Thiem	(30) Fabio Fognini	(31) Jack Sock

Potential Match-ups for the top four seeds (and Nadal):

(1) Novak Djokovic: Philip Kohlschreiber à Lleyton Hewitt à Bernard Tomic à Kevin Anderson à Kei Nishikori/Marin Cilic à Stan Wawrinka à Roger Federer/ Andy Murray

(2) Roger Federer: Damir Dzumhur à Sam Querrey à Jack Sock à Feliciano Lopez à Tomas Berdych à Andy Murray/Rafael Nadal à Novak Djokovic

(3) Andy Murray: Mikhail Kukushkin à Robin Hasse/A Falla à Andreas Seppi/Borna Coric à JW Tsonga à Rafael Nadal à Roger Federer à Novak Djokovic

(4) Stan Wawrinka: Joao Sousa à Benjamin Becker à Fernando Verdasco/Dominic Thiem à David Goffin à Dimitrov/Raonic/Kyrgios à Novak Djokovic à Federer/Murray

(10) Rafael Nadal: Thomaz Bellucci à Dustin Brown à Stepanek/Troicki à David Ferrer à Andy Murray à Roger Federer à Novak Djokovic

On paper the draw seems nightmarish for Murray and Nadal. While Nadal is seeded 10^th and cannot expect anything else, Murray seems to have hurdles a bit too many for the title run. Djokovic, though avoids the other members of big four, has plenty on his plate with dangerous floaters and his newfound rival Stan Wawrinka. The two Swiss have somewhat favourable draws but the paper drawings result in nothing substantial. The last two matches (semis & final) are bound to be against the two top in-form guys and all the favourability or toughness of the draw goes straight out of the window.

And then, in the past few years itself, how many times have we seen the draws opening up with upsets by motivated floaters?

Anyone from the five above can win it or maybe even someone outside of them but that’s rather unlikely, not even remotely possible, actually impossible as it seems. One of these guys will claim it but not without some serious resistance. What we can be assured of are plenty of high intensity matches, match-ups both old and new, surging adrenaline, quality and passion.

Time to watch the white powder fly up from the painted lines on the green surface with the swirl of the racket and twirl of the tennis ball!

French Open '15 shockers - The Big Spaniard loses, lesser known Swiss wins, the Serb still waits!

That’s what the sport is for. That is, to defy the odds, people, pundits,predictions and patterns. The question about this French open was pitted as Rafa again or Novak finally? And when both of them settled in one half to meet at the quarters that match became the heaviest of all. Winning it would be the title, well almost. That almost remained almost. The ‘heavy’ match between Novak and Rafa was not so loaded except the first set. Nadal fell for just the second time at Roland Garros but pretty meekly.

What was heavy about this year’s French open was what it should be. The finale! As Novak stepped up to claim his first RG crown after demolishing the long reigning ‘king’ and handed the newly wed Andy Murray his first defeat since marriage, nobody dared to put their money anywhere else. Yet, that’s why there are two sides of the draw and they play rather than just let the supposedly best man take it all. It is all in that day, in that moment that winning and losing is decided. The other man who walked out of the tunnel was Stan-the occasional man these days – seemingly well aware of the occasion. He played loaded, heavy, spoiler, unaware of the history on the other side and blasted the world no 1 off the court.

Sounds easy, execution way too tough. There were moments when the expert script seems to take over when Novak broke on right occasions and threatened to run away with the goods as he usually does. Stan hung on. He brought his A-game in the most clutch moments. The booming serve, booming forehand and the yes, booming backhand down the line (Isn’t everything about Wawrinka booming when he is in the zone). And yes that backhand is a thing of rare beauty too. He did not fade, kept on the belief and saw it through. It’s by no means an easy thing to do in your first Paris final and only second ever against a most seasoned campaigner who also happens to be the top dog. But then I guess Stan focussed on the positives – nobody expected him to win, the pressure was more on the other side, and he had stretched and beaten Novak before in the past and in run to his maiden GS title.

Stan – even the occasional man has finally gotten out of the massive shadow of Roger Federer. He isn’t young to register himself as one of the greats but he can continue to be one of the great spoilsport for some of the greats. He snatched Novak’s AO streak last year before surprisingly plummeting Nadal (injured or not) of one GS pedestal. AO was so sure Nadal will win and equal Pete Sampras as they flew him in all the way to present the trophy. Not to be! This FO Stan the man emerged again to hand his big friend Rog (who had a decent chance having avoided Nadal) a ticket back home before clutching that elusive clay win over Djokovic even after losing the first set.

Having witnessed all that, we got to have great respect for the following:

1.     Nadal winning it 9 times when even 1 is so elusive

2.     Novak finally beating Rafa and for keep coming in for the title – he might just get it

3.     Stan for grabbing it – the one handed BH beauty lives

4.     Roger Federer 2009 win – imagine the pressure after Nadal’s loss

Bye Clay! Bring on Grass (The Wimbledon draw is out tomorrow)!

P.S. - Moral of the story is – Don’t beat Nadal at French Open – It is jinxed at the final hurdle.

Takeaways from the Australian Open 2015

The first grand slam of the year is over. There are three more to go and an even otherwise long and competitive season looms. Lets look at the takeaways from the recently concluded Australian Open and the possibilities for the rest of the year.

1. Serena Williams will continue to make/break records

Champion for a sixth time in Australia, she has stamped her authority once again. Serena grabbed her 19th Grand Slam and now stand 3 short of Steffi Graf and 5 less than Margaret Court's all time record of 24. Serena is hungry, the records in sight are a great motivation and there is no evident challenger.

2. Novak Djokovic is one of the best in Australia

The Djoker is a great player but is not yet in the conversation of all time greats. His peers Federer and Nadal reserve that distinction for now. However, when it comes to the Australian Open he is one of the greatest. With the fifth title this year, he is only one short of Roy Emerson's six wins. While Federer has four, Rafa has only one Australian Open title. It's clear who is the boss in Australia.

3. Maria Sharapova is good but second best

It's not just the WTA ranking or the AO'15 result that puts Maria at No.2. She is good and can beat anyone on the tour; anyone but Serena Williams. As long as Serena is in the draw or on the tour, Sharapova will only be a second choice. It's been almost 11 years since she last beat Serena and twitter is full with 'how famous celebs look when Sharapova last beat Williams'. Grigor Dimitrov included.

4. The Big Four still rule

Ok, Federer went out in round 4 to a player he never lost and Nadal went out in Quarters to a player he has never lost in last 17 meetings. Still the 'Big Four' are still a class above the rest. Murray returned after a dismal 2014 and Djokovic continued to pile up big titles. On their way to the final they dismantled the young guns Raonic, Dimitrov, Kyrgios in routine matches. About Federer and Nadal, rule them out at your own risk. Come grass and clay we know they will be back.

5. Mr. Honest Tim Smyczek

The world is rotting with liars and cheats and sport is as competitive as ever. Yet Tim Smyczek stood courageous. Against Rafael Nadal in the fifth set at the Rod Laver arena, with the greatest win of his life a possibility, he did the right thing. A spectator shouted while Rafa was serving disturbing his rhythm and the ball went in the net. As the umpire begged for silence again and Nadal prepared to deliver his second serve, Tim asked the umpire to let him serve the 1st again. That potentially ruined his chances as Rafa being Rafa won the point and brought up match points. Tim lost the match but he won the hearts and the right to a proud and peaceful sleep.

6. Djokovic gunning once again for Paris

Djokovic has the right game, slide and potential hold the French Open. But, Spanish Bull is too adamant to move out of his territory. Djokovic is a potential threat at Roland Garros at least since 2011 when Federer stopped him in the Semis and gifted the trophy to Nadal in the Final. The next three years, Djokovic lost to Nadal in hard fought battles and even losing the advantages. Can he cross the hump this time having already regaining his mental edge in big matches? Wimbledon '14 and AO '15 suggest so but the Bull will be ready.

7. Federer will pin his hopes at SW 19

With a shock upset the mighty Rog got his streak of 11 consecutive Semis broken at the Australian Open. Nobody will write him off not after his showing in 2014 and not because its too risky. These champions prove the critics wrong time and again and make them look like fools. But at 34 in August, Federer's best hope of winning a major is still Wimbledon. He may go deep in Paris but winning is nearly impossible. The US open hasn't brought him any luck since 2008. Grass on the other hand, is his territory. Roger Federer at the centre court of Wimbledon will always be a threat. However, the clock's ticking.

8. Nadal need the French Open

Even though Nadal has 9 French Opens, higher than anybody else at any slam, he needs it this year even more. Great players have great goals. Nadal's will be to try and cross Federer in the number of Grand Slams. Though he is just three short and is only 28, it is clay where he thrives. Winning the French sets the tone for the rest of his year. And to fend off Novak's challenge once again can provide him a plenty of edge for their other encounters and a 15th title. If he did not get the French, Federer's 17 won't be easy. History at stake.

9. Andy Murray need the killer instinct

Muzz is a top talent, two time grand slam champion and a trendsetter on tour. What he lacks is the major trophies that keep on going in the cabinets of Rafa, Djoker and here and there. He is now better than last year and the back injury is now in hindsight. With both Novak and Rafa his peers in terms of age, he needs to find another gear to snatch some more of those majors. This year will define Murray's legacy.

10. If Novak wins the French this year....

A great 'if' but a lucrative 'if'. With AO in bag, if Novak wins the French people will talk about the the most illustrious achievement in the sport of Tennis. The Calendar Slam - which means winning all four grand slams in a season. Rod Laver did it twice but nobody in the open era has ever. Roger came close for many years and failed. Rafa showed that form for a year or two but fell short. Djoker has the game but a Calendar Slam need some luck as well. Let's take them one at a time for now.

Australian Open 2015: Federer bundled by Seppi

When Andreas Seppi of Italy stepped out on the Rod Laver arena today he must have presumably done some packing and have gotten the flight tickets for back home. Justly so. The odds were overwhelming. He was to face Roger Federer in the third round at the Australian open. Yeah, the usual adjectives (justifyingly though) - greatest, 17 time champion, crowd favourite, 4 time winner at AO, and blah blah. Add to that fact that Seppi has managed just one set in their previous ten meetings and Federer hasn't bowed out of Australia before semis for last 11 years. Geez!! Even Seppi himself wouldn't have put his own money on himself, only to now wonder what if he had.

Andreas Seppi went for it. You lose so much to one man you really lose something in your mind as well. It's either the belief to ever win or the fear to lose. Seppi went hard for his shots. He was solid on serve. When he took the first set, not many wondered any result different from the odds. Federer will pick up, Seppi will drop is the usual chatter. Federer never picked, Seppi never dropped. When Federer picked, Seppi maintained the pressure. At 5-3 in the second set tiebreak, the Italian unleashed himself to turn it around. At 2 sets to love, Federer was pinned down. Yet he had survived this 9 times before in his illustrious career. Federer did win the third, but the legs seem to hold him back in the fourth. At 33 years of age it isn't the same.

Shanking forehands and backhands has a great deal to do with positioning and Federer was just a bit short in that area. Federer clearly had a bad day in office. His serve which had bailed him on several occasions had 9 double faults today. When he had the opportunities he failed to produced the goods and take advantage. Equal credit to Andreas Seppi though for keep throwing punches at the Swiss giant. The last three points of the match in the fourth set tie break were a thing of enormous belief that Seppi was playing with. Federer had the fourth set on his racket to force a decider when Seppi took three to wrap it up. 

The scoreline read 6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 for the winner. Federer must be wondering he only needed those two breakers and he would be doing the winners press conference. So many times he has turned around matches like these. Seppi can feel the same. Yet, today is different. The winner tonight is from the other side of the Alps and deservedly so. When Federer patted Seppi on the back at the net, he knew the guy had to topple the baggage of last 10 losses to make it happen. Who knows about mental fortitude better than a 17 time champion.

For winning is a matter of trying, no matter the losses incurred. For putting oneself in a position to try an 11th time is a matter of courage and then who knows, you may defy the odds. For odds are nothing but a piece of history and on a today of fresh fight they can be yours to defy.

Why Nick Kyrgios needs a special mention?

Nick Kyrgios. Tennis player. Doesn't ring a bell? 

Well he's just 19 yr old teenager from Canberra, Australia who has got a wildcard from the All England Club to play at Wimbledon 2014. And in what way he has put that wildcard to use?

As of now, he is involved in a gruelling fight with one of the all time greats Mr. Nadal on a jam packed Centre Court of Wimbledon. He'll most likely lose this fight since Rafa Nadal has made a name in tennis burying challengers. Yet, Nick Kyrgios has already won hearts of fans and pundits alike.

He won the first set over Nadal and lost the second. It'll most likely be over in four sets with his loss. Still looks like the Australian teenager is here to stay. Let's just look at a few things why he can be the future of Men's tennis.

• He's got this bullet of a serve using which he has piled over 20 aces on Rafa in the first two sets. Fast, accurate and consistent. The second serve also matches up to the reputation. Big Serve! Yes, we have heard that before - Isner, Raonic, Karlovic. So what?
• The forehand has a lot of fire power when hit with abandon, as he usually does.
• The backhand is more consistent and solid shot for Kyrgios and he can do some damage from that front as well.
• The court movement is remarkable, even more considering he is 6 ft 4 inches.
• However, the greatest asset is his attitude. That's what makes a Champion a mere talented player and vice versa. He seem to thrive under pressure, in front of a large audience to showcase some of his talents. For instance, he doesn't seem to belt under the overwhelming presence of Nadal on the other side at the Wimbledon Centre Court; his first. He shows his frustration, but moves on before the next point. And above all, he believes he can go toe to toe with the top guys.

Despite all that - as John McEnroe mentioned, "he's a work in progress". He may not start winning them all at once. He is still lean, he'll gain muscle. It's hard to believe how his serve can still improve! His forehand will get a lot more lethal and accurate; the backhand more venomous. And he might just learn to volley a little bit too. For now, lasting for 5 tough sets would be tough for him but he'll learn to do that with a few more years. Over and above the skill, he's also a delight to watch. Plays quick, energizes the crowd and has a tough mental forte at just 19. 

If he stays fit the tennis world is going to talk a lot about him, beginning with Rafael Nadal in today's post match conference. Nick Kyrgios is one for the future!

Edit: Nick isn't going down to Rafa in four at least. Will he in five?

Topsy Turvy at the Top of Men's Tennis

The state of utter confusion at the helm of Men's tennis. No Stan Wawrinka is not the World No.1 and David Ferrer is not beating the shit out of Rafael Nadal, yet there is a lot of cat and mouse chase and games happening at the top. With one Grand Slam down and US hard court swing dusted, lots have happened that will define the clay play. 

Let's first feel for the Brit who arrived as the Messiah for Grand Slam thirsty British Men's Tennis and ended the epic draught since almost the dinosaur era. Thanks to Ivan Lendl. Andy Murray got a back surgery at the end of last year and was just planning to make a solid run against the top opponents when Lendl decided to leave. Shocking and breaking. This was one of the most rewarding player-coach relation recently and it's sad to see this happen. Andy has now slipped to 8th in the rankings and the climb without Lendl will undoubtedly put a stress on his already hurting back. No titles so far this year for Muzz and with clay around not much hope for the recent future.

Yet Andy is fit and playing on the tour and that could be a bigger blessing than anything else if you look only as far a Juan Martin Del Potro. 2009 US Open Champion - blasting away Nadal and Federer in consecutive matches - the next big thing - lost 2010 to a wrist injury and is out again for the same surgery in his other hand. Poor thing. Just to say that he being in the mix makes things much more exciting than otherwise. Wishing him luck, hope he returns sooner than later.

The breakthrough of Stan Wawrinka in the ranks of Grand Slam title holders was credited to the back spasm of Rafael 'chasing his 14th crown' Nadal. Those who have seen the first set and a half of that Final will give him a bit more credit. Unsurprisingly, great endeavours can easily lead to lethargy and slump. At the US Hard Courts Stan wasn't the same man as he was down under. He is the No.1 Swiss player now which is a lot to say while a certain 'RF' is still hanging around. Stan has to be hungry again and up his mojo if he wants to even stay where he is.

With that, let's talk about a happy go lucky man who also happens to be 'a legend already from some time'. Yes the ageing, declining, losing his GOAT status to a Spanish bull - Federer. What makes him so 'happy go lucky' if he isn't what he once was. Fit again at almost 33, the back problems of last year gone, a new stick working better and a new coach, a childhood idol sitting in the box. To top that, two 4 year old twin daughters and a once again expecting wife can be also be seen when he plays. With virtually a lot less points to defend this year than usual, an upward climb is what many are expecting. From slipping to 8th and returning to top four post AO, not bad. Still Fed beating Nole to grab an ATP 500 was a tad bit soured for him by losing to Nole in ATP 1000 Final and surrendering a comfortable lead to Kei Nishikori in another. He is better than last year but not until Grass should we come to expect anything really remarkable, if at all. Except for Kryptonite Rafa, Fed can run deep into the clay season as well.

That brings us to our beloved top two seeds Rafa and Nole who are so like Tom and Jerry for some time now. Just as we see and assume one player dominating the other, we also see the other turning on the tables and bounce back from the dead. Rafa rampaged last year, torn down Nole's dream of winning at French clay, beat him hands down at his favoured US Open hard courts, snatched the No. 1 ranking from him and it seemed Rafa had solved Nole. The ugly memories of 7 consecutive losses to Novak and the potential threat to clay dominance seemed like another lifetime. Rafa has found the solution to Djokovic's most dangerous weapon against him - the backhand down the line - with his own forehand bullets down the line. And just when that seemed enough, Djokovic - having lost all (metaphorically) - shed all his inhibitions and came out on top of Nadal in Beijing, World Tour Finals and Miami. That and that too in straight sets. 

This time Djokovic is targeting Nadal's forehand rather than the presumably weaker backhand. From the famed backhand down the line, its his backhand cross court that is hurting Nadal the most. Why so? Because Nadal stands closer to his backhand side to cover his slightly weaker shot and count himself to run down the forehands. Nole has thus ripped his cross court backhand, depriving Rafa of a split second and deriving errors from Nadal's long swing forehand. 

With the trusted Marian Vajda in Djokovic's box he seems an assured player. The world is still wondering the reason of why they have to bear the sight of a grumpy, stuffed, more nervous than Nole himself - Boris 'the not so booming or beaming' Baker. How long we'll see! The Bull from Spain however still has the ever trusted, eternally aligned, the 'we' speaking Uncle Toni at his box but it's his game which hasn't been top notch. With even the organizers of Australian Open expecting him to grab his 14th GS and Pete Sampras flying all the way across the globe to do the honours, that loss (for whatever reason) must have hurt. While some would say he hasn't recovered physically from AO'14 but that seemingly is a lame argument. The next however is clay, and we all know who rules the roost there. The Greatest Clay Courter of All Time has some match-up issues to resolve but the red dirt is the perfect setting he can expect to turn the tables again.

*FACT: Match-ups mean a lot in Tennis. While Nadal easily scrapes aside Federer (on any surface these days), Nole gives him a terrible time. While a confident Novak can beat a confident Nadal more comfortably than a confident Federer - we know it's not just about who is a better player. While Nadal can exploit Federer's backhand as he wishes, no other player has been able to take much advantage of that. Djokovic's backhand doesn't hurt Federer as much as it hurts Nadal and Murray would be much happy to see Novak on the other side any day over Nadal.

Rafa vs Stan: The Final Fight at Australian Open '14

Pete Sampras was in the house at Rod Laver Arena watching the Federer-Nadal semifinal. He'll be staying for giving the Men's winners trophy this year. Anything significant? Pistol Pete post his retirement is not seen a lot in the box. He's enjoying his life away from Tennis. Still, he took an 18 hour flight on an invitation by Tennis Australia and we can only put two and two together to understand why he is here.

Last time he was seen watching was the final of Wimbledon 2009, where Federer was expected to make history by passing Pete. Today, Rafael Nadal is expected to match his record of staggering 14 Grand Slam titles. When Sampras retired in 2001, tennis experts believed that his record of 14 GS will hold for a long time to come. Unfortunately for him, just in about a dozen years, not one but two players have closed in/crossed his mark. In Wimby 2009 he watched an epic before giving the trophy, today he's least likely to witness anything of the sort.

No offense to Stanislas Wawrinka; he is a good man, a good player, the new Swiss No. 1, in great form currently but it is who he is facing makes this a one way affair. Welcome the Beast, Rafael Nadal, and this entire affair looks a mere formality before the trophy ceremony. 

Why Nadal will win? 

He is the biggest fighter the game has seen. Already cemented in the archives of Tennis, he has plenty left in his tank. He'll equal Pete Sampras' 14 titles if he wins today and will close the gap to only three from Federer. Enough motivation. About the game, he's playing as solid as ever and Wawrinka has zero experience at this level and is bound to be nervous. Rafa has lost only one set so far in the Quarters to Dimitrov before demolishing Federer. Nadal has never lost a Slam final to anybody named other than Djokovic or Federer. To top that, he holds a 12-0 lead in head to head vs Stan Wawrinka. And if all this is not enough, here comes another HUGE stat - Wawrinka has not only lost his all 12 meetings against Rafa, he has never ever been allowed to win even a set! 26-0 in Sets Played! 

Let's all feel a bit for Stan here. Of all people, he'll face this guy in his first ever Grand Slam Final.

What can Stan do?

Justify his new nick name. Moving from 'Stan the Man', he is now called 'the Stanimal' - from the wild, beasty strokes that have punched holes through all his previous opponents. He'll need it much more than ever today. Stan can play with a heart of a fighter and give his best shot here. He has nothing to lose, absolutely nothing cause he has never won anything from Nadal. With no reputation to defend at this level, no odds favouring him, nobody expected to hold him to guilt if he fails to challenge Nadal - he should play freely, go for his shots and take it from there. It may still not be enough though!

Result - Hopefully, Stan will win his first set against Rafa but the Spanish Bull will equal Pete Sampras today and will become the only player (third ever) after the Greats Rod Laver and Roy Emerson to win all four Grand Slams at least TWICE!

Roger Rafa No.33: Battle for the Greatest of All Time?

It's the magical Maestro vs the brutal Bull, the scintillating shot-maker vs the relentless retriever, the beautiful one handed backhand vs the effective two handed backhand, the most graceful glider vs the alpha athlete; it's the suave Roger Federer vs the rugged Rafael Nadal once again...!

Federer and Nadal 

As a teenager from Swiss mountains, Roger Federer was touted as the next big thing. In 2001 when he ousted the then Grand Slam leader Pete Sampras at his dominant Wimbledon grass, tennis pundits all around were speaking how good he is and how better he can be. Yet Federer made these people doubt themselves and took another two years to get his act together. Though once he arrived, he arrived like no other. He dominated the sport like no other. His style and elegance of movement was like no other. On grass and hard he was unbeatable, but on clay too he was no rookie like his famous predecessors. He was second best only to a bullish left hander from Spain. Federer is an artist at work and this artwork has taken him to a mightily dominant GS streak of 23 consecutive semi-finals and 36 consecutive quarter finals. At over 32 now, he is the Grand Slam leader with 17 titles, a 6 time year end championship winner and is widely considered the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) by many fans, pundits and players alike. Moreover, he isn't done.

While Federer was ascending, a child prodigy from the beaches of Majorca, Spain was also making waves. Rafael Nadal, coached by his uncle, a right hander playing with left, with an unorthodox whiplash of a forehand exposing bulging biceps and consequently raising eyebrows, was running around like a battery powered bunny beating players much more experienced than him. At 17, he beat Federer in their first meeting. At 19 Rafa was the French Open champion, in his first attempt and the first player ever to do so. In his heydays Rafa was considered by many as a clay court specialist and wasn't given much contention on hard courts and grass. Yet Nadal defies odds like no other. After years of being second best to Federer, he dethroned Federer from his beloved Wimbledon crown and the World No. 1 ranking. He went on to win all the Grand Slams initially thought to be beyond him. Still his brutal style of defensive retrieval is quite extreme and as a consequence his career has been marred with injuries. Yet at 27 yrs, he is a 13 time GS champion, almost God-like on Clay with 8 French Open Crowns (another first), already in the GOAT debate and has many years to add to it. 

The Rivalry

Roger and Rafa are five years apart in age. Technically in Tennis terms, that should not even be considered a rivalry. That's almost a next generation with a little bit of overlap between the two. Yet, Roger's late bloom and Rafa's early arrival has brought them together and gripped the tennis fans worldwide. Though there are other great match-ups in Djokovic-Nadal, Federer-Djokovic, Djokovic-Murray, Murray-Federer and Murray-Rafa but none like Roger and Rafa. Their contrasting demeanor's on court, contrasting styles of play and epic battles have captured imaginations beyond the usual. Statistically, it's lopsided. In past 32 meetings, Rafael Nadal came on top in 22. Nadal fans would say, "Rafa practically owns Federer." Federer hasn't defeated Nadal in Grand Slams since 2007 Wimbledon.

The Match-Up

This is a clear tactical advantage that Nadal holds. Match-ups have nothing to do with the debate of Who is a better player. Some match-ups suit one player more, some are headaches for several reasons. Nadal's play of bludgeoning heavy forehands to Federer's one handed backhand is one ploy that almost never fails to work on surface that have high bounce. It works on most of the courts around these days except for indoors and a handful of fast hard courts. To Roger's Superman, Rafa Nadal is a Kryptonite. Federer may fight no matter how strongly, he hasn't been able to solve this puzzle. Nadal is relentless in his ploy of forehand to backhand, Federer is a craftier who gets bored out of lack of options. Mentally, Nadal has a slight edge over Roger for the simple reason of H2H advantage build early on. If you win against someone touted as GOAT, and you beat him two times out of three, well confidence is a natural then. Yet head to head only gives the result of when two players played against each other (not how many times the one fails to meet the other), not the surfaces, conditions of play, levels of fitness/form of players, age of players, style and is therefore not the most objective indicator.

What's the hype all about when Nadal wins mostly?

Well, logically not much sense. Yet, Tennis matches are not won or lost on logic. Otherwise, Novak Djokovic would have been waiting in Finals and not a eighth seed Stanislas Wawrinka. 

Even when Rafael Nadal is as solid as possible since his return from injury last year, has won 2 slams out of 3 since his return last year, has never lost to Federer at the Australian Open; when Roger is now old in tennis terms, only World No. 6, has had a dismal 2013, has lost last 5 meetings to Nadal; still all hope of a great match is not lost. Federer but looks rejuvenated. He is serving well and moving well. He has traversed a tough draw. Yet, he has done so before and fallen to Nadal in Grand Slams.

Speculations can go either ways but it is the heart with which Champions fight is to be wished for and watched. Even after Nadal threatening to take Federer's place in the history, Federer has not left the game after losing close matches (a la Bjorn Borg). He knows he is way past his prime but loves playing and wants to fight. He comes back again and again to reach the stages where the two can contest. It might hurt Federer a lot to lose against Nadal but he keeps on doing what best he can do, bounce back and fight again. Taking out clay from equation, even the H2H does not look lopsided. It's almost even. Even footing against a five years younger opponent who is a bad match-up and who himself is one of the Greatest Ever, is to take a lot of heart from. And some inspiration can be drawn from the history this match is going to make for future records.

Today, one of them will stop the other from more glory but not without some serious resistance. This is legends fighting once again, this one is for ages and this one is not to to be missed!

Crashing Seeds at AO'14...

First, a not 100% Serena to Ana Ivanovic, then Maria Sharapova to an inspired Cibulkova, the top seeds Brian Brothers in doubles and today Novak Djokovic goes out to a Swiss who isn't even the famous one. Stan Wawrinka stood toe to toe with Novak Djokovic like last year but this year he did one better. He won the hearts last year and he grabbed the match this year. 

Seeing these upsets, the second round exit of Del Potro seem a long long time ago. He was scheduled to meet Rafa Nadal in the Quarters but will instead be replaced by a very talented Bulgarian in Grigor Dimitrov. I guess Nadal won't mind that replacement. However good, talented, future potential the 'baby Fed' may be; he is yet to prove himself at a GS level and Nadal is the ultimate challenge to have. Grigor may cause problems but taking the match in the best of five is unlikely.

Speculations at the time of the draw have fallen apart. How easy was Djokovic's draw to negotiate and how tough was Nadal, Murray and Federer's was the prime talk. Djokovic goes and either Stan Wawrinka or Tomas Berdych will be there in the Australian Open Final this year. Surely, Nadal has a huge advantage now. He is expected to outclass Dimitrov and wait for Murray and Federer to reduce each other to pieces before whosoever wins meets him in a battered state. Even otherwise, he will be favoured against an aging Roger Federer (whom he pretty much own these days) and Andy 'not so long ago injured' Murray (also owned by Rafa in Grand Slams).

Nadal might be the favourite with Novak gone but it ain't over till it's over. Nobody from Murray, Federer, Berdych, Wawrinka and Dimitrov can be discounted. They will all do their best but whose best is enough to hold the trophy this year, is to be seen.

Murray seems fit and recovered. He has lost just one set and seem to have plenty of reserves. However, a surprise development for many could be the easy win of Roger Federer over Jo Wilfried Tsonga. The famous and crowd favorite Swiss was in ominous form in his dismantling of the very dangerous Tsonga. The fickleness of Tennis pundits is such that he is even favored slightly over Murray in the Quarters tomorrow. Yet to make an impact Roger has to pass through a very tough draw, and guess what, if he fails to reach the AO finals this year Stan Wawrinka will overtake him as the No. 1 Swiss player. For that, Murray and then most probably Nadal has to be taken out. So no kindness here for One of the Greatest of All Time (GOAT), no sitting on past laurels, no aura of fear in the opponents... if he wants to do it he has to do it the hard way. Positives are that he seemed fit, back issues are not bothering, the new racquet seem to look more familiar and tactics with Stefan Edberg around are quite aggressive.

Murray has beaten Federer last year at AO but not before Federer took enough out of him and he couldn't challenge Novak as much as he would have liked. So, what would this year's theme would be if the winner is one of the following:

1. Tomas Berdych/Stanislas Wawrinka/Grigor Dimitrov - A First Time Champion/ Finally Arrived at the GS stage

2. Rafael Nadal - Strengthening the case of GOAT/Equaling Pete Sampras and only second behind Federer/Only player since Rod Laver and Roy Emerson to win twice at each GS

3. Andy Murray - Back with a Bang/ A dream return - a la Nadal/ Threat for the Year

4. Roger Federer - Return of the Champion/ Undisputed GOAT/ He isn't going nowhere

Plenty to watch out for yourselves in the last five days at Melbourne Park. For tomorrow, it's the following:

1. Rafael Nadal vs Grigor Dimitrov - Last Day Match; Around 9 AM IST

2. Roger Federer vs Andy Murray - Night Match; 2 PM IST

Have Fun!

New Year, New Season...New Champions?

A new year comes with new hopes and fresh determination. Since the new tennis season has already begun, and as the wise old saying goes, "well begun is half done", the players in the top tennis fraternity have already gotten off the blocks. The end of 2013 was only a beginning for what to expect in 2014, and to respond to the challenge of either to stay on top or to fight the odds to get there.

Speaking of ladies first, Serena Williams was and still is, almost unbeatable. The bigger the tournament, the less likely she is to lose. She is the one and only contender in the ladies section and with due respect, rest all are only challengers - and ironically even they don't seem to pose any kind of challenge. As if the bulldozing of 2013 was not enough to cement this fact, the younger Williams started the year 2014 by comfortably sweeping the field at the ATP 250 Brisbane International. And the field was full too. Serena overcame Maria Sharapova in the Semi's and Victoria Azarenka in the Finals with consummate ease in straight sets. Well, if these two cannot push her any significantly, God knows who can. Williams with 17 GS titles, and in her 20th year since turning pro, is gunning for more GS glory to overcome Martina Navaratilova (18) and Chris Evert (18), and to stand in the same stead of Steffi Graf (22) and Margret Court (24). Though Azarenka seemingly push her many a times, she has not yet found any winning formula. Maria, on the other hand, has just suffered her 14 consecutive defeat at the hand of Williams to make the pro tennis look childishly lopsided. She can only try. As of now, there seems to be no stopping her and if anybody other than her wins the Aussie Open, that in itself can be called a major shock. But actually, that's where a lot of glory lie.

In the ATP world, no man is as happy as Ms. Williams. Yet, many more fancy their chances than Maria and Vika. The resurgence of Rafael Nadal and dethroning of Novak Djokovic from World No. 1 has kind of renewed their rivalry once again. Djokovic has retained a 'Nadal-less' Australian Open but could not get his hands on the French (courtesy Nadal), nor Wimbledon (courtesy Murray) and faced a beat-down at his favourite Arthur Ashe arena, again by Nadal. Of course, some of the credit in these loses also goes to the lack of hunger and tentativeness Novak showed. Nadal surely is way too happy to have come back in a fairytale fashion (with steroid usage exclamations surrounding him), having one of the best years he has had in his decade long career. Rafa, with 13 titles, is now chasing Federer in the number of GS titles and the ever argued claim of best ever, and for that Novak is his biggest hurdle. But, Rafa has started 2014 by winning the Qatar Open and coming on top of some hard fought matches. Andy Murray seemed to come around for good last year after winning his 2nd GS title and 1st Wimbledon, but it was not to be. He could not retain the same motivation at the US Open and missed the last part of the season with a lingering back surgery. He returned in Doha as the second seed to Nadal, but found himself dumped in the second round by Florian Mayer. So, his level is still uncertain and he does not seem likely to give a Nadal-esque performance post injury. Djokovic, on the other hand, is firing on all cylinders post USO. He went undefeated post US Open and defeated Nadal twice; also extending Nadal's wait for the elusive Year End trophy to at least one more year.

The loss of US Open final has seemingly got Djokovic out of a deep slumber. His pride is hurt and he seem to be doing whatever he can to reach the summit again and hopefully to stay longer this time. In an unconventional and surprising move, Djokovic has signed former star Boris Becker as his new Head Coach, and one can definitely say that it is a weird move. Becker has so far zero experience at pro level coaching and was sitting in the commentary box post retirement. Nole's former coach Marian Vajda is retained for few not so important tournaments, when he seems to be doing perfectly well for Djokovic ever since turning pro. Yet, one thing is clear that Novak is shaking things up and getting out of his comfort zone to achieve greater goals this year. Aussie Open is the place where both Nole and Rafa would want to start by stamping their authorities and gain an advantage over the other for the rest of the year.

And well, it may be for the first time since 2003 that Roger Federer is not discussed in the list of possible contenders at the start of the year. Still a World No. 6, yet he seems to be on an unending slide. He has nothing to prove and yet he wishes to contest on. Federer had a significantly poor 2013 by his lofty standards and one cannot see how it can go worse in 2014. Federer also like Novak, though both are in very different phases of their careers, is shaking things up a lot to get his hands on a few more trophies and Grand Slams, if possible. He has severed ties with coach Paul Annacone and is currently working with Stefen Edberg, his childhood idol, on a trial basis. Moreover, he has committed to the new Wilson 98" racquet that he tried after Wimbledon last year, and will play with that stick henceforth. At over 32, Roger Federer retains his class and elegance for short spans and patches but does not seem to have the same feet movement and pin point precision of his prime. He lost the Brisbane Final yesterday to Lleyton Hewitt, a former champion but ranked 60 now and is also aged 32. Despite all that, he will be around this year and Wimbledon will be his best chance to rise both in confidence and number of GS titles. All said and done, we might just be watching the last days of another legend and that has to be savoured while it lasts.

Hopefully, Tennis this year will move ahead with the Stephens, Robsons, Del Potros, Gulbis', Janowiczs, Raonics, Dimitrovs and unheard names to topple the reigning order and to take the game to ever new heights. With the hope of New Year, the longing to see a New Season, to watch the tacticians in the New Coaches, to follow the battles reaching New Levels, let us join in the fun. 

Happy New Year 2014!