Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Nadal loses QuarterFinals in US Open


Nooooooooooooo..... I was not prepared for this! This was not how I wanted it to End!!! Endearing "Raffa" is ousted from the US Open. And I don't have the same interest in the Grand Slam anymore. Nadal lost to a relatively unknown, yet extremely talented player, Mikhail Youzhny, who strongly fore and back handed Nadal, a shock defeat. And after his racquet cap salute, Mikhail Youzhny thanked all the fans for supporting him, in fact, turning around their opinion through the match and rallying behind him. And thats the point that struck me - What is the nature of support? And Hero Worship? And what kind of support does the underdog garner ?First of all, I'm an underdog fan. One that is expected to lose a contest. There is all this talk of talent and skill, but I hate it when a contest doesn't become a contest at all. With all due respect, Roger Federer in Tennis and Australia in Cricket have made contests a mundane monotonous affairs, that the sports started to lose out due to their utter ruthlessness and killing professionalism. Federer had made winning matches with three sets his habit - you can get into record books for just getting to a tie-breaker with him. And his real threat was Raffael Nadal - may be not as much a threat as a pause in Roger's breath, especially on the fast hard courts. But you know, that would have been a contest. And well, I would then have cheered for Raffa. And I would have known that my cheers wouldn't be empty wishes, but genuine hopes of an underdog win. But now, thanks to the Russian, my cheers will have some restructuring to do.But then, all said and done, you know as well as I do that Nadal didn't play that way I wanted him to. Well, thats a silly thing to say, cos Nadal plays the way he does. And Youzhny did play well, but I just felt that you are as good a player as your opponent lets you be. And for a day today, Nadal let Youzhny get better of him.Yeah it does happen to Federer once in a blue-sun (rarer than a blue moon) when you would be lucky enough to witness him losing to an Andy Murray. But will I see it happen at this US-open and put a stop to this Rogernaut!!! Youzhny did it once, winning as an underdog. May be he will do it again. And AGAIN. May be my cheers will have some substance when I watch the final. Because for all you know, Federer is closing fast on the French Open (look at his progression at the French to know what I mean). And I will always dream of a underdog, who will havea solid chance to defeat the favorite. I just wish Youzhny or Roddick is my man this US Open.

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