history squashed!

Federer in tears after losing to Nadal in their Australian Open Championship match, Sunday.

The irony of it all. Federer was gunning for history by winning this year’s 14th Grand Slam title, joining the ranks of tennis legends and following in the footstep of Pete Sampras. This is not to say that Roger Federer has not already had a major career, being the second longest tennis player EVER to hold on to the World No. 1 rank. But last night, history was cruel. With number one and number two battling it out, what else do you expect but a fierce competition, lasting 4 hours and 23 minutes.

The oddity of it all? It was his greatest nemesis today, World No. 1 Rafael Nadal who instead set history. He was the first Spanish to win the Australian Open Championship.

It was a tough loss for Federer and he wasn’t able to hold back his emotions during his speech at the awarding ceremony, immediately following the match. And I sympathize with him, as the defeat was probably too much to bear and to have that constantly rubbed in your face was a totally different story. I felt for Federer because Nadal was a tough competitor, enduring until the final set of the match despite his 5-hour marathon game against fellow Spanish Fernando Verdasco the day before. The game analyst pointed out, in reference to Nadal, “Isn’t Nadal supposed to be tired?” And prompted his fellow analyst to remark in return, “I guess he [Nadal] does not know the meaning of that word.”

While I was rooting for Federer the whole time, Nadal was a worthy winner. Rafa tried to lighten things up when he said “Sorry” to Roger for defeating him. Indeed, these were two of tennis’ greatest sportsmen during our time.

Regaining his composure, Federer went back to the mic and rounded up his speech, now able to muster a smile on his face and uttered, “See you next year!”

history in the making

*photo courtesy of zimbio.com

Roger Federer is the epitome of a fundamental tennis player. Garnering multiple Grand Slam titles under his belt and successfully defending his former World No.1 title for tennis history’s second longest streak (on men’s division), Federer looks as fierce as if he was a novice at the sport raring to show off his potential. But he is not. He has been a tennis pro for several years now and his old winning form shows no signs of waning, at least not during his recent semis match. After climbing down at the ATP ranking, the title “World No.2″ does not tick him off a tad bit anymore but it does not mean he is going to give up his quest for a title, say a Grand Slam title like the Australian Open, without giving his opponent a pounding.

Andy Roddick was another player who fell victim to Federer’s viciousness on the court. In their 18 meetings, Roddick fell short 16 times. If history played any significance during the semis match in this year’s Australian Open, then Roddick was probably aware that he was at a clear disadvantage.

If reaching the Australian Open finals did not offer enough motivation, Federer was also gunning for tennis world history. Apart from winning the title, Federer’s bid to win the title marked his 18th finals appearance at a Grand Slam tournament. Andy Roddick definitely was up against massive odds and the American was well aware of that fact. But it wasn’t enough as Federer breezed through the American tennis pro in 2-hour, 7-minutes of play in a 6-2 7-5 7-5 showing.

Classic player, that Federer. When interviewed after the match, and pointed out the possibility of making another history if he were to eventually go on to win the title, he said: “It’s just great to be playing here – it’s fun out there. If I can break records, too, then that’s great.” Federer could not hold back his grin.

The matchup between two Spanish players World No.1 Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco is still awaiting confirmation. Like this one, the match seemed lopsided. But if you’ve seen the semis match during 2008’s US Open featuring Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal, then this isn’t the time to make any bold predictions.

Nonetheless, it would be a finals worth watching for.

update on the sporting world

This is rather late for the first post of this new year. But hey, a person’s got some work to do. Still, it’s better late than never. I was just trying to screen out my ideas in search of finding the best subject to discuss on this blog. Something that would kick off my blogging year right. Too much for my obsessive-compulsive behavior, it’s actually an update on the latest sporting events (for those who are yet unaware that I DO have a sporting side to me).

I’ve been out of the loops on the NBA for a while, so NBA fans better look someplace else. I did manage to catch up on the Celtics’ loss to the Cavs last Saturday though, Friday night in Cleveland. Looks like the Celtics tough winning form from last season’s championship crew is not so evident this time around. And with the Cavs and Magic hot on its heels, they better get back to the drawing board. I am keeping my eyes peeled on local basketball league this time, so NBA better had to wait.

Another major update is the upcoming Australian Open. If you did not know, this is the first of four grand slam tournaments and it will unveil exactly a week from now, January 19th. Melbourne is the hottest place to be in Australia during this time of the year. Let’s see if Novak Djokovic will be able to successfully defend his title from last year’s tournament or if Roger Federer, 3-time Aussie Open champ before Djokovic snatched it from him last year, will rise to the challenge.

Jayjay Helterbrand slicing through the defense of SMB's Danny Seigle (left) and Marc Pingris (right).

Last, but definitely not least, on my list is the recent events on the PBA. Last night’s matchup between sister teams Ginebra Gin Kings and San Miguel Beermen were pitted to be a major on-court battle and it certainly was! Racela’s early ejection saw the SMB squad’s fate turn from bad to worse, trailing by as much as 22 points at some time during the game. But with a deep bench and a talent-laden lineup, who says my Beermen are going to back out? Several players contributed but Hontiveros was the biggest contributor to that epic comeback. Lineup-wise, it was supposed to be a lopsided match but Ginebra surely did give SMB a run for their money. Glad it was over and on to TNT for Wednesday. The other end of the semis match pits Sta.Lucia against Alaska. I can’t wait!

tennis mayhem

News alert!

Yes, yes. Federer is back in the US Open Finals. All Novak fans, pardon me for being the loyal Federer fan I am. However, when I learned that these two were meeting for the men’s US Open semis, I knew Fed already had it in the bag. Tennis-wise, Federer already had the clear advantage. However, after bowing down to Nadal during this year’s French Open and Wimbledon, I think it was enough to ignite him on the court as this is his last opportunity to steal one for the year.

So, that is basically not THE big news. It is the other half of the semis which saw an upset. To anyone who predicted another Federer-Nadal duel, well you are all wrong!

Spanish Rafael Nadal, the French Open champion/Wimbledon champion/recent Beijing Olympics Gold medalist/world no.1 is out in the running for the US Open title. And who would have thought he would be defeated in such fashion by a not very lowly competitor – Scottish and 6th-seed Andy Murray? This could boil down to be one of the US Open classic matches of all time.

A few weeks ago, Nadal seemed like he was out for another title after breezing through his competition in the previous rounds. But Nadal finally met his match. Murray wasn’t one to be dismissed aside that easily though. Remember how he met and defeated 15th-seed Juan Del Potro from Argentina during the quarterfinal round and reduced him to tears?

In the court where two undeniably talented tennis players met, it came down to wit. Murray did, no question, outsmarted Nadal on this one. Murray showed tremendous footwork when Nadal had him chasing the ball all over the court, always managing to shoot sharp returns and impressive backhand – something of which Nadal lacked in notably a couple of instances.

The most impressive part of all is that Murray ripped Nadal’s confidence on the court. Nadal looked uncharacteristically limp and without the fiesty attitude often displayed by this champion. After Nadal served what turned out to be his last for the tournament and Murray approached the net to drop the ball for his winning point, the match analysts summed it up for this classic match, and to paraphrase him: Nadal might be the world’s No.1, but in this match, Murray was the better player.