For the love of the game

I would not be a peace if I do not apologise for my irrational, borderlining fanatical, support of Federer over the last few months. I would not be at peace without sharing all the excitement and happiness in me after watching the finals of the 122nd Wimbledon Championship last night.

I have been utterly despicable in my support of one of the best champions of all time ever since his invincibility has come under scrutiny over the last year. And what better way to exhibit my anger than to blame Federer's biggest challenger and greatest rival, Nadal for everything he did or didn't do? Just two weeks back I made a shameless blog entry about Nadal's victory at the French. I only know too well that I really was making silly excuses for Federer's loss. It is only when people like my dad start making fun do I get so annoyed, I want to take myself seriously!!!

That is just what happened yesterday. The finals began. Nadal won the first set. My dad just wouldn't stop making fun of all of Fed's mistakes and my reactions to his winners and errors. I was devastated at the end of the second set which Fed lost again 6-4, after a lead, with a break. But I still put on a brave face to my dad. He annoyed me to the brink till the end of the second set.

It was only in the end of the third set, during the rain delay, that my dad decided that he had had a lot of fun at my expense, and that I was totally brooding at the prospect of my Federer's straight set defeat to Nadal in a Wimbledon final. After a few calls to my uncle and cousin in London, when play resumed, I was absolutely drained, and just decided to reconcile myself to Fed's sad fate, when my dad did a U-turn and started supporting Federer in his own sweet way. He would prod, encourage, say 'Ace' before every serve in the tie-break, and when finally, the match went into the fourth set, I showed some sign of life. I decided to lie low and let my dad do the supporting for a while. I silently supported Federer under my breath, praying for a 5th set. The 4th set tie-break was my spiritual turning point. I could just NOT breathe easy and sit comfortably in my seat. I was shivering at the 2-chapionship points that Fed saved. By the time Fed managed to win that set, I had decided I didn't care who won the game. It was such a splendid game; I couldn't afford to have ANY negative emotion about it. Both players were wonderful, mentally tough, played superb tennis, and made MILLIONS of us happy. I just love them for it. Their sportsmanship was exemplary. I just had to learn from them.

The fifth set, was just a beautiful display of tennis. It was 4-4 in the set when the rain struck again. When play resumed, there were shots after glorious shots from both ends. I could only watch as the game unfolded itself into the longest and arguably one of the best finals in Wimbledon history!

Nadal was playing better in the last few games, had more opportunities for a break, while Federer, tried hard to do anything he could to thwart the Nodal strokes. But a lot of his efforts remained in vain.

In the end the better player won. 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(8), 7-6(9), 9-7. But what mattered was how much fun the game was. I've only seen Goran's 5-setters that were this thrilling. And Henmans' soap operas of course! :) But the quality of tennis here was incomparable with anythig I had seen before. I am proud to have been a part of the generation that has seen champions like Pete, Fed and Nadal. Thankyou god!

In a way, it was watching my dad wish Federer to push the game to 5 sets, which caused such a change in my attitude towards the game. He supported people for the love of the game! I wonder why he didn't hit me for being such a silly girl all the while, when I would have done that, if I were him. In fact, now I blame his teasing, for my being so unsportsmanlike!! It is all entirely his fault. He gets pleasure out of it!! And I get so annoyed!!

A question at the back of my head... Will Federer will again? He will. He has to improve his game if he has to win against players who are mentally tough, who play well and who understand the importance of improving their game. He can experiment and improvise on his shots, these trials cannot be his ONLY weapon! He should build a whole gamut of strengths which would make him invincible, improve on them every season and also be able to ‘choose’ from his backup armory, which could give him some room for improvisation.

Another question I must ask myself is... When am I going to learn to play the game??