Man and machine

Why is it that I do not particularly like Nadal and Hrithik? I do not dispute the fact that they have got talent. :P People might even argue that it is an understatement. But I have the right to put forth my opinion about them. So here goes. I think they are too plastic. Too machine-like. Too muscly.

Nadal plays like he has a mission to accomplish. He runs to and fro on the baseline, is agile, hits power shots at unbelievable angles and reaches the ball no matter where it is placed on court. He attempts shots to keep the ball at play, hits winners - ONLY from the baseline, and if lucky maybe from elsewhere, all of them with machine-like precision. Little wonder that he wins most games. And yes, his angles and the way he reaches for every shot makes one gasp, but I have somehow decided in my head that he is too plastic for my tastes. Agreed, after he finishes a match, when he wins and takes off his head band, I feel a sort of fondness for the emotional/non-plastic kid in him. The way he talks, his spirit - he is a sport and hence a sweetheart whether he wins or loses. When the win is against Federer, all this doesn't hold of course. :)

Federer on the other hand, has more variety. Watching his tennis is like listening to music, as so many people have rightly put it. And even a non-believer would agree, after watching fed's strokes in slow motion alongside the symphony playing in the background of the rolex advertisement. He can(or is it could) play against anyone, with any style of game, on any surface, improvises his game anytime required, and comes up with shots that are a beauty to watch. He is just art at work.

And Hrithik is another story. He dances well. Okay, maybe very well. But I just do not appreciate his dance. His movement is fluid alright. But again is so machine-like in precision. Like he was programmed to dance that way and he would move every muscle just as much as it was programmed to move.

This is how I see them. Maybe it is partly because I think perfection isn't human? No, it is because, I think to achieve perfection, one needs to be free. To be boundless. To be free to improvise. To do what one really wants to do. To do it in a split-second of thought or even without thought. To do it because you just knew it was what you ought to have done. To fail. And in the end maybe, just maybe, win. :)