Life Etc Etc

In the year of COVID, the last thing on my mind was penning a sports commentary. But I had to, considering the incredible one-sided French Open final I had just seen. Incredibles and Unthinkables have kind of become the norm this year: We had a US Open before empty crowds We had the World No.1 being defaulted just when his 4th round match was beginning to catch some steam We had a French Open in the Fall We had false positive COVID tests with irate players threatening lawsuits  We had hand sanitizers being handed out to the presenters who had come to present the trophies We had a lop-sided final, where the world number 1 Novak Djokovic  whose 36 (completed) match winning streak was broken and destroyed by one Rafael Nadal I am a huge Rafa fan but a score line of 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 was far away even from my imagination. I still remember the disappointing  2019 Australian Open Final . I had woken up early to catch a glimpse of the final but could only watch the presentat...

Life and sport rarely offer a sequel upon request, but today the 2019 Queen's Club Championships delivered a heart-warming and larger in every sense sequel to the 2017 edition. The hero on both occasions being our man of the moment, Feliciano Lopez. There's something in the hallowed lawns of Queen's Club that spurns the genius in 'Feli' (as his friends on the tour call him) and transforms him into a mythical hero who scripts incredible sporting moments every time he sets foot on this court. Champion again! (Courtesy: Sportsnet.ca ) The History: But let's rewind a bit, Feli had just concluded winning the 2017 Queen's Club Championships in a thrilling fashion. As an avid tennis fan I was extremely excited about his prospects at Wimbledon 2017 but no sooner had the first round begun Feli was forced to retire with an injury. The next time I saw Feli was in the 2018 Queen's Club Championships where he was in decent form but couldn't get past Ni...

The Indian Wells Masters is one tournament on the ATP calendar I've consistently enjoyed over the last couple of years. Not only is the tournament well attended but it also arrives on the cusp of spring just when everything is about to look up in the Northern Hemisphere. I still remember the humdinger of a final  from last year and was particularly disappointed that the defending champion Juan Martin Del Potro was unable to defend his title this year because of a nagging knee injury. The magnificence of Indian Wells (Courtesy: Tennis Tours ) The Draw This year though the deck was firmly stacked in favor of the number one seed Novak Djokovic who was in imperious form leading up to the tournament. Novak led the upper half of the draw and was ably supported by mercurially talented players such as Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, Nick Kyrgios and Milos Raonic. Stefanos Tsitsipas who ousted Novak at the Toronto Masters and Federer at the Australian Open looked set to be dark h...

It was a perfectly drab morning and I was gearing up for the day ahead by peering through the sports headlines. Nothing exciting struck me until I laid my eyes upon an ongoing quarterfinal match at The Queen's Club Championship between Tomas Berdych and Feliciano Lopez . Now Berdych vs Lopez is not exactly a match-up to crave about like Federer vs Nadal. Both men are in their 30's which is the age where most players retire. Both men are seemingly past their prime and both haven't exactly set the tennis world on fire in the recent past. If it was another day or time I would have moved on to do something else but today was different, I decided to go ahead and watch the match. You ask me why? I still wonder why? Is it because that both Berdych and Lopez are genuine grass court players? Is it because that on their day both men are extremely dangerous players? Is it because that it was a match up of styles between the power of Berdych and the silken finesse of Lo...

The turn of the millennium signaled the business end of school for me. With the retirement of most of my favorites I no longer found the time to follow and watch tennis. But all of that was about to change with the comeback of a  hero  whom no one gave a chance. 2001 Wimbledon I had just finished school when the 2001 Wimbledon Championships rolled in. I had plenty of time on hand but had no interest in the championships as Pete Sampras the defending champion was in ominous form and with all due respect to Sampras I had no interest seeing him lift the trophy once again. Two days into Wimbledon I was extremely surprised and thrilled to know that Ivanisevic was playing in the championships on a wild card . By that point Ivanisevic had almost retired with a recurring shoulder injury. If a slump in form and fitness wasn't enough his father's heart problem and sister's cancer diagnosis pushed him to the edge. Ranked 125 in the world , his final attempt at glory was a ...