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Juan Martin Del Potro Wins 1st Grand Slam Title

15 September 2009 0 Comments Category: Sports

Is Del Potro the new dark horse of Tennis???? Dark horse or not, he deserved to win. Having been able to beat Nadal in the semi-finals and Federer in the finals of the US Open 2009, there’s not much to say but “Well done and congratulations!”

Juan Martin del Potro did what many thought unlikely, if not improbable.

He dethroned Federer as the US Open champion, ending his five-year reign as the King of Queens, in a come-from-behind 3-6, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory for his first major title.

It was the first five set men’s final since 1999, when Andre Agassi defeated Todd Martin and one of the biggest US Open upsets in recent memory with the No. 6 seed defeating the 15-time Grand Slam champion and world No. 1. It was also del Potro’s first career victory over Federer in seven matches.

Del Potro, just 20 years old, became the second Argentine in history to win the US Open, joining Guillermo Vilas, who won in 1977. He certainly earned it, taking out six-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the semifinals before defeating Federer in the final.

He collapsed on the court on match point and with tears in his eyes he took the trophy, completing the dream of winning his favorite tournament. Read more.

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Musings From The Sidelines:

* Roger Federer’s unbelievable shot during the semi-finals, considered as his best shot ever. During his match with Novak Djokovic, he returned a shot in between his legs and surprisingly the ball landed past Djokovic. Watch the video below.

* Will Rafael Nadal be able to bounce back from injury? I was hoping to watch another Federer-Nadal game at the Finals but had my doubts on Nadal’s health. During interviews, he kept on avoiding questions about his health/injury. I’m not sure if that was his way of being positive–psychologizing himself perhaps that he is perfectly well and that nothing’s physically wrong with him??? But I had a feeling that sooner or later, if his body’s not in good shape, he will eventually be in pain–and I was right–he had a problem in his right abdomen during the semi-finals. Which conjured up more questions in mind: Was he really physically well when he started playing in the US Open?; Is there anything else wrong with him other than his knee and abdomen?: And why the secrecy when it comes his health?

* If Del Potro is the new king of US Open, Kim Clijsters makes a comeback and wins the Women’s Finals. Read more here.

The US Open is the last Tennis Grand Slam for the year. The next (and first) Grand Slam for 2010 is on 18-31 January in Melbourne, Australia . For tickets, click here.

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Roger Federer Makes History Once Again

6 July 2009 5 Comments Category: Sports

From winning his 14th Grand Slam in the French Open…

Ultimately nothing was going to stop Federer gliding back to where he belongs. Not just again to the top of tennis but, beyond, at the summit of all sport as the world’s pre-eminent athlete. The acclamation for his emotional landmark triumph here at Roland Garros could not have been more universal.
Yes, people are in awe of Tiger Woods’s wizardry and resilience, they laugh open-mouthed at Usain Bolt’s athleticism and marvel at Michael Phelps’s greedy annexation of titles.
But yesterday, it was possible to sense from the reaction of everyone here something extra for an athlete who showcased all those trio’s qualities so effortlessly again; that is, a deep affection bordering on adoration for a man who demonstrates, more conclusively than almost anyone, that nice guys can be winners. Supreme winners. – source

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“He’s never shown us with pressure that he won’t step up,” said 1999 Roland Garros champion Andre Agassi who presented Federer with the winner’s trophy. “He had to deal with this one guy named Nadal who has been his Achilles heel, but every time it was thought he would not step to the plate again or that the achievements and the records would get the better of him, he’s always risen to the occasion.”Federer had been seriously tested this year, losing a heartbreaking final to Nadal at the Australian Open, suffering a back injury and taking losses to Murray at Doha and at Indian Wells, to Stanislas Wawrinka in Monte Carlo and to Djokovic and Miami and Rome. He returned to form in Madrid, scoring his first win over Nadal in five matches and when he arrived in Paris, he felt that he could negotiate the rough waters. He may have been roughed up along the way, but his spirit was not broken.“That’s the true test of a champion and it’s so fitting that he won here,” Agassi said. “He deserved it, earned it, he’s come across in a generation where he was the second greatest clay courter for five years and dominating everyone except one guy. You can call it unlucky or say he stepped up to the plate and he dealt with his challenges and achieved it.”

…The world No 2 became only the sixth man to win all Grand Slam titles and just the second, after Agassi, to win majors on all four surfaces (both Agassi and Federer won Australian Opens on Rebound Ace before the tournament switched to a more traditional hard court two years ago). Whether he is the greatest player ever will be debated well into the next decade, but he is certainly a major part of the conversation now and at the age of 27, might well have a few more majors left in him. After all, Sampras won his 14th crown when he was 31.Perhaps the last word should be left to Federer’s opponent on Sunday. “I’ve never played anyone playing that fast,” said Soderling. “He’s a great player. He doesn’t have any weaknesses at all. He really deserves to be called the best player of all time.” – source

to winning his 15th Grand Slam in the Wimbledon….

This was the day when Andy Roddick’s serve was broken just the once, in the 77th game of a 77-game Wimbledon men’s final. That one break of Roddick’s delivery, after more than four and a quarter hours of play on Centre Court, was all that Roger Federer needed to take the fifth set 16-14, to become the first man to win 15 grand slams, and to regain the world No 1 ranking.
“Roger is a legend, an icon and a stud,” said Pete Sampras, who had flown in from California to sit in the front row of the Royal Box to see his 14 slams being superseded. – source
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This may not have been Federer at his most artistic but it was Federer at his most ferociously determined.


Poor Roddick tried everything he knew – and lots that he had not known until he hired Stefanki – to chase his Swiss rival but Federer was unshakeable. He soaked up every charge and attack from the American and looked calm and collected as he did so. And with the advantage of serving first in the deciding set, he could leave Roddick to feel the tension while he concentrated on breaking the American’s serve for the first time in the match.
The longer that set went on, the better Federer looked. As Roddick started to tire, the Swiss kept up the pressure. He swatted away two break points in the 17th game and suddenly looked as relaxed and as fresh as if this were the first set. Roddick could not catch him and he knew it. As he started to pick away at Roddick’s serve, Roddick knew it, too. – source
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  • Roger Federer is now hailed as the greatest tennis player in the world with 15 Grand Slam titles, surpassing Pete Sampras’ 14 Grand Slam titles.
  • He is now back to being the Number 1 seed.
  • The finals game lasted for more than four hours. The final set scores were 16-14.
  • This was the longest Wimbledon final of all time, plus the longest final played at any of the four majors, and the 30-game fifth set was the longest played in a title-match at the majors
  • I love his outfits!!! This year he wore pants and a jacket. During his entrance to the court, it made him look like “royalty”. When he won in the finals, he was given a jacket that has an embroidered number 15 on the back, meaning 15th Grand Slam.
    my plurks     1, 2, 3, 4.
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Sunday Badminton

After a long break from playing badminton (due to my wrist tendonitis) I finally went back to the court to play again. And boy, it felt really really good to be playing a sport I’ve loved all my life.

Warmed-up as soon as we arrived. As much as I wanted to play a lot in the two hours that we were there, I psyched myself up to take it easy and spend lots of breaks in between playing. It’s been awhile since I’ve played and I don’t want my muscles to get very shocked, plus I didn’t want to hurt my wrist again.

And then the games began. It felt good to be sweating again. And it felt good to feel those muscles flex and stretch, i love it!

We rented the court for two hours and when the time was up, Evan suddenly hurt his ankle which signalled that playing is indeed over. We hovered around him asking him how he is, when Hilda answered “malayo sa bituka”, we all laughed.

The happy badminton crew…group photo before we left.

The husband took lots of photos of me while playing and when I looked at them, I realized some things:
(a) Na serious din naman pala ako pag pumapalo ng shuttlecock. I laugh and I’m very playful inside the court even when competing pero pala pag game na talaga, serious pala ang face ko haha. I found out (thru the photos) that I have a certain pout when I play.

(b) That sometimes I close my eyes when I smash.
(c) That I move and stretch like a dancer when I try to hit the shuttlecock. I have to thank my training in dancing for that, I never really noticed how I moved inside the court until yesterday.
(d) That there’s a part of me that will once in a while miss competing. I miss wearing my trainers, my Nikes, my racket–holding it and playing with it, bringing tons of water, drinking Gatorade, running towards the game venue from the time I got off my ride as a part of my warm-up, doing warm-ups, late night trainings after school and work (kasi hanggang sa work naglaro ako), being inside the court with nothing on mind but the game and only the game and hanging out with players who eventually became my friends. Lots of good memories and learnings I’ve gained thru this sport.
Now that I’m playing (for recreation only) again, I hope my wrist tendonitis doesn’t come back coz if it does, I would have to put my racket back into storage–which I would’nt want to happen. We’ll see how it goes. For now, I’m just happy that I’m back doing one of the things I love.

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