Let’s start with tennis.

Novak Djokovic eyes the No.2 spot

Novak Djokovic, world number three and ‘heir-in-waiting’ (for long), has probably crossed an important milestone in his career. Continuing with this tremendous phase of his career (Second grand slam title at Melbourne, following the US open final in 2010), Djokovic won his second straight title in Dubai, extending his winning streak to 14 matches.

More importantly, he beat Roger Federer again, thrice in three matches now.

Not only is this victory testament to the fact that the ‘Djoker’ is a bigger, better player, it’s also a crucial step forward towards finally and actually being able to break the ‘Rafa-Roger’ stranglehold at the very top of tennis.

And who better to do it than Nova.

He has worked extremely hard to stay in the position of number three, that he has done for most part of the Rafa-Roger decade. He has consistently challenged the two men on all surfaces. And he has been the most consistent of all the other contenders.

Any other time in tennis and Djokovic would have stayed number one for a few long weeks.

While that is out of anyone’s control, Djokovic has done the one thing in his control right. Keep improving.

This time he’s done it with a new improved serve and it has made him a controller rather than just a challenger.

Now he’s served up the perfect platform to leave Federer behind and finally take over the number two position in world tennis. Just 80 points behind. I don’t think Fedex can hold-on any more.

Will Rafa be next?

Over to golf now where the shifts have been equally telling.

Another change in the No.1 spot

Martin Kaymer lost at the WGC Match Play in Arizona, but he is the new world number one.

In one sense, these are turbulent times in golf after such a long time, what with the number one position changing hands twice in three months.

But don’t we just love it? Actually it depends. You decide.

The thing is that as much as the PGA tour hates it, Europe has now taken over most of the attention and headline-capturing players.

Kaymer is No.1, Lee Westwood is down to second and Graeme McDowell is fourth… Luke Donald with his win in Arizona has climbed to number three.

So Europe now holds the top four spots in the world rankings for the first time since 1992, when Ian Woosnam, Nick Faldo, Jose Maria Olazabal and Seve Ballesteros were at the top.

And would you believe it  - Tiger Woods is down to fifth for the first time since 1994. 

In this constant push between the PGA and European tour, the balance has firmly tilted in favour of the eastern side. So maybe we should expect more squirmishes between top European players and the PGA (Often the PGA has tried to control where and when European players play). Or will the PGA be ready to accept that they are not ruling the roost anymore?

But back to the question of whether we like it.

I’m not sure if I do. But I do know it’s not because I’m on one side of the divide. It’s just that there’s no longer a man to catch up with. I don’t like this constant shifting. I like to have a level that everyone is trying to achieve. Tiger provided that for many years. While a bunch of equally potent players is also good to have, but isn’t it nice to have a ‘Ruler’ looking down upon the schemes and battles below to overthrow him with glee.

Sigh.

Many have already called him the best, the toughest man to play against.

His competitors swear by his prowess… and critics have slowly been titling towards him…

So is Nadal ready to make a run for the title of the GOAT…. the greatest of all time?

His closest rival for this mantle remains his contemporary rival Roger Federer…. but he is quickly catching up…

Many would say he has already. Like Brad Gilbert who tweeted right after the US open final – “There’s your GOAT [Greatest of All Time]“.

And it is becoming harder to deny it.

If Federer was the King of Grass, Nadal’s the king of Clay…. And now Nadal has even created his own dominance at Wimbledon… while Federer has failed to do so in Paris.

Nadal won on grass before Federer could take the French title…

And he was also faster than Federer at holding both the French and Wimbledon trophies together, the first since Bjorn Borg.

And now Nadal has completed the full circle with all four grand slams – also faster than Fedex. Much faster. He infact is the youngest in Open Era.

But then, some of Federer’s records are unparalleled – like his 10 straight Grand Slam finals, 23 straight Grand Slam semi-finals, and of course the biggest of them all… a record 16 Grand Slam titles, more than anyone else ever…

But we all realize this is not about the number of titles.

Federer was never competing with Pete Sampras to take on the mantle of the greatest. He was always compared with Rod Laver.

Similarly, Nadal need not worry about being 7 grand slams behind Federer.

Infact, what takes Nadal slightly ahead is the fact that he has consistently dominated Federer. He’s beaten him everywhere: Wimbledon, in that final of a lifetime, Paris and Australian open.

Federer only managed to win two slam finals against Nadal at Wimbledon, at a time when the spaniard was nowhere close to his full potential.

And Nadal leads Fedex 14-7 in all time head-to-head record.

In other words, if you beat the greatest and everyone else consistently, aren’t you the greatest then?

But still I have to say that history (for now) is on Federer’s side… Nadal needs to stand the test of time a little longer to rest the case. And I have no doubt he will.

The best part is that it’s the fans who have been the most lucky. Afterall, we are watching two true legends play in the same era…. creating memories and battles to cherish for posterity.

Check this one out! So funny…

They might be heading for a mouth-watering showdown at the US open final again, but Roger-Rafa keep it light.

Whatever happens in the final is not going to be story (Unless of course Nadal loses, but I dont think thats happening. So let’s keep that aside). Mind you, its not that its not exciting still. It is the classic final really… The champion against the underdog – who could have asked for anything better, especially with both of them with their distinct advantages.

But I say sadly because the answers I was looking for are already staring me in the face. And yet it depends on how I want to look at them…

Nadal’s back for sure, and seriously it doesnt depend on whether he wins the title (Although, again, its as much a given as these things can be). He played some of the best tennis in this year’s Wimbledon and its remarkbale to see how he has managed to put up this deadly form for three months or so…

But I was more keen on the way Federer does and that’s where the worry begins. I was very sure it was the beginning of the end even before the championship began. But as he suddenly shows the first signs of decline, I somehow dont want to recognize it. I fear it. I dont want it.

It’s not to say he’s done. But the question is looming large: Have we seen the best of Federer?

How sad will that be? Such a loss.

Federer-Nadal rivalry has been what tennis fed on in this century. It was a thing of beauty that only got better and better with age. Both players relished it.

Federer was most comfortable losing to Nadal, as he would ever be losing to anyone. Some of his defeats to Nadal were crushing, not least 2008’s Wimbledon final, where Nadal stopped him atleast temporarily on the path to unrestricted glory. He cried unashamedly after the Australian open thrashing in 2009.

And yet he was most graceful in defeat. He always shared the credit with Nadal, congratulated him. Conceded the spaniard was better without any discomfort. He enjoyed the battles.

A look at the Federer that lost to Tomas Berdych in the quarters this week, and you know he’s disgusted. And he couldnt quite present a better face. He made excuses, and in un-Federer style lost his cool and grace, hissing at the British media.

Suddenly came a talk of injuries, being unlucky!!! And the best, was when he was asked if this would be Murray’s year. Federer just blew. He cancelled out the competition to Murray with delightfully chocolaty swiss sarcasm and then told the media to ‘go, do your homework’.

Listening to him like that and I knew, this man is not happy exiting the stage that his rivalry with Nadal had set up. Let’s not forget, he’s now going to be number three in the world. He never be-grudged Nadal for anything. As it often happens in such big rivalries, the two involved can already see what they are creating and they equally enjoy it. You take some, I take some. Both were gloriously complementing.

But no other player comes close to that. And Fed, I agree!

Like I said last time, this Championship is set to provide us a lot of answers, the big ones being if Federer’s era is coming to an end? But boy, I didnt expect the first hint would come so early..

I know he won eventually, which again is commendable, but his overall performance to find himself in the bad position was appaling.

He was hardly there. When he was, he clearly didnt want to be on the court. He didnt want to work for anything. His movement was well, momentary. His backhand was half-hearted. Federer just looked miserable.

I would have thought he atleast could do better for the crowd who paid to watch him!

The only time he looked like fighting his way (since he already had simself two sets down) was during the ninth game of the third with Falla having three break points to serve for match.

He saved those and eventually won the game to go 5-4 up. Then had a set point that suddenly had so much weight on it, the centre court roof could fall.

Falla did incredibly well to save one, then gave away another to give Fed the set. But by then, the story had been set in ink.

I didnt think it mattered what happened from there on. Our first ‘Big One’ is here. The first Big Hint.

I have spoken of his desire and the will to continue and concentrate as much as it needs to win seven matches over a period of two weeks to win a grand slam. But this has to be more that. After all, what we saw wasnt just Federer being troubled. He was miserable. Largely unable to use his immensely greater talent on the court.

Five sets gave him the luxury Federer really didnt deserve today.

On top of that, Falla apparently was playing with some kind of injury. John McEnroe blurts out, “I’d like to have that injury.”

Most of Federer’s initial matches are one way traffic and therefore not the best watching except to see some of his exquisite shots. But this match was pathetic. Backyard tennis on a surface slower than the slowest clay.

Making it more miserable is the fact that Falla too a lot of times made himself look too small for the big occasion, that beating Federer, six times champion, top-seed, defending champion, the greatest of all time, would have been.

So one doesn’t want to play, the other doesn’t want to win. Brilliant combination.

The boxes of both players had better action and fervour. What the heck was going on??

The only good thing for Fed is that it wasnt someone like Lopez or Robredo he met in the first round and Falla failed to complete the job. In the process, Federer has managed to get some momentum now with that 6-0 final set.

But times are going to be a-toughing and probably a-changing.

Maybe so, but given how crazy it gets Wimbledon time and just the overall attention Murray gets, I think its more than that. He just hasnt done anything to build up a hype. Its probably also because they dont see him winning.

There’s no momentum he has. And even the British public understands he’s not gonna get there purely on his ability. Not yet.

But other than that, its going to be quite an interesting two weeks.

The year has picked up so brilliantly with Nadal’s run of devastating form. That was also combined with Federer’s problems.

But we all know shifting surfaces and changing gears is not easy, even for someone like the spaniard, who has remarkably been in three Wimbledon finals with one tremendous win.

It will definitely come easier for Federer. But will he be completely there in the mind?

So much is in the grey, nothing can really be bet upon. And thats whats making the coming week so exciting. It will tell us where we really are going with this episode of this rivalry. Is it still going to be Fed-era? Or is Rafael here for a more continuous domination?

Either way, this is the big one. The big turning point.

When the book was coming out, the biggest talking point was how Andre reveals doing crystal meth during his playing days, 1997 to be precise.

So even though the publicity stunt was reasonably successful and I’m sure many bought the book to read about this particular ‘cheating or abuse episode’, it feels nothing like it.

It’s definitely not described with as much detail or given as much space as some of his less controversial experiences. But that’s probably because he doesn’t remember too much. Or maybe everything happened too quickly. Like gack, gack, gack.

But in some sense it shows his state of mind while doing it. Just mindless, senseless, freaking bored out of our life, troubled and tense.

Largely why most people would end up doing it. And ofcourse, most importantly, because someone else you were with had it and asked if you would do it.

It definitely wasn’t any cheating. And no one needed to read the book for that. I mean who does ‘gack’ to beat an opponent by gaining extra advantage. But I guess many did because it was Andre Agassi talking.

And that’s the most brilliant thing. His voice is remarkable in the book. The moment he went back in time, I fell in love with the seven-year old Andre.

Also, I must add… I thought the book to this point was funny (I mean like hilarious). But this one (his first taste of crystal meth) is the funniest epi-fucking-sode.

P.S. – I’m generally not the one to curse in writing, but if you read the book, you’ll know what I mean.

But then, I also have to accept I feel glad I have been proven wrong. And how!

Reminiscing about the brilliant summer Nadal had last year just before crashing out unceremoniously at the French open, I had felt the same run would not be achieved. But Nadal went a step further. This year, not only has he been crowned the undisputed King of Clay again, he did it in style winning all the clay-court Masters titles as well on the way. (Monte-Carlo, Rome, Madrid)

If his feat of becoming the player with the most Masters Titles wasnt enough (one more than former record holder Andre Agassi now) he snatched back his French open title, without dropping a set, the second time he’s done that. Lets not forget also, he loses out to Bjorn Borg by only a few days, as the youngest in getting to 7 grand slam titles at his age of 24, he’s the youngest to hold most Masters titles, and surely will be the youngest to create a record of holding a certain grand slam more than anyone else soon. Give him some more time, and he will be the youngest to hold most titles on clay.

So, clearly not only has he delighted his fans in a fashion most desired, he has also gone a step further by recording a ‘calendar clay slam’. What a glorious summer!

And now ofcourse all eyes are set on Wimbledon. The anticipation has gone higher with Nadal fit and raring to go. Are we in store for another 2008?

I think it’s more than possible. Not because he’s heading to SW19 as the top seed once again, but also because no one has shown signs of coming closer to him in the past year when the Spaniard was at his weakest, both physically and mentally.

With sports being a part of our collective culture for many centuries now, sometimes we become too diffidently expectant of sporting heroes and their glory. Champions and miracles keep happening. And its almost as if we begin to expect that its natural for each sport to keep throwing legends.

But when you look at someone like Nadal, so young and yet so mature, you stop and realize there’s no machine that keeps churning out spectacles for us to watch and enjoy. You stop and realize the effort that goes into it and the pressure it generates. It becomes easier to see in the case of Nadal, who at 19 won a grand slam and soon after became the nemesis of the world’s and probably history’s greatest player. Even Roger Federer did not ripen into full tennis maturity until the summer he turned 22.

Nadal went onto become the world’s top player. But then he crashed as well.

So the return that Nadal has managed is not something one should just expect of him just because he’s shown signs for it. I can only try to imagine how a 24-year old shows the maturity to not only see his personal life disintegrate (Nadal’s parents got divorced before last year) but also his professional prowess, topped with the misery of being unfit. Add on that the weight of expectations and the critique of the media. It can get too much.

But a look at Nadal and you feel he’s not only doing it by exceeding expectations but also in a strangely effortless way. And you stop and realize the mettle he’s made of… Its not so easy to have ‘hunger’ even if it might look only natural.

But thats not the only reason, for someone who watches tennis, to feel Nadal can win Wimbledon. Its also because Roger Federer, somehow, is not looking the same. I know a part of it is because he’s done everything he needed to. The most grand slams, on all surfaces, undisputed ‘greatest of them all’.

In fact, it will be almost impossible for any of us to not let our guard down a bit after the same list of achievements.

But if Federer too manages to show us the glimpse of what makes a true legend, by coming out in London, and proving like he is still in it, all heart and soul, then really we would have seen two brilliant episodes of sporting grit in one year.

PS – I have the good fortune of being in London again for the Wimbledon championships this year. And you can watch this space for more on them, largely off the courts.

The win is supposed to be a sound warning ahead of Roland Garros, and that means the top memory in my mind is watching him lose in the quarters of the grand slam last year. It just keeps coming back to me. I clearly remember I was in office at that time, with the match on at the big LCD screen next to me on the wall. But as it often happens to a sports journalist, especially in television, I didn’t really have the time to follow the match.

And that was partly because I knew the result. Or at least I thought I did. I was so sure Nadal was going to win. I mean it didn’t even cross my mind, as would have been the case for so many others, that Rafael would lose to Robin.

Nadal isnt always the best starter in most of his matches, even on clay. Its fairly normal for him to lose the first set or the second. You are not surprised if he needs four or five sets sometimes in French open wins. So even when he was struggling, I didn’t get restless.

Then just like that, things became from bad to worse. I kept thinking, ‘no need to worry, he will bounce back’. Except this time it didn’t happen.

I just couldn’t believe it. How can this happen? To Robin Soderling? And I clearly remember feeling bitter that I don’t even have the luxury to stop and ponder what happened. Work was calling. Life went on.

On and on it went. Soderling reached the final. Lost to Roger Federer in the finals. Federer not only equaled Pete Sampras but did it in an arena he had never held a title before. His career was complete. Nothing was missing anymore.

On and on it went. There was no sign of Nadal throughout the grass season. Nobody saw any of him. He wasn’t there to defend his Wimbledon crown, a title I watched him win at the big screen outside the center court in the All England club a year before, with thousands others who waited in rain and dark to see the climax of that ‘finale of a lifetime.’ A title that inspired hugs and handshakes with total strangers in the park. A title that quietly satisfied me, as it would have my favourite. A title that made me sigh, ‘Oh, he’s done it.’

I don’t even remember what Nadal did the rest of 2009. Federer and Del Potro dominated the headlines. My hero had slowly faded into the background. A place I’m not comfortable with for Nadal. I know its not easy to like him. Or is it? One way or the other or maybe a mix of both. But in an era dominated by Federer, and with him deciding how tennis is played and should be for the fans, it wasn’t easy to support Nadal.

Most people liked him because it was a great rivalry. But ask them to choose a side and the answer would be the Swiss. I love Federer but I found myself alone in choosing Nadal in this match-up, even though he clearly had the better record. Afterall Nadal wasn’t the purists’ choice. He wasn’t poetry in motion. His playing style wouldn’t last. Yes he is probably the greatest fighter in sport in our times, but he wasn’t Federer.

So as he won his remarkbale 6^th trophy in Monte Carlo, I remembered all the good times. All the matches of his I have enjoyed so much. All the shots I have seen him play. All the people I have watched him defeat by his sheer spirit. Changing the face of tennis with his game. And taking the better of King Fed. And now I’m hungry for more. But I really don’t know what to expect.

He is already taken time-off after the last win, not playing in Barcelona, another title he has won five times in a row. That just says so much more that his body is not the same anymore (but secretly I hope its more that he is not taking any chances this year). His run last year in April was one of the best I have seen in my life (After the Australian Open, he won three titles in a row – Monte Carlo, Barca, Rome, losing only to Federer in the final of Madrid). But it wont be the same again this year, even if the start has been perfect.

But there’s also one more thought in my mind.

His wimbledon title was probably the biggest, but I don’t care what he does there anymore. I just want him to win at Roland Garros. And see some parity be restored. He may not be Federer, I just want to see the King of clay.