CrossQuote
By Shivani Gupta
Andre being ‘Open’
Jun 21st
I’ve been reading Andre Agassi’s autobiography ‘Open’ and I just crossed a landmark in the book. Or as Andre would say it, ‘I crossed the Rubicon’.
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.
So sweet it is to be wrong!
Jun 13th
Well, first of all I have to accept how in my last blog I under-estimated Rafael Nadal, who those who’ve read my previous blog would know is one of my most favourite athletes in the world.
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.
Remember The Time
Apr 25th
Nadal winning his 6th Monte Carlo title this past week brought back some really fond memories of his to me. After seeing him on the sidelines for quite a while, I once again have a champion, a player, a man to support on the court.
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 6th 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.
Master Magic all over again!
Apr 12th
It’s amazing how normal it was. This being the Augusta National with all it’s finesse and restrictions, you expected it to be better than anywhere else. But just how quickly things were as good as old when it came to Tiger Wood’s comeback after an unprecedented scandal, was truly brilliant.
At one level it showed I think, how many of us had become fed up of all the drama and ‘masala’ and just wanted good old pure golf back again. And did the Tiger oblige or what!
So unrepenting in some ways that it was a little unnerving at times. He wasn’t going to have the scandal linger on anymore. He wasn’t going to be a different golfer because of it. The on-spot commentators and 18th-hole interviewers tried and tried. But it wasn’t going to happen. Tiger didn’t make any excuses. After that fabulous record first round for him, he didn’t play very well. Infact struggled with his golf all along.
But Woods wasnt going to be okay with it. Ahh… How good it is to have him back untouched in some ways! His yardstick for measuring his own performances hasn’t changed. This wasnt going to be a different tournament for ‘different reasons’. And nothing less than perfect was good enough. He was here to win it. Plain and simple. So if he wasn’t happy, it meant he wasn’t. No new perspective to golf, life and blah blah.
For us onlookers though, there is a new perspective. I wasn’t quite sure how this week would go for him, golf and otherwise. But then I saw his game face on. And I wondered how he was doing it. Regardless of which side of the debate you’re on – put yourself in his shoes – and think how you’d be able to do it (and play good golf at the same time). Suddenly his position is unenviable.
But there has been a growth in how you look at Tiger as an athlete, a golfer at the world’s top. Appreciation that is. It’s not easy and he did make it look so easy.
The sweetest fairytale this week would have been Tiger winning. But we got the second best isn’t it?
And that brings me to the lovely Phil Mickelson. Aggressive, unrelenting and brilliant! When you see him playing the way he does, it’s not hard to understand why he so often is the people’s choice. The people’s champion. Lefty’s frustating struggles and endearing wins on the course are so out there and so close to you, one can almost feel it (even on TV!).
Soon you find yourself associating with him, backing him, urging him on. And then when he pulls off one of the most satisfying major campaigns, you can feel his joy.
His 30-minute run on the back nine on Saturday was perhaps one of the best half-hour of golf you’d ever see (Two eagles on the 13 and 14th and nearly another on the 15th). Almost a major decided before the final day. So even though he entered sunday with a one shot deficit to someone like a Lee Westwood, who till then had not shown any signs of letting up, you knew there’s no stopping Mickelson. He was going for it!
And what better shot to punctuate that than the one on the 13th sunday! On the pine straw, behind the tree and onto the green for another eagle chance. Again! I thought to myself, “Oh c’mon Phil. Dont play with us!”
But then, who’s complaining!
Leave the Golfer alone now!
Apr 8th
Tiger Woods cheated, it made the world mad. Him choosing to be quiet about it made it worse.
When he finally spoke, it wasn’t good enough. Then he decided to get back to what he knows best (its still golf!) and he was blamed for being too self-centered for choosing the Masters. Even though, everyone knows the choice is a no-brainer.
All that may have been justified, but now that he is back on the course, can we atleast leave the ‘golfer’ alone?
This is not to say that all that he did doesn’t matter. But the very public that loved the sports-star despite the outbursts on the course shouldn’t hate him for what he did off it.
Wasn’t it because he was a winner then and anything ‘went’ but not so much anymore. So if he started winning again, will all be ok again?
Heck don’t even expect him to have completely changed but then, if his golf remains the same, does it matter?
Despite all the horrible things he’s done and the price he’s paid, the golfer in him is back in just five months! Given everything it’s no a long time. And that’s probably where our attention should be as well…
Again people have been quick to say – what a terrible personal choice. Doesn’t the word ‘personal’ mean anything?
So hate the man and don’t make a role model for your kids anymore (even your husbands) but if it wasn’t golf you loved him for, then now is the time to shut up!
PS – Enjoy the Masters
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