Federer and Sampras - two great champions

What can you say about these two supreme athletes and tennis champions? One of them was 19 and the other, exactly ten years his senior, but both of them in a league all their own. This is the one and only recorded match (as far as I know) between Pistol Pete and Fed Ex, but what a humdinger of a match! Though the clip only shows the highlights, it's not difficult to imagine the quality that these two geniuses brought to the game: one of them on his way out of the sport, and the other just finding his feet in the professional circuit, but already exhibiting signs of a rare blossom. It's ten-plus minutes of sublime, other-worldly tennis.

As I watched the clip, it struck me that the Master really came into his own while volleying (especially the overhead and the drop-/stop- volleys), whereas the Heir, though proving himself no slouch at volleying, was very much a master in his own right from the back of the court, often stranding his legendary opponent with the ferocity of his strokes. Alas, it's really difficult to say who was the better player that day!

Another Fed Ex masterclass moment; sit back and enjoy!

Going where no man has...

I've heard it said of the 1999 Wimbledon final match between Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi - the match which Sampras won in straight sets - as being a display of Peerless Pete's virtuosity. Sadly, I never got to watch the match except some highlights. The same sad story continued today when I could only read reports of, not watch live, Roger Federer's demolition of Andy Roddick in straight sets at the 2007 Australian Open.

In 1999, Agassi claimed, after having lost the match, "He walked on water." I wonder what Roddick will have to say about his 83-minute annihilation. Consider this: just prior to the start of the tournament, Roddick had defeated Federer in an exhibition match; only a few months earlier, he'd held match point against Federer. Reports continued to keep pouring in about how much Andy had closed the gap between himself and Federer in the last one year after having Jimmy Connors as his coach. And then this! Andy said after the match, "It was frustrating. It sucked. It was terrible. Besides that, it was fine." I feel sorry for you Andy, but maybe you should consider going to Nadal and picking up a thing or two before he reaches your present despondent state.

Links:
An interesting, on-going comparison between the lives of two of tennis' greatest players. This is one for the bookmarks.
An emotional article by The Hindu's Nirmal Shekar in which he also lists his top-10 list of Sampras' victories.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday in advance SP! May your life be full of pleasant surprises; may the sounds of laughter always fill your life. God bless! Love.