Still the One!

For the last two days, whoever sees me tells me I am looking extra-happy. “What’s the reason dude?,” people ask me. But those who know the reason are prompt to congratulate me. Roger has won the U.S. Open. It was pretty uncharacteristic way for Roger to celebrate his win. Roger fell to his knees and then rolled onto his back, overwhelmed with the moment. He screamed his heart out before rising and saluting the crowd for their support. And this tells us how important this win was for Roger. "It definitely feels great. This is a very special moment in my career. To take this one home is incredible. It means the world to me," Roger said.

And to think of it, most people had started writing obituaries of his career..said his reign is over. It pained a lot to hear those comments. But I believed in you. And thanks so much for vindicating me. Now your detractors can Rest In Peace.

How quick we are to predict a star’s fall. Some people proclaimed that this is his worst performance and he will never be able to win another grand slam. Just because the guy had reached finals of two grand slams, semifinals in one, and won doubles gold in Olympics. How lackluster! How ordinary! Well..other players would be just happy enough to end the year with such performance. Look what Andy Murray said about his performance. "I had a great tournament," Murray said. "Came up against, in my opinion, the greatest player to ever play the game. I got the best of him the last two times we played. He definitely set the record straight."

Sure, at the start of the season, Roger was suffering from mononucleosis, still he reached semifinals of the Australian Open. He was uncharacteristically outplayed by Nadal in French open and lost the epic match on Wimbledon’s centre court by a mere 2 points, the kind of matches he usually comes out winning.

For almost five years, he has dominated the game with his velvety strokeplay and charismatic forehand. His artistry is just unmatched. Unlike Nadal’s muscular-style power play, Roger moves his racquet like a painter’s brush on a canvas. And each stroke is a chef d’ouvre in the making. He does things with the racquet that leaves people gasping for breath. He moves around the court with an omnipresent, superhuman-like quality. And the best thing is he is as graceful off the court as competent as on the court.

But throughout this season, we have seen the human in this almost-superhuman being. He grimaced in pain when losing the Wimbledon final, saw himself lose without even putting a fight to Nadal in French Open, couldn’t fulfill his dream of winning an Olympic gold in singles, and then lost his no. 1 ranking in August this year. It was as much frustrating for his fans as for him. His fans could feel his vulnerability. But in U.S. Open, he showed his brutal, ruthless side. He screamed at each point won and was excited as hell when he won the title. It was exciting to witness Federer being challenged. Searching for answers to questions that were raised on his ability. And it was as much fun to see him regain his lost pride.

Roger now has shown that he can turn things around as quickly as he switches from forehand to backhand to create a winner. And he has clearly indicated that he will not rest on 13 titles. He is going to break Pete’s record. With Nadal, Novak, and Murray closing in on him and threatening his invincibility, it’s a great time for Tennis and the game’s lovers are gonna enjoy the rivalry to the hilt.

Like on every other thing, Roger has an opinion on this one too "One thing is for sure. I'm not going to stop at 13."

The grass is still greener on Roger’s side.

Roger, you are Still the One! :))