Emperor Roger Rules In Australian Open
Emperor Roger Federrer has done it again and he has done what he loves most. He loves to dominate. He loves to dissect and demolish his opponents with the deft touches of a surgeon. In the Australian Open-2010 the tennis maestro has exhibited form of an ominous kind signalling his return to it in a majestic manner putting all doubts at rest about his erratic form by annexing his 16th Grand Slam title. The expansive smile that he put on with the big glittering Australian Open Trophy sums up his great happiness and pleasure. Nowadays whatever Roger Federrer does, becomes a record just like our very own Sachin Tendulkar, the cricket god of this nation. His appearance in the final of this tournament is his 22nd which is a record. He had the rare distinction of making eight consecutive appearances in Grand Slam Finals till 2008. Well, he has done enough to earn a niche in the pantheon of tennis gods. Let the tennis pundits debate whether he is the greatest of all and it is time for admirers to soak in his glorious achievment.
While the entire world is in a celebrating mood over his triumph in the Australian Open -2010, my mind flashes back to the tragedy in 2009 when he lost to his nemesis Rafael Nadal, the Spaniard and a worthy opponent of Federrer who dethroned him temporarily by the winning that five-setter epic battle against him. Till then, Roger Federrer made it winning a habit. The unusual spectacle that was watched by millions of his fans all over the world remained etched in our memory. Emperor virtually broke down and cried like a child which was completely out of sync with normal cool and calm ways.
Critics pounced upon his defeat to write obituaries on a glorious tennis career. I still remember the lines penned by one of our former tennis players and a businessman in one of his columns in a leading daily, who expressed his doubts about Roger's ability to come back citing his age , the presence of physically fitter young opponents and above all his obsession with his regular defeats in the hands of Nadal. His latest exploit has made fools of these all-knowing critics and made them eat their own words. I am once again reminded of the great saying: “ loss of form is temporary and class is permanent”. He belongs to the classical mould.
If Roger Federrer is not just one of the greatest tennis players of the history. He is a great ambassador of the game too. There were many greats who played superb tennis made names but they were known to have a hair-trigger temperament. The players like Mcanroe, Nastase were involved in unsavoury incidents. But Federrer has an impeccable record on this count. Even Andy Murray, the Scotsman whom he vanquished in style, spoke eloquently when he said:”It's just a shame I can't play like him” and the maestro on his part complimented his opponent in the following words:”Thanks to guys like Murray. They have made a better player”.
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