Vishal's Blog

    Why am I a Federer fan and would always be?   In 2001, the game of tennis was nicely placed with some good young players coming up. None, however had challenged Pete Sampras, the reigning champion on grass so far.   At Wimbledon, he was the defending champion having won seven titles in the past eight years. In the fourth round, his opponent was a pony-tailed Swiss teenager named Roger Federer playing for the first time on the Centre court.   Watching Federer play some delightful strokes that day made me feel like an amused child watching a skilled magician perform jaw dropping tricks.   One particular moment in the match I so vividly remember was my perfect Federer-moment.   Here’s what happened -   The first set of the intriguing match was locked at 6-6 and Sampras was leading the tie break at 4-3 with Federer serving.   He emphasized  with a chest high serve. Sampras jumped back and returned with a backh...

Past Forward to 1999 Thinking about this one, my mind went digging into the past before reminding me of a special match played by Andre Agassi at the Roland Garros. Playing against Andriy Medvedev in the final, Agassi was down two sets to nil before rain stopped play. When play resumed, he upped his game and won the last three sets to complete a remarkable win. Later the teary-eyed man was seen blowing kisses to spectators, something which he would later repeat after every win . On that day Agassi created history and achieved something which many great players of his era failed to achieve – a Career Slam. He was the fifth man overall to do it. And I was left thinking he was one of the best to have played the game.   Fast Forward to 2005           Enter Rafael Nadal!! A few years later Nadal appeared and made the red clay courts of the Roland Garros his own. And below has been the norm at the Roland Garros since tha...