A Mismanaged Promise

The title may suggest this write-up as a one which instructs or tries to draw conclusions, but let me clarify that neither does this piece intend to do that nor is this penned for the sake of it.

A couple of days after the incredible night of 2^nd April 2011, India & Indians were struck by Anna Hazare and his colleagues. The support was infectious, age was no bar, job status didn’t matter and most of the 1.2 billion Indians thought this was the ‘change’ everybody wanted with the Indian system. You felt that this was the moment when fantasies could realize, India would be devoid of any black money stashed abroad and life could be different. It was euphoric, it was unprecedented, it was fantastic and it was real! Today, the media has a strong influence the way and amount of stories they cover and present; as the movement came about suddenly the media didn’t have time to prepare for it. Primetime debates were occupied by unstoppable chatter about the movement, the characters involved and the legislation desired. The support strength quickly grew from a few hundreds to a few thousands to a few millions! I liked the campaigned, believed in it, but wanted to wait and watch.

India's Olympic Dream!

Over the next fortnight or so 81 Indian athletes will compete in London, a few thousand Indians will root for them at the stadiums, and about a billion in India will have overwhelming hopes pinned up! There are reasons to believe why these 2 weeks could be the game changer for sports in India - not only do we have a the largest contingent in our history, we also have athletes with realistic medal-winning possibilities. Indian participation at the Olympics now is ‘expected’ to win medals and not ‘hope-to-do-so’, the build-up has been injury-free and there is a buzz about the contingent.

There would be a few who wouldn’t want to believe the rosy side of the story, and rightly so. India has a track record of less than a medal at an Olympic, India’s highest tally is 3 at a single edition and India has participation at only 50% events that would be organized at London. Realistically we don't have too many out of the 81 with a strong medal contention. Given India’s history at the games, there would a few who would support the athletes only once they notch up numbers on the medals tally. South Africa’s sports minister bid their contingent expecting 12 medals, we are left to wonder whether Ajay Maken would really want to predict a number.

Women's Tennis Has A Few Questions To Answer!

Gilles Simon generated quite a flutter with his seemingly outrageous comments on women’s tennis. The reaction to that statement was weighed towards opposition and rejection of what Simon had to say and propose. Serena Williams went onto win her 5^th Wimbledon which has resulted in Victoria Azarenka sitting at the pedestal on WTA rankings. In the last 5 years the numero uno ranking has fluctuated 17 times between 9 players. Out of the 21 slams during that period we have witnessed 12 different champions! During th last 5 years there have been 3 occasions when the player on the pedestal didn’t have a slam to her name. Serena Williams has won the most slams during this period with 6 titles, but managed to stay at the top of the table for only 66 weeks during the last 5 years. She has been off the number one ranking for about a year and a half now.

These are too erratic stats for a sport! Either they suggest extensive close competition or too much fluctuation; those following women’s tennis would vehemently pick the latter option. Simon’s thoughts appear sexist and outrageous for the way they were articulated, but what we can draw from it is the concern of quality tennis from the women’s circuit. If anybody is suggesting lack of effort from the women players or less work more pays kind of thing, then that demands opposition as was the case with Simon’s statement.

Grass & Clay = Chalk & Cheese, eh?

Barely a fortnight separates the two, the seeded players too aren’t very different, the continent doesn’t change, yet for some reason the two non-hard court slams have a trend of producing different champions! The change of surface could be the major reason, or the suitability of certain players to certain conditions or simply a coincidence.

Let us scroll down ‘recent history’ to explore this occurrence! Since the year 2000 only thrice has the Wimbledon and French Open had the same men’s single champion - 2008 & 2010 (Nadal), 2009 (Federer). Nadal’s early ouster from this year’s Wimbledon came as a shocker, yet there have been instances of the French Open champion bowing out early at London - Gustavo Kuerten (R3 - 2000), Juan Carlos Ferrero (R4 - 2003), Rafael Nadal (R2 - 2005).

Sania's Stance Is Valid, But Can We Move On?

Fierce shot, strong return, cheeky drop shot, helpless leave and a brutal serve is what Bhupathi, Paes, Bopanna, AITA officials and Sania respectively have had to offer over the last couple of weeks; all in the verbal sense of it! The Olympics are barely a month away and at a time when India is about to send its largest contingent for tennis, here we are debating and analyzing what the players have to say about each other and about the governing body, rather than discussing their skills and potential ability to win medals. Each of the enlisted entity have had its elaborate share of washing dirty linen in public and the latest to that is India’s highest ranked ‘female’ tennis player.

So is Sania’s stance appropriate? Does that add to the muddle that has already swelled to a point of embarrassment? For starters Sania’s views are well timed and hence appear more than genuine; she spoke only after her entry into the Olympics was confirmed. If you read the entire transcript completely you will realize that her position has been well advocated, exaggerating the language only wherever it should be (the part about male chauvinism). The quotes sparked off sharp responses from many, including those who aren’t her fans, the consensus endorsing her dissent about the kind of treatment that was dished out.

Beauty & Her Crown Of Jewels!

Though she makes you switch on the mute button of your TV, though she doesn’t quite make for exemplary tennis but it would be a hard exercise to list tennis viewers who don’t like to watch her play! She’s loved by millions, emerged as teen prodigy, an advertiser’s dream and the career slam achieved at Paris splashes the cream on a delightful career.

Her tennis career has fluctuated more than the crude oil prices over the last few years, yet there is something about her which makes her fans support with unperturbed zest. A major injury hampered her potential growth as a superpower in the women’s circuit after a dream debut, but since last year you can see her getting back to where it began; both in terms of unperturbed determination to win and the brand of tennis.

The Fine Line Between Good & Very Good!

Every sport has its flagship tourney, which is meant to test the best and showcase the rest! Likewise the 4 Grand Slams provide the opportunity to top ranked tennis players to compete with the best and exhibit their skills in front of a large pool of audience. The French Open of 2012 has had each of the above-mentioned attribute: the top seeds have been tested and the fringe top seeds have had their opportunity to command applause and admiration.

Sports fans/commentators/viewers often speak up a clichéd thought - ‘may the best player win’. In every discipline you find sportsmen who are separated by a thin line of quality which defines that ‘best’ in the above statement. This week’s tennis has reiterated this fine line between the good and the very good. Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic & Roger Federer are outstanding bearers of the tennis racquet, though each one of them is at a different stage of his individual career. While Nadal is almost a clay court perfectionist, Djokovic & Federer have customized their game to meet the needs. Yet a common thread that knits the 3 into a single bracket is of that their ‘never-say-die’ attitude!