Federer vs Nadal

I was hoping Federer would win the Australian Open today and equal Pete Sampras’ record of 14 Grand Slam titles. Sadly, that was not to be. In a hard-fought 5 setter, a younger, fitter Rafael Nadal got the better of Roger Federer (7-5, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2) in a match that lasted nearly 4.5 hours.But I have to confess that “Rafa” was awesome. His fierce cross-court returns, top-spinning slices and volleys won him the day. And keep in mind that he played the finals one day after another 5 hour semi-final where he was extended by compatriot Fernando Verdasco (Nadal won 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4).

I have not seen Federer teary-eyed before and at some level, it was gut-wrenching to see a champion of his stature and class crying. But what struck me even more was Nadal’s empathetic response: at the award ceremony, he began by saying “sorry for today”- that he was sorry for having beaten Federer and denying him his 14th Grand Slam.Nadal went on to say that Federer is a champion and that he would equal Sampras’ record soon.

Here’s wishing Federer his 14th Grand Slam in 2009- and “Rafa” many more successes in the years ahead.

Australian cricket team’s crisis of confidence

Ever since the retirement of McGrath, Warne and Gilchrist (and Justin Langer) in somewhat quick succession, the Australian cricket team has lost its cutting edge. Hayden’s recent retirement and Symond’s self-destructive moves haven’t helped either.

New talent has been blooded and in another year or so, Australia will have rebuilt its team. There is talent aplenty in the Husseys, Shaun Marsh, Michael Clarke, Mitchell Johnson and many others. But after the India tour and the recent loss to South Africa in both the test and ODI series, the Australian team’s self-confidence has been low. Even in today’s ODI match against New Zealand, Australia steadily lost wickets and ended up with a below-par 181 runs. But what was important was that they were unable to defend the total, although they did make early in-roads into the New Zealand innings (and there were a couple of bad umpiring decisions).

There have been flashes of dominance but of late,  the legendary team cohesiveness and “never-say-die” attitude that kept Australia at the top for more than 15 years, have been conspicuous by their absence, for the most part.