Ripples on the brain

After the triumph at Wimbledon last year, we all wondered where Federer will be at this year’s Wimbledon. We thought he might be fighting to get on par with Pete Sampras or probably to even dethrone him considering Federer’s clay court game had also been improving and this year he was due for a French title. And to watch Federer yesterday was just pathetic.

Not that he was playing poorly, but it was just amazing to watch how much effort he had to put to get a single point. Like for one of his serves, he just changed his plan the last minute and served it short and high so that he could volley. When Nadal was serving, he started moving around like how batsmen do in the last few overs in a cricket match. I didn’t like Nadal’s game, but I think the way he kept running and returning whatever was thrown at him was super human. He just seemed to defy the uncertainty principle with his power and precision. Now that Nadal has barged into “Federer’s part” of the season, it remains to be seen how the year progresses. Normally Nadal’s game plateaus post-Wimbledon, but this year may be different.

Though the general opinion is otherwise, I somehow like a sport being dominated by a single person - an icon. I cannot prove it through data, but I feel the attention to a sport increases whenever an icon dominates it. Schumacher readily comes to mind. Even in tennis, nobody remembers the period when these non-icons win Grand Slam tournaments. It might be probably because hero worship in ingrained my psyche.

Revathi tags me and wants to know my quirks. My first reaction was I’m too lazy to take up to tags. Sathish had tagged me once and I attempted to take it up, but never actually did it. Then I thought I’ll take it up and see where it goes.

1. I get too embarrassed whenever I recall some embarrassing situations I have been in, so much so that I need to do something rash to get over it, like banging my fists on the floor or suddenly accelarating insanely if I happen to recall something when I’m driving.

2. That brings me to my second quirk. I generally get lost in thought whenever I’m driving all alone. I start thinking about some random things that I normally forget something important I would have been doing just before I started and wanted to continue after I reach my destination. Sometimes, even when the drive is just 20 minutes or so, it feels like I had been driving all day when I reach my destination because I would have been imagining too many things.

3. Even at this age it is very easy for me to migrate into a world of fantasy. I imagine myself to be the PM, to be a player in the Wimbledon finals, so on and so forth.

4. I don’t like taking photographs when we visit places because I feel that it once I take the camera out, it becomes the sole point of interest. One more reason I dislike taking photographs is probably because I dislike seeing myself in one.

5. Even after so many years of experience, I get uneasy before getting into any conference call irrespective of the duration of the call and the number of participants.

6. I can never watch any of those thrilling matches especially when the team / person I support is losing. I just switch off the television or turn to a different channel.

Okay, compiling this list was quite tough.