AUSTRALIAN OPEN FINAL 2012

So I was one of the millions of people across the world with my eyes glued to the television in sheer awe, watching the Australian Open Final between Rafa Nadal and eventual winner Novak Djokovic. That is, eventual in the most literal sense of the word. It was six hours of epic tennis, showcasing everything from emotion to skill and strength to passion. They were fucking warriors.

There's been plenty of media hyping this up to have been the greatest match ever, and all in good reason. It encapsulated all that is great about sport, totally inspiring. The match swayed continuously, with both players taking the momentum and showing their best. It really could have gone either way and in many occasions too. The final set had Nadal all over it until he missed a backhand volley by a few millimeters, a point that he had set up perfectly. Djokovic came back out of nowhere and stormed to a deserved victory of 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 7-5. It's all very good writing about it afterwards, but it's a match that is most valuable watched in full, and one that will remain as a significant point in the timeline of tennis for generations.

LI NA FRENCH OPEN CHAMPION 2011

French Open Finals weekend. 29-year-old Li Na of China took the women's title today, beating defending champion Schiavone 6-4 7-6. I wasn't able to watch the match myself but I hear she played some mature, resilient and powerful tennis to become the first ever Asian player to clinch a Grand Slam title. A phenomenal achievement. Tomorrow's men's final between Federer and Nadal will top off another classic fortnight at Roland Garros.

FEDERER CONUNDRUM

So I was thinking..

Since the World Cup is taking a break for a couple days, I turned my attention to Wimbledon. No, there wasn't another super epic 183-game thriller, but the No 1 seed Roger Federer did lose today in the quarter finals to the Czech dude called Berdych.

Anyways I was wondering - why does Roger Federer not sweat? Like, he seems to be some ultra perfect human specimen whose tennis is beautiful, his interviews are thoughtful, his modesty is respectable. But he just doesn't sweat, like his hair always looks silky and never messy. You look at Nadal who has sweat dripping all over the place but then there's Federer who looks totally unphased.

Just a thought.

..seriously though, not a bead of fluid can be seen. Crazy.

A COUPLE GAMES TOO FAR

Something extraordinary took place yesterday, as Wimbledon provided us with an 11-hour match of tennis. John Isner and Nicolas Mahut were out on Court 18 for 3 days, playing out 183 games in total, with 168 consecutive service games held. Records were torn apart as they served out more than 100 aces each, during a hugely entertaining and quite ridiculous match.

What was most impressive to me was the effort and determination shown by the two guys. Even until the very last games, they were still serving at speeds close to 140mph, their rallies continued to be thrilling and the passion on display was superb. I reckon a whole bunch of people will have upped their respect for the game after that one. 11 hours of tennis is a huge period of time, I mean the amount of ground they must have covered is staggering. And yet they each showed courage and despite their fatigue, which should have been unbearable, they continued to play tennis at the highest standard. It was truly awesome.

But what I really wanted to point out was today's result. John Isner the American had come through the match taking the final set 70-68 and his second round tie was today. He lost. In fact, he got destroyed. It lasted 74 minutes compared to 665 minutes against Mahut. Though the tournament goes on without either warriors of the epic encounter, it will always remain in the history books. No match will ever match that one.

LINKS : Wimbledon | John Isner