Today I did one of my favorite thing..watched tennis whole evening..the Women's singles quarterfinals of US Open. (yes..there was more to watch than mere women!) The two challenging matches I witnessed today lying on my couch sipping Coke Classic [no beer :(] were worth watching 'Live'. First was between Nadia Petrova (9) and the glamorous russian champ Sharapova (1). Sharapova has been the cynosure of all eyes this season not just because of her looks, but because of her fitness, practice and vigor. But today the champ had a hard time. Even though she won finally, but whole time I was favoring Petrova. Because for me, she was a true fighter. Her spirits in the game were awesome and worth appreciating.
I dont know why, but I always have this penchant to support the person who is fighting and struggling against a champion or against all odds. Maybe the true feeling of victory or achievement will come if you defeat a champ. In another words "The more challenging it is, more exciting it becomes !". Sometimes, I see myself in there and start supporting that person aggressively. The comeback of Nadia with well-placed shots and good serves after loosing at 1-4 was truly awesome. Even though she lost finally, but she did gave the feel of 'loosing' in second set. It was visible in Maria's errors and misdirected shots. Hats off to Petrova.
Second match was between Kim Clijsters (4) and Venus Williams (10). Venus is making a comeback and was ousted by the Belgian Bomber. Here I was in favor of Clijsters, not just because she is cute and athletic, but because of her determination. William's game is more governed by powerful shots and aggressiveness whereas there can be something more to the game i.e. technique, finding opponents shortcomings and using them, strength and high amount of agility and flexibility. Thats what Clijsters demonstarted on the courts. Her flexibility by taking shots at the end of the courts by stretching legs, endurance during long volleys were so great. Though she lost the first game, but then she fought back and finally won. She said, "Even though I probably wasn't playing my best tennis at all, for a set and a half, I still kept fighting." Thats what I like, "the spirit to fight".
This makes me realize that I also have to fight against all odds to get the career of my choice. Afterall, A true fighter fights till the end !!!
As for the tournament, as it shrinks to the final stages, the challenges will grow bigger, competition will become stiffer, stakes will be higher and excitement will increase to new heights....so will my beer consumption.
So, finally the Belgian Toughness shines in the US Open after defeating the top seeds of Tennis i.e.Sharapova 'the tigress', Venus Williams 'the powerhouse' and Mary Pierce 'the slammer staging a comeback' !!! Wow..what an achievement. This was the first time I had watched Kim Clijsters game completely and analyzed her performance. Her coverage of the court by exceptional stretching and reaching the ball was simply remarkable. She must have made her mom (Belgian Gymnastic champ) and dad (outstanding soccer player) proud of themselves. Her game has the technique, strategy and tenacity and offcourse excellent physical abilities. And then she had the determination to remove the black spot of not having any grand slam title. So, she got the US Open 2005 trophy. Her game against Maria Sharapova was a 'not to be missed one' and I dint missed it either.
