...
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
...
It is quite a wonderful phenomenon to see legends performing their final swan-song. It stirs in us a feeling of wistfulness and excitement simultaneously. The heart aches for an encore of their best moments while the mind wrestles and succeeds into advising the heart that rational thinking will always prevail.
The above three players displayed their skills with elan and humility is ingrained into everyone of them.There were many but in the current era, these three names spring to mind. The first has retired from active play, the middle is performing his final act and the person on the right is still active on one part of the circuit. Watching them play their games instigated a sense of awe and joy in us. Sooner than later, Federer and Messi will stop plying their trade leaving in their wake a feeling of sadness and nostalgia among fans.
The name Roger Federer evokes so many emotions in a sports fan. It associates itself with a calm demeanour, success, restrained emotions, human to some and alien to rest, and what-not. The present generation would feel unlucky not to have born sooner to witness and understand this legend's acquiring of the baton from another legend of the game, Pete Sampras. I, for one, was hardly 10 when he won the first of his 17 Major titles. As the newspapers raved and ranted on the new kid on the block, I couldn't fathom the reason behind all this frenzy. It was just a player winning one Grand Slam. Though that was and still is quite big a deal, I wondered about his ability to sustain it. Yes, I was quite aware even then of what winning a Major meant and I had even heard about this player Goran Ivanisevic who had won only a single Major. That was two years prior to Federer's first Major. Associating myself with that, I had my reservations on whether this player could sustain the success. But then, the experts had other ideas. Of course, they had played and analysed the game for decades. They knew better. Quite aptly was the statement penned, "Pete Sampras has passed the mantle to the next generation epitomised by Roger Federer". I am not paraphrasing, but this was what the media reports more or less meant back then.
Growing up, I had heard tales of the fierce on-court rivalry between John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg from my parents and relatives. I watched their matches on YouTube and on TV, soaking in the serve-and-volley feast they dished out. A more-than-cursory interest in analytics of the game meant I watched and re-watched their foot and hand movements. And I began comparing their play to Federer's. His net-play was exquisite. So were his forehand winners. But what piqued me was his single-handed backhand. That was the first time I was watching anyone play a one-handed backhand. To accurately land the ball into opponent's territory with suitable power using one hand enthralled my senses. I was hooked to his game. I did not know then that this very stroke would eventually prove to be his undoing.
The game was changing. Racquets sported a different look and every player began chiselling his body to exert more power on the ball. Tennis was in transition and science was its epicentre. Serve-and-volley was dying a slow death giving birth to baseline play or as some term it, baseline slugging. Borg and McEnroe built grace into the game and that guaranteed success in their time, It apparently wasn't to be when Federer arrived on the scene. But Federer did exactly that. He played the game wth grace and with power. A delicious blend of the two elements resulted in a decade of feast for tennis fans all over the globe.
As Federer began amassing titles, Rafael Nadal was emerging. Closely following him was Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Nadal displayed an altogether different aspect of the game. Raw power and immense physical endurance. That wasn't enough to defeat Federer then. Gradually, physicality overpowered grace and Federer began his descent from the peak. Occasionally were there moments when Federer's brilliance shone through but that was the exception rather than the norm. The tears after his Australian Open final loss in 2009 made fans realise that he too was human. They began to accept that further successes of Federer would have to be digested with a bitter pill.
And then came Djokovic to overpower Nadal and dole him out a generous taste of his own medicine. Rivalry in men's tennis has now been extinguished and replaced by the field trying to defeat one man with supreme physical and tennis skills.
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
...
It is quite a wonderful phenomenon to see legends performing their final swan-song. It stirs in us a feeling of wistfulness and excitement simultaneously. The heart aches for an encore of their best moments while the mind wrestles and succeeds into advising the heart that rational thinking will always prevail.
The name Roger Federer evokes so many emotions in a sports fan. It associates itself with a calm demeanour, success, restrained emotions, human to some and alien to rest, and what-not. The present generation would feel unlucky not to have born sooner to witness and understand this legend's acquiring of the baton from another legend of the game, Pete Sampras. I, for one, was hardly 10 when he won the first of his 17 Major titles. As the newspapers raved and ranted on the new kid on the block, I couldn't fathom the reason behind all this frenzy. It was just a player winning one Grand Slam. Though that was and still is quite big a deal, I wondered about his ability to sustain it. Yes, I was quite aware even then of what winning a Major meant and I had even heard about this player Goran Ivanisevic who had won only a single Major. That was two years prior to Federer's first Major. Associating myself with that, I had my reservations on whether this player could sustain the success. But then, the experts had other ideas. Of course, they had played and analysed the game for decades. They knew better. Quite aptly was the statement penned, "Pete Sampras has passed the mantle to the next generation epitomised by Roger Federer". I am not paraphrasing, but this was what the media reports more or less meant back then.
Growing up, I had heard tales of the fierce on-court rivalry between John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg from my parents and relatives. I watched their matches on YouTube and on TV, soaking in the serve-and-volley feast they dished out. A more-than-cursory interest in analytics of the game meant I watched and re-watched their foot and hand movements. And I began comparing their play to Federer's. His net-play was exquisite. So were his forehand winners. But what piqued me was his single-handed backhand. That was the first time I was watching anyone play a one-handed backhand. To accurately land the ball into opponent's territory with suitable power using one hand enthralled my senses. I was hooked to his game. I did not know then that this very stroke would eventually prove to be his undoing.
The game was changing. Racquets sported a different look and every player began chiselling his body to exert more power on the ball. Tennis was in transition and science was its epicentre. Serve-and-volley was dying a slow death giving birth to baseline play or as some term it, baseline slugging. Borg and McEnroe built grace into the game and that guaranteed success in their time, It apparently wasn't to be when Federer arrived on the scene. But Federer did exactly that. He played the game wth grace and with power. A delicious blend of the two elements resulted in a decade of feast for tennis fans all over the globe.
As Federer began amassing titles, Rafael Nadal was emerging. Closely following him was Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Nadal displayed an altogether different aspect of the game. Raw power and immense physical endurance. That wasn't enough to defeat Federer then. Gradually, physicality overpowered grace and Federer began his descent from the peak. Occasionally were there moments when Federer's brilliance shone through but that was the exception rather than the norm. The tears after his Australian Open final loss in 2009 made fans realise that he too was human. They began to accept that further successes of Federer would have to be digested with a bitter pill.
And then came Djokovic to overpower Nadal and dole him out a generous taste of his own medicine. Rivalry in men's tennis has now been extinguished and replaced by the field trying to defeat one man with supreme physical and tennis skills.
