Sania Mirza! Is she the Paradigm Shift in Gen-X Indian girl?

[geno]

This hyderabadi gal is absolutely Breath-taking and Mind-boggling!

* First Indian woman to beat the winner of a Grand Slam event.( she beat current US open champion, Svetlana - in the Dubai WTA tourney's league match)

* First Indian woman to win a WTA event.

* First Indian woman to beat a top-10 player

* First Indian woman to break into the top 100 ranks of WTA

Sania's Ascent in World tennis scenario has been dramatic and truly magnificent!

After her league match with Serena williams in the Australian open - she then won a WTA tournament in Hyderabad, which is the First-ever WTA title victory for an Indian women EVER!! :D

Sania Mirza had literally stormed into the top 100 of the women's world rankings with that WTA title, securing the Rank 97.

In Dubai she beat No 4 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova who is also the current US open champion and moved to play in the Quarter-Finals where she lost to Serbian Jelena Jankovic .

The Sania-Mania as it is described by the media is truly electric and very much evident. The Tennis racket sales in major metros shot up by 50% after she won the WTA open earlier in hyderabad in Feb of this year.

Sania may be the ultimate role-model for teenage India girls as she is all of 18 now!

Finally the ALL-CONQUERING, "WORLD-CLASS" GEN-X INDIAN GIRL HAS ARRIVED???!!!

What do you girls/women think of Sania-phenomenon out there?!

Sania mirza zindabad!! :D

P.S : Hey guys! She's damn cute too!! :wink: :lol:

[blahblah]

Good one Geno,atleast a million times better than the cuuute Parthiv thread.While her achievements may not be huge,she represents the new Indian who dare to enter fields unexplored so far.Her run will certainly inspire many others who are out there.It was the achievements of Vishwanathan Anand that made chess popular in India.I can confidently say that we are moving towards a multy-sport culture. :)

[geno]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1265060,00110002.htm

That link's got a cute pic of her! :D

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1041639.cms

[geno]

blahblah!!

Hi how have you been?!! :)


While her achievements may not be huge,she represents the new Indian who dare to enter fields unexplored so far.Her run will certainly inspire many others who are out there

Absolutely! I think she has already made lots of teens star-struck and dream big and go places!

Amidst all odds the Indian "Super-woman" has truly arrived is what i'd describe Sania's achievements! :D

See ya soon blah2! :)

[blahblah]

blahblah!!

Hi how have you been?!! :)

See ya soon blah2! :)

Great Geno,one Northie laundry boy has been keeping me busy!I haven't seen you here for sometime and you are one hubber whom I miss when you are not around :wink: .

[hehehewalrus]

Geno,
idhey thaan Nirupama pathi sonnaanga when she reached #123 in 1998 :)
Why, Niru, Rohit Rajpal was Asian #1 for couple of years. He didnt even play 5 DC matches. Wait and watch for Sania - women's tennis is famous for comets.

[geno]

Walrus!

But Nirupama or Rohit didnt get into the top 100 of the exclusive world tennis circuit did they?!

Nor could they have beaten any Grand slam winner in a tournament no?!

Sania is at the 77th rank of WTA now after her QF entry at the Dubai tournament :D

I saw her match against Serena williams at the australian open gosh! she got guts man!

I "want to" believe and hope that she will try and break into say "Top 25" from her current 77th rank in the WTA!

Anyways - we cant discount your view altogether - wait and watch may be a good proposition - but i started this thread coz unlike any other Tennins player b4 - Sania's got the nation going with her maan!

i donno if u saw her QF match - but the dubai indian crowd simply were acting like she's on the final of the wimbledon about to win!!!! :D :D

so much so that Jelena Jankovic, who ended up beating Sania, told at the post-match interview, that she won "inspite" of the huge crowd rooting for Sania, and then she looked at the crowd and said - atleast after now, please support me in my next match(es) here!! :lol:

Sania could do a 'Sachin' in Indian Tennis history, if i go by the initial euphoria she has created!

And she already got her first Endorsement contracts!! and the Cricket guys like Sachin, Ganguly have already mouthed some soundbytes like - we should support such a young bright talent! (thanks to Azharuddin who hails from Hyderabad too i suppose!)

I think she would push for the Top 30; she has already talked about hiring a travelling coach and stuff and who knows may be Vijay amirtraj and other guys may help her out - in preparing for matches in the International arena.

Shes got oodles of cool attitude, and shes pretty gutsy, and ambitious! thats a good combo - and i pray that she atleast gets into the Top 25 - and get all the young things playing Tennis!!!!

The main point is inspiring young gals - and damn she already done that! :D

[geno]

Blahblah!! :D


one Northie laundry boy has been keeping me busy

Ah! lemme try and see that there! gimme some time! :D

[Cinefan]

Hi geno,loong time,no see :D

Sania has done things which no other Indian(man/woman)has ever done in tennis,so she needs to be supported.But I think there is toooooo much media frenzy which may get distracting if the gal does not have her feet on the ground.It's too early to make predictions.Let's give her time&space,she may make a mark on the international scene.

[jaiganes]

Going by the spirit she showed by fighting in spite of her injury, I guess she is a very good international tennis player in the making.

[Sandeep]

Ofcourse her achievements are commentable. But too much hype is given which will ultimately hamper her performance.

She has a long way to go and lets just hope the media glare doesnt get to her head.

I am not sure if the media is interested in her because of her success or her looks. At least the way news reports are published the later seems to be happening.

[blahblah]

Very true Sandeep.While we appreciate her small achievements we simply shouldn't kill her at this point.I have read somewhere that if it was in U.S. no one would have noticed her achievement.For us this is something new,for them not.

I watched the Dubai open QF which she lost and people simply pressurised her to as extent that she was nothing of her usaual self.

And JG,playing with a major injury is not appreciated in the long term.Wecan call it the spirit,but it is certainly not professional.It may hamper her long term improvement.

[THFI]

Why this obsession with sania? ....... She has achieved nothing great. -deleted-

[Cinefan]

My response to THFI is being edited out.

http://in.rediff.com/money/2005/mar/07spec.htm


Sania's ad fee has gone from 5.5lakh before her match with Serena to 1 crore now.Phew!

[hehehewalrus]

This hyderabadi gal is absolutely Breath-taking and Mind-boggling!

* First Indian woman to reach the Quarter-final of a Grand Slam event.



When did Dubai Open become a Grand Slam?? She merely reached 3rd round of a Grand Slam, raasa! :shock: :shock:

[hehehewalrus]

i donno if u saw her QF match - but the dubai indian crowd simply were acting like she's on the final of the wimbledon about to win!!!! :D :D


Idhellaam pazhaya pallavi pa. Have you heard the noise in Davis Cup when India plays Aus or Sweden? The crowd brings the skies down when India wins a point, though the final score turns out to be 0-5.

My friend used to comment, "Davis Cup na kodhikkara veyyil-la Sampras/Courier-a aada vechu, kaattu kaththu kaththanum, tension-la thOthuruvaanunga!" :lol2: :lol2: :lol2:

Not to dampen your enthusiasm though, good to see someone other than cricketers win fat contracts.

[geno]

This hyderabadi gal is absolutely Breath-taking and Mind-boggling!

* First Indian woman to reach the Quarter-final of a Grand Slam event.



When did Dubai Open become a Grand Slam?? She merely reached 3rd round of a Grand Slam, raasa! :shock: :shock:

achachO!! ippidi uLaRi mAttikittEnA?!! :shock: :x :lol:

ok ok! hehe hehehehe ! "arasiyalla ithellAm sAthAraNamappA"!! (goundamani style-la padikkavum! ) :rotfl:

What i wanted to say was :

First Indian woman to beat the winner of a Grand Slam event.( she beat current US open champion, Svetlana - in the Dubai WTA tourney's league match)

beaten a Grand slam winner-nu solRathukku bathilA..!! hehehe! :lol:

[geno]

Hi geno,loong time,no see :D

Sania has done things which no other Indian(man/woman)has ever done in tennis,so she needs to be supported.But I think there is toooooo much media frenzy which may get distracting if the gal does not have her feet on the ground.It's too early to make predictions.Let's give her time&space,she may make a mark on the international scene.

wow!! hey all of us guys are going gaga over this gal - but where r da hub gals?!! :roll:

cinefan - thanks for rebuking that insensitive guy talkin of religion! ellAthulaiyum religion-a koopidurAnunga :x

Sandeep,

I agree with ur view that she may be getting a bit overdose of media limelight - but this gal looks like she'll deliver the promise she has made - or atleast thas what i feel as of now.

blahblah!

Playing with injury! yes thas a defintie no-no for a budding player or for that matter anyone who plays.

I think its something to do with her will to push herself a bit further than reqrd. and may be she'll learn from her mistakes..let's only hope that she does not make any costly mistakes!

JG,

I too noticed her "gutsy" and spirited temperament in that match. ANd today - she was holding her "nth" press conf. and she declared im gonna push to be at the 17th spot from the current 77th!

Way to go gal! :D :thumbsup:

walrus, - yes this nation "ATLAST" deserves to be freed from the monotony of the cricketing clutter!!!

bhaichung bhutia enna AnAru?? perusA foreign clubs-la ellAM pOi vilaiyAduvArunnu ninaichEn - i dont think hes lived up to the expectations - did he?

[Cygnus]

First of all, welcome back geno! Great to see you after so long :D

Well, I haven't voted in your poll yet, becuase I didn't even get to watch the Aussie Open, if not the other tournaments, in which Sania played. But to stick up to Serena, this gurl's got some 'guts', huh? :D

I remember the fleeting star that was Nirupama, but as far as I can recall, she was plagued by lack of financial support and a traveling coach. I hope Sania turns out at least half as good as she is hyped to be, not being cynical. just cautious of falling prey to over expectations.

So far I think, Sania has shown her mettle in hard courts. Can anyone post info on her game in clay and grass? I hope she can mix and match, especially the French Open coming up can be a tricky one to play on, if she is hard court oriented.

It is indeed great to see a woman tennis pro getting oodles of attention and ad contracts for a change. I am gonna watch out for this one, she seems quite promising :D

Does anyone remember Shikha Uberoi (US open '04, second round loss to Venus), although she is an American citizen, she is a PIO and everyone was pinning their hopes to see an 'Indian' star rise to international fame..Wonder what she is up to now?

[hehehewalrus]

geno,
TO be fair to Baichung, he was selected for Aston Villa and was one of the reserves there. Aston Villa's coach Taylor was the England coach then! Unfair to expect him to get as many chances in teh English league as Taylor would prefer some internationals to make the most of the league games.

Sonya Jeyaseelan is a Lankan Canadian who was in the top 50 from 1997-2002, I think she still plays.

[Cinefan]

Does anyone remember Shikha Uberoi (US open '04, second round loss to Venus), although she is an American citizen, she is a PIO and everyone was pinning their hopes to see an 'Indian' star rise to international fame..Wonder what she is up to now?

I think she now plays for India,recently she had teamed up with Sania to play doubles in some tournament.

[hehehewalrus]

There was another Hyderabadi gal who was making waves 4-5 years back - Uzma Khan. She eloped with Noel David the Indian spinner and has settled abroad now :lol2: :lol2:

Good time to look back on golden moments of Indian tennis. Mohamed Ghouse was one of the first Indians to get a slot in Wimbledon in 1939. The tradition of the Krishnans was started in the 50s. By that time, TK Ramanathan the father of Ramanathan Krishnan was a respected tennis coach. Ramanathan Krishnan won Junior Wimbledon(54 I think), and reached the semis of Wimbledon in 1960 and '61. By that time, India had a great squad with the Calcutta twins Jaideep Mukherjea(sic) and Premjit Lall.
Lall was a talented chap who during one of Rod Laver's Grand Slam sweeps(1962 & 1969), led Laver 2 sets up in the second round at Wimby. He had a severe attack of cramps in the elbow in the 3rd set and could barely hit a ball. Laver won the next 3 sets and had a lucky escape. Laver genially acknowledged Lall by saying "Fortunately, a lot of cement lodged in the elbow of the construction engineer(Lall) and helped me sweep the Slams".

Ramanathan's famous win of all was in the Davis Cup of 1966 when he beat Koch of Brazil in a thrilling five setter in the deciding game. India went to the finals in 1974 but forfeited to South Africa.
By then Amritraj brothers had come up and Krishnan retired after the 74 Cup I think. Ramesh Krishnan sprung up impressively with his Junior Wimbledon win in 1979.

Onto more recent memories. Vijay could never translate his early talent, though winning against Wilander in Davis Cup '85 at Bangalore.
1987 was an unforgettable year for the high drama it produced!! India were meeting Argentina in the pre-quarters in March 1987. Argentina had the 23rd ranked Martin Jaite and clay courter De La Pena in the singles. Ramesh(ranking in the 40s I think) was still fresh from his Wimby QFinal showing in June 86 and his Hong Kong open win in Dec 86.

There was plenty of drama going on, as the Pre-Quarters began on Friday March 13 1987. The deciding final Test between India and Pakistan was beginning in Bangalore the same day. I had gone to school and it was our Sports Day. We spent the whole day loitering around the grounds watching the events and eating endless amounts of chocolates - no classes that day! :D

I returned home to see my Dad getting back to office after a late lunch. "Ramesh in killer form", he informed and left. Indeed, Jaite was looking so clueless on TV. Ramesh was whipping out his gentle velvette-touch passing shots and clinched the first 2 sets over a novice-like Jaite.
DD now turned to Bangalore for the Test. Maninder's 7-27 had sent Pakistan crashing to 116. India ended the day at 100-4 on a killer pitch.
Cricket over, I was surprised that DD was taking us back to tennis, since we'd seen cricket for close to 2 hours. And before us was the shocking spectacle of a triumphant Jaite scoring a comeback win over Ramesh! :shock:

Saturday Mar 14:
DD began with the bangalore test and Vengsarkar smashing the ball to all parts of the ground on a pitch where there was no scope for survival. The ball jumped and spat like a cobra and India allout 145, Vengsarkar topscore of the match with 50.

At 2 pm, back to the Davis Cup doubles. Javier Frana was junior world #1 and with Christian Minussi, easily overpowered the Amritraj Brothers in 4 sets. Frana went on to win several Grand Slams later in doubles. A short leftie with lightning reflexes at the net!

Sunday Mar 15:
DD began with cricket and Pakistan consolidating their innings. At 12, they went back to tennis and India needing to win both the last 2 matches. 35 year old Vijay ranked in the 150s was playing 23rd ranked Jaite who was in early twenties.

Cricket coverage continued into the afternoon, DD flashing the tennis score from time to time. Jaite was comfortably cruising to victory demolishing Vijay in the 3rd set and coasting along in the 4th. DD didnt want to demoralise us by showing tennis and carried on the cricket. At matchpoint they brought us back to tennis, just to watch the formalities. Not a moment too soon :D

Down by match point, Vijay played a delicate drop volley that barely sailed over the net, dropping dead on the other side, bringing deuce. The rest was history - Indian tennis never seen anything quite like that...the ageing warrior fought back to clinch the fourth set, and breezed through the fifth in front of a hysterical crowd and even more hysterical drawing rooms throughout the nation! :clap: :clap: :clap:

Which left Ramesh and De La Pena to fight out the decider. DD now went back to cricket. Pak all out 249, leaving India 220 to chase and win the series. Srikkanth was caught behind off Akram and Miandad expertly sledged the incoming Amarnath. Effective ploy, next ball Amarnath played an airy fairy shot and edged, India 2 down. They ended the day 51-2, with the other legend of the day Gavaskar playing his last innings.

Back to tennis now and Ramesh now let his pristine game flow on all sides. De La Pena came with some amazing shots too. But the touch artiste matched him shot for shot and India were through to the quarterfinal :clap: :clap: :clap:

De la Pena did beat McEnroe two months later in French Open 87.

The next day was a rest day for the Bangalore test and the final day's play was on Mar 17. It was a tuesday evening when we were playing in the school ground. The schoolbus arrived and we raced in, picking our bags. The news came forth that India lost by 16 runs and the series. A stunned silence followed for the next hour :(

more recollections later :)

[hehehewalrus]

here are the scores:
R1 - V.AMRITRAJ (IND) def. H.DE LA PENA (ARG)
9-7 6-3 6-3
R2 - M.JAITE (ARG) def. R.KRISHNAN (IND)
1-6 3-6 6-3 6-2 6-3
R3 - J.FRANA / C.MINIUSSI (ARG) def. A.AMRITRAJ / V.AMRITRAJ (IND)
6-3 6-4 3-6 8-6
R4 - V.AMRITRAJ (IND) def. M.JAITE (ARG)
3-6 3-6 6-4 8-6 6-2
R5 - R.KRISHNAN (IND) def. H.DE LA PENA (ARG)
6-4 7-5 6-2

India were slated to meet Israel in the Quarterfinal and at that time, due to Rajiv's support for PLO, India were boycotting all ties with Israel. So there was high chances of the tie being forfeited to Israel!
One summer day, The Hindu brought an interview with Vijay where he said he had played his last match if the govt doesnt approve the tie with Israel - a shocking and tragic end to a great player's career!
However Vijay was also chairman of the ATP and used his diplomatic skills to great effect, engineering talks with the powers-that-were and got the tie fixed up. Ind b Israel to set up a semifinal clash with Australia for Oct 87

[Cygnus]

I think she now plays for India,recently she had teamed up with Sania to play doubles in some tournament.

Interesting Cinefan! I just found out that Sania was the first ever Indian woman to win a grand slam event, in the girls junior doubles category in Wimbledon 2003. She has also done well in the French (reached semis) juniors! That's quite inspirational!

[blahblah]

Cygnus,While I am hopeful about Sania's ability to prove herself in the Senior women's tennis,te junior grandslams should not be considered as a big stage or winning there a big achievement.Many Indians have already won junior grandslams.

We shouldn't be so proud about the little successes of our boys and girls,unless they compete as men and women and still win.

[geno]

Cygnus! :D

hi there! sorry for not responding! :)

I recently saw a news item on TV, only a fleeting glance though, which talked of that Shikha preparing for some match here in india, probably what cinefan says is right - she is here in india after all!

And thanks for reminding me of the Junior wimbledon Doubles-win by Sania!

I thought Junior events did not count towards "Grand slam" as such or do they (in a purely academic sense of it) ??

Even if we can count it as a "Grand slam" i feel blah2 is rite - Sania has to prove herself by atleast getting into the top 20-25 of the wta rankings!

But walrus,

Junior wibledon win - "Grand slam"-a? illiyaa?!!

If it is "grand slam" win - then i was right nah!! udane vanthu oru 10 thOppu karanam pOdunga!

illAtti pOnAp pOvuthu - athAN yErkanavE correct pannitene post-a?!! :lol:

And thanx a lot for those stats!!

hey I remember a "rotund" Ramesh Krishnan Playing in that period's wibledon and also that Davis cup tie that yu mention!!

He had a good conservative "non power" game - but his Physique let him down i think!

His serve too wasnt that much effective - Becker had already arrived by then and so the "power comparison" was unavoidable na?!!

Ramesh's belly always got in the way!! :lol:

Vijay was a lot more athletic! :D

But my memories of that era is awash with that "Greek God" looking??!!!! IVAN LENDL!!!!!!!

For me he was the last of the "conservative" Greats strictly speaking - In the late 80s, For 157 weeks Lendl held that No.1 rank continuosly!!

I think it was Pete Sampras who broke that record much later - Jim courier and Agassi didnt break it no?

Pat cash was just a flash in the pan, stefan edberg did not reach the zenith. Becker was the most inspiring to watch while playing - his zeal and spirit unmatched!!

But Lendl!! - he was the perfect 5-setter man(which latter went to Pete sampras) :D

Hey compare Lendl with his contemporaries a bit walrus!! and reel out some stats from your "seal" pack!!! :rotfl:

[hehehewalrus]

geno,
nice to know you prefer Lendl ahead of all the more colorful characters of that era. i was also a diehard Lendl fan.(in fact all my big idols have names beginning with I - IVA Richards, Ivan Lendl, Imran Khan, Ilaiyaraaja) :D

One of my biggest fantasies is a tearjerker tamil movie based on Lendl with Sivaji or kamal playing the lead role, and the movie filled with opparis after every wimbledon loss :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[geno]

"Grass is for cows!!" - dialogue-a Sivaji eppidi pEsuvAru?!!!

Kamal pEsurathu easy!!! Sivaji antha "gauravam" Lawyer Rajinikanth mathiri "GRASS!! is for COWWWWWWWWWWSSSSSS!!! hugggghhhhhh!!" nu pOttu kadichu thuppiduvAru!!!!!!

:rotfl:

[geno]

chE! intha Pat cash illAtti 1987-la Lendl Wimbledon jeyichiruppAru! :(

appuRam ozungA antha Junior Wibledon win - Grand slam-a illiya-nu clarify pannidunga! illA...!!! :evil:

[geno]

Hey Issac Vivian Alexander Richards - is my all time fav Cricketer too! :D

antha "emperor" Gait while he walked either into or out of the cricket field - was awesome!! :D

ILaiyaraja! incomparable! :D

(aanA avaru vAyai thiRakkAma irunthAlthAn!! pEsa ArambichArunnA - romba koduma paduthidarAru sila samayam! :lol: pArunga - recently "thiruvaasagam" symphony veLiyitta pOthum kooda - vazakkamA solRAppula "isaikku mozhi illa-nu solraru!

..but "thiruvaasaga"thin thamizh-thaan, antha uLLam urukkum uNarvu poorvamAna mozhithAN - athan perumaiyE!

ippidi "Same side goal" pOdaama irunthArunnA nallA irukum!

even this jesudoss - is nowadays idiotically saying - "i have corrupted carnatic music by singing in all "those" cinema songs! so now i am doing "penance" by singing the "true" form of carnatic"-nu ippO ellAM sabhas-la dialogue pesurAru!!

ivau cinema-la pAdi sambaarichu thAna - ivlo periya Aalaanuru! pasangala US-ku anuppi padikka vachAru!!

appuram - onnum theriyaatha pappA mathiri ennathukku ippidi pesanum!! :(

idhai nAN TFM- page-la pEsinA yArAvathu varuthappaduvaanga! aanaalum "pulambaama" irukka mudila! :( )

[hehehewalrus]

geno, have u read of Richards 139* for Glamorgan v Hampshire in 1991? The Sportstar issue dated Oct 16 1993 was a Richards special after his retirement - a super duper issue :D

Lot of memories of Lendl...US Open finalist regularly from 82-89. Ilaiyaraja's hottest run coincided with Lendl's peak :D

Junior Wimbledon is just a tournament thats all..no big deal. Even Paes won it in 1990 and hardly entered the top 100 in his career. While a 5 match Davis Cupper like Zeeshan Ali reached upto 110 a few years. So basically no difference between a Kid Wimby winner like Paes and a mediocre guy like Zeeshan :lol2: :lol2:

If you look at this list, you will find lot of mediocre winners:
http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/history/boysroll.html

I became Lendl fan in 1984 after the French Open in the no-TV era. The Hindu in June 84 featured a triumphant Lendl with French Open after beating McEnroe(2 sets down) from a blood and thunder final. Lost to Connors (in semis I think) in 84 Wimby. Lost to Mac in 84 US Open final.

I was looking forward to his 2nd Grand Slam in FO 85 but lost to Wilander in 4 sets(Mats won FO in 82 as a 17 y/o debutant and runner up in 83 to Noah). In 85 Wimby, Lendl was knocked out (in 4th round I think) by Henri Leconte. I was very happy that Mac was knocked out by Kevin Curren in QF the next day :D

Mac married Tatum O Neal (Enna jodi porutham?!? - Hollywood star Tatum O Neal used to fly at her dad's 2nd, 3rd wives as a kid...Hollywood called this pair Mac the Mouth and Tantrum O Neal :lol2: :lol2: ) in July-Aug 85 and Mac was whipped by Lendl in US Open final taking over the No.1 Ranking.

86 was Lendl's peak - No Aus Open that year. Lendl won FO in 86 beating Edberg in semis and Chesnokov in the final, lost Wimby final and won US Open.

Wimby 86: Pat Cash came 2 weeks out of an appendisectomy and stormed into the QF. Lost to Leconte in a thriller. Ramesh lost to Slobodan Zivojinovic in another QF.

I was very happy to see Becker knock out Leconte(Lendl-killer of 85) in the semis. But only to see Becker beat Lendl in the final. Till then I had considered Becker a fluke.(DD did not telecast 86 final live as that day July 6, ex-PM jagjivan Ram had passed away).

I knew Lendl was gonna lose once Cash entered the final. That day, July 5 1987 - Cash served first and won the game in 2 min. Lendl's turn to serve and the game went for several deuces, taking 14 min. Appove theriyum, Lendl-ku sangu-nu. Atleast Imran reached his 300th wicket the same day - some consolation :)

1989, I was dead sure Lendl was gonna win. He was in peak touch all through. Leading Becker 2 sets to 1 and up by a break in the fourth set. 3 more games and his biggest obstacle would be over.
Unfortunately there was a bad line-call and Lendl argued with the umpire for a while. Becker held serve and started sending thunderbolts with his backhand returns. I have never seen such scorching backhands till Justine Henin came up in 2001 :(

It was a nail-biting 2-2 in the final set on that fatal semis July 7 1989. I was hoping Lendl will finally use his last reserves of strength to pull through. DD broke for the 930 English news.

The news ended at 9:50 and we went back to Center Court, the suspense to hear the latest score was painful and intense. The scene was an interval after the break and there was pin drop silence for a minute. Even the commentators were not telling the score. "TIME" called up the umpire, the players walked back to court. The camera panned the Rolex scoreboard - it was 5-2 in favor of Becker, thats it!!!! :cry: :cry:

Lendl held to 5-3 and in the next game, Boris served out Lendl's Wimby career for good :(

Will write later over the Tamil Nadu-Australia Davis Cup triumph of 87 :D

[geno]

Mac, Connors, Mats wilander, Leconte, Kevin curren, Slobadan!

Nice memories you got here! My memories of that season's pakistan tour of India has one glittering thing - Gavaskar's second innings 96 in a minefield of a pitch in B'lore! :D

Andha Richard issue of sportstar padicha gnabakam illai! i didnt keenly follow the sportstar! :)