Hey tennis fans.
The new season is upon us and we are now talking about the land down under. Let's not talk about Federer, though, because his five set miracle over surging Serb Janko Tipsarevic was just too much talent and, gasp, good fortune. The Serb had him. Just like the Ravens, the Eagles and the Giants had the New England Patriots only to fall in the final moments...
I confess i am tired of the Federer follies just as i long tired of the Patriot pastiche. One senses greatness but the smell of smug is much too pungent, if not repugnant.
No, the match that i am really here to talk about concerns the most endearing personality on the men's court and that is Marco Baghdatis who readily lights up the court of every country w/ every heartwrenching conquest he takes on. Last night, er, this morning was no exception.
He took on the indefatigable and perhaps most gruesome tennis warrior since Michael Chang, Lleyton Hewitt. Moreover, Lleyton just happend to be the favorite son of the Australian nation, playing right in his own back yard, Melbourne. If you haven't heard, that match started late last night, Australian time, and finished in the wee hours of the morning some four and a half hours later, some time after Baghdatis turned his ankle only to bounce right back on the court after it was taped up.
But i will be brief from here on in...Marco Baghdatis is one of the few competitors on the men's side that i can watch. And he couldn't have had a more suitable opponent to set the stage for this epic match that commentators Dauren Cahill and Patrick McEnroe offered was one for the ages. It was a slugfest. How many of us play for such stakes through the wee hours of the morning. Talk about vapors and adrenalin...
Fearsome rallies, wonder shots, lunging winners and a remarkable ebbs and flows to an all night match that made history. It was amazing to watch Marcos bring still another outlandish smile over his face in the heat of the battle and in the midst of everything he was enduring in the final moments of his demise. But what was most telling, if not heartbreaking - above and beyond the fact that he welcomed Hewitt with a deep and enduring hug immediately following the the 5 set marathon - was the quiet, tender gait of a now sullen figure from the land of Cyprus walking off the court in tears...
We are all left to wonder what those tears were about. My guess was that it was more than being totally exhausted by the match that took more than he had to give. No my bet was that he felt like he let his countrymen and women down, those crazed throngs of nationals in the upper stands of Rod Laver stadium cheering him throughout the endless early morning hours like it was a huge showdown for the Davis Cup.
My tennis friends, excuse the long winded diatribe but i am like a sponge that needs to wrench it out for this storied time in tennis where the game only gets faster and more precise and champions like Sampras and Federer are nothing less than bionic technicians in a mechanical bout of wits and instincts.
Give me the likes of Marcos Baghdatis anyday - win or lose. This man is a remarkable mix of talent, passion and tenacity who just happens to wear his heart on his sleeve. He is more than a great tennis player. He is an entertainer who loves the game and brings a rare and needed element of emotion to the hungry theatre we know as championship tennis.
When Andre Agassi left the game i thought tennis had lost it's golden boy w/nobody left to carry on. But for you fortunate ones that take an interest in the game of tennis and the career of the Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis count your lucky stars. Wonderful times ahead.
I cannot describe what i feel when i see this fierce competitor in the heat of battle flash that disarming smile at what would otherwise be considered a last gasp struggle for survival in a coliseum of cut throats. What is going through his mind that he can compete and yet enjoy such a moment. Hard to say. But i wish we could bottle it.
Hats off to you, Marcos. Bravo. Incredible match that i won't soon forget. And your tears speak volumes about the great fortune we all have to follow you through this remarkable game of Grand Slam Tennis....
I
The new season is upon us and we are now talking about the land down under. Let's not talk about Federer, though, because his five set miracle over surging Serb Janko Tipsarevic was just too much talent and, gasp, good fortune. The Serb had him. Just like the Ravens, the Eagles and the Giants had the New England Patriots only to fall in the final moments...
I confess i am tired of the Federer follies just as i long tired of the Patriot pastiche. One senses greatness but the smell of smug is much too pungent, if not repugnant.
No, the match that i am really here to talk about concerns the most endearing personality on the men's court and that is Marco Baghdatis who readily lights up the court of every country w/ every heartwrenching conquest he takes on. Last night, er, this morning was no exception.
He took on the indefatigable and perhaps most gruesome tennis warrior since Michael Chang, Lleyton Hewitt. Moreover, Lleyton just happend to be the favorite son of the Australian nation, playing right in his own back yard, Melbourne. If you haven't heard, that match started late last night, Australian time, and finished in the wee hours of the morning some four and a half hours later, some time after Baghdatis turned his ankle only to bounce right back on the court after it was taped up.
But i will be brief from here on in...Marco Baghdatis is one of the few competitors on the men's side that i can watch. And he couldn't have had a more suitable opponent to set the stage for this epic match that commentators Dauren Cahill and Patrick McEnroe offered was one for the ages. It was a slugfest. How many of us play for such stakes through the wee hours of the morning. Talk about vapors and adrenalin...
Fearsome rallies, wonder shots, lunging winners and a remarkable ebbs and flows to an all night match that made history. It was amazing to watch Marcos bring still another outlandish smile over his face in the heat of the battle and in the midst of everything he was enduring in the final moments of his demise. But what was most telling, if not heartbreaking - above and beyond the fact that he welcomed Hewitt with a deep and enduring hug immediately following the the 5 set marathon - was the quiet, tender gait of a now sullen figure from the land of Cyprus walking off the court in tears...
We are all left to wonder what those tears were about. My guess was that it was more than being totally exhausted by the match that took more than he had to give. No my bet was that he felt like he let his countrymen and women down, those crazed throngs of nationals in the upper stands of Rod Laver stadium cheering him throughout the endless early morning hours like it was a huge showdown for the Davis Cup.
My tennis friends, excuse the long winded diatribe but i am like a sponge that needs to wrench it out for this storied time in tennis where the game only gets faster and more precise and champions like Sampras and Federer are nothing less than bionic technicians in a mechanical bout of wits and instincts.
Give me the likes of Marcos Baghdatis anyday - win or lose. This man is a remarkable mix of talent, passion and tenacity who just happens to wear his heart on his sleeve. He is more than a great tennis player. He is an entertainer who loves the game and brings a rare and needed element of emotion to the hungry theatre we know as championship tennis.
When Andre Agassi left the game i thought tennis had lost it's golden boy w/nobody left to carry on. But for you fortunate ones that take an interest in the game of tennis and the career of the Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis count your lucky stars. Wonderful times ahead.
I cannot describe what i feel when i see this fierce competitor in the heat of battle flash that disarming smile at what would otherwise be considered a last gasp struggle for survival in a coliseum of cut throats. What is going through his mind that he can compete and yet enjoy such a moment. Hard to say. But i wish we could bottle it.
Hats off to you, Marcos. Bravo. Incredible match that i won't soon forget. And your tears speak volumes about the great fortune we all have to follow you through this remarkable game of Grand Slam Tennis....
I
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