A load of crap from an idle brain

The last post has been about 2 weeks earlier.  Meanwhile work has been heavy and persistent.  Not to mention grown up people with their child like minds causing more problems than necessary and increasing the temperatures in the team. Sigh…. Am a serious believer that when people join an organisation, they should be put through people handling skills before they are let into the actual fire.  Most can cope.  Its the minority few with no people skills, no idea of how to talk to people and take up every issue as an assault to their king-size ego, who cause all the mayhem and frustration in the workplace.

Anyways, once out of the workplace, i try to shut myself off and turn to my other interests.  Reading and music.  Finished reading the Andre Agassi biopic.  Its simply an awesome read.  A flawed genius with no genuine interest in the game, Agassi with his talent and hardwork became the true legend of the game.  Forced into a game he hated, by his father and sent early on in life to the Nick Bollettieri academy which Agassi describes more as a prison than a place for kids to enjoy the sport, he rebels.  Against the system, against his father, against Nick, against the sport, against media and against himself.

On his path to self-destruction he meets people like Gill (his trainer), Brad Gilbert (his coach) who pull him out of the morass he keeps digging himself into.  Not to mention his friends like Perry, JP and his own brother who form a protective cocoon around him to try shield him against the pressures.

The book is a magnificent read.  Agassi doesn’t yield, nor does he stop from pulling his punches.  I cant believe that a sportsman can write in such beautiful way so as to completely arrest you to the description of events in his life.

Love tennis, hate tennis, one thing is for sure that the book is not a put down.  Some of the games that he describes is sure to transport you to the minds of the person that is Agassi.  His sudden self doubts on his ability, his inability to finish off games, his on court rivalry with Pete Sampras, Boris Becker and numerous other players, the book is a riveting read.

I have read quite a few biographies till now.  Lance Armstrong, Louis Gerstner, Jack Welch, Warren Buffett etc…but this one sure is one among the best i have read.

I have always been a Sampras, Becker, Stefan Edberg fan, but never had any kind thoughts towards Agassi because of his constant threat to my favourite Sampras.  Reading this book has completely changed my opinion of the man.  Ya, he might be a flawed genius…but yes, he is a genius still.

The only other enthusiasm that i share with Agassi is Steffi Graf.  The only female tennis player i have ever idolised. Two champions and their offsprings are sure to be prodigies themselves, but then both Agassi and Graf decide that their kids will never be forced to take up the sport that both despised so much.

Now, that is what i call…perfect parents.  Not trying to see your dreams being realised through your kids, but to appreciate your kids own talent and let them bloom in whichever career they want to.

Open: An Autobiography
Author – Andre Agassi
Pages – 400
Publisher – Knopf

My rating: * * * * *

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After Saina, its Paes again.  Consistency when you are 37 years old is no joke.  At a time when tennis players hang up their racquests, Leander Paes is still going strong.

India’s Leander Paes and Cara Black of Zimbabwe beat South African Wesley Moodie and Lisa Raymond of the US 6-4, 7-6 (5) to win the Wimbledon mixed doubles title here Sunday.

With this victory, Paes surpassed his one-time doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi in winning the most Grand Slam titles for India. Paes now has six doubles and six mixed-doubles titles. Bhupathi has 11 Grand Slam titles — four doubles and seven mixed doubles titles.

Full article here

Above pictures courtesy: Wimbledon

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Leander Paes equalled the record for most Grand Slam title triumphs by an Indian as the veteran and his Zimbabwean partner Cara Black clinched the Australian Open mixed doubles Championship with a straight-set win here on Sunday. Top seeds and favourites, the 36-year-old Paes and the 30-year-old Black beat 10th seeds Ekaterina Makarova of Russia and Jaroslav Levinsky of Czechoslovakia 7-5 6-3 in just about one and a half hour.

The triumph gave the Indian his 11th overall and fifth mixed doubles title. With this, Paes has equalled one-time doubles’ partner Mahesh Bhupathi’s tally. The last couple of times they reached a Grand Slam final, Paes and Black ended up on the losing side and eager to make amends for that, they were dominant from the word go.

They broke their rivals as early as in the third game and save for a couple of breaks lost on Black’s serve, the Indo-Zimbabwean pair seemed hardly troubled by Makarova and Levinsky, who committed far too many unforced errors. Black, whose net game and serve were the weak links for the top seeds, raised her game when it mattered after getting some pep talk from Paes.

Full article here

Above picture source: Topnews

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The Federer Express chugs on, merrily eclipsing all the records in his way and at the same time winning over friends and opponents with his ruthless display on the court.

Roger Federer finally broke the 14 Grand Slams record of Pete Sampras by winning the Wimbledon this weekend beating Andy Roddick of the US in a 5 set thriller.  The final set went on for an astonishing 95 minutes.

I was expecting to see another sobbing Federer at the end of the match, but it seems he managed to keep his emotions under perfect control.   An amazingly cool and composed player who very rarely loses his cool both on and off the pitch.  For a growing up kid, there is no better role model in Roger Federer.

He’s never been seen to yell either at the opponent / match officials, doesn’t spit on the ground, is modest about his achievements, but sometimes he does surprise us with his comments about the absolute confidence he has in his own game.

It would be easy to say that Federer won the last remaining Grand Slam, the French Open simply because Rafael Nadal was knocked out early in the tournament. And that Federer didnt have to meet his most decisive opponent in the finals.  But the fact is that it doesnt take away the sheen from his achievements.

Roger Federer’s Grand Slam victories

2003 – Wimbledon
2004 – Australian Open
2004 – Wimbledon
2004 – US Open
2005 – Wimbledon
2005 – US Open
2006 – Australian Open
2006 – Wimbledon
2006 – US Open
2007 – Australian Open
2007 – Wimbledon
2007 – US Open
2008 – US Open
2009 – French Open
2009 – Wimbledon

For a person who has achieved possibly everything that men’s singles tennis has to offer, it would be very tempting to either walk away from it all or to find motivation to save that one next set point or match point.   But knowing the champion that Federer is, am sure he will be back to entertain us, to show us the sheer joy of winning and most importantly that you dont need to be a brash, abusive, megalomaniac to be a champion.

All rise for the greatest tennis player ever.  Roger Federer.

Above pic source:  Din and Noise & IBNLive

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India’s Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic won the French Open men’s doubles title on Saturday with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Wesley Moodie of South Africa and Belgium’s Dick Norman.

It was 35-year-old Paes’s fifth men’s Grand Slam doubles title having won twice here in 1999 and 2001 with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi, 1999 Wimbledon with Bhupathi and the 2006 US Open with Martin Damm.

“Dick and Wesley served really huge and made it difficult for us. They did a great job in getting to the final,” said Paes who has now won 40 career doubles titles.

Paes and Dlouhy first teamed up at Roland Garros last year, losing in the last 16 to eventual champions Pablo Cuevas and Luis Horna. They then finished runners-up to Mike and Bob Bryan in the 2008 US Open final.

“We started playing together at Roland Garros last year. We lost then to the champions so we made it a point that we would come back and try and win it this year,” added Paes, who has also won four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles.

Above news source: ToI

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