Federer Express
Apna Raju Hero Hain..aur Hum Raju Ke Fan, Ki Raju Ban Gaya Champion!!
Ladies and Gentleman, Roger Federer has won the Cincinnati Masters..Yeee Haw!
It will be sufficient to say that for me what Tendulkar is to Cricket, Federer is to Tennis. Ever since I saw him play his first Wimbledon finals, I have been a big fan of his. It is true that I will not know who to support when he plays against Andre Agassi but (un)fortunately, Andre withdrew from Cincinnati Masters this year.
Let me begin the story of this year's Cincinnati Masters.
The first semi of Federer against Ginepri was to start at 2:00 pm and I started from Louisville around 7:45 am. My wife was extremely disappointed for not being able to make it this year. She was more vocal than me (and everyone in a 50 feet radius) last year when we were watching Agassi-Rodick. After about 10-15 miles, I realized that I had forgotten my wallet and turned back. It was for the better as I could talk to an old school friend when I came back. I reached Cincinnati at 10:00am. My first stop was Cincinnati library to borrow a book we want to read, "The Agassi Story". I was in the tennis mood and I picked up another book "I've got your back" by Brad Gilbert (ex-coach of Agassi and Roddick). After dropping my car off for servicing, I spent some time in the Kenwood mall reading the book by Brad Gilbert. At 1:00 pm, my friend picked me up and we reached the stadium at 1:15p.
( I have quite a few pictures, I will upload all of them eventually, this one will have only a select pictures, They are pretty huge so Full Resolution on demand :)..).
In came, Federer and Ginepri. This guy, Robby Ginepri, was a wild card entry and he had defeated Marat Safin in straight sets, under an hour, on his way to semis. He has had a great year so far and he had also managed to beat Roddick at Indianapolis.
Robby had the advantage of not having played Federer enough in the past.
To the loud cheers of the crowd, Robby broke Federer in the first set and claimed it 6-4. The ever-cool Federer was cool and both of them held their serve until 5-5 in the second set. (the following pic is in full res if you click on it)
To be frank, I was getting a little bit worried at this point. After the rain delay, Federer happened. There was a loud shout from the stands "Come on Roger, Remind us why you are number one" and he did that in style after that. Federer has an amazing ability to pull his game up when he is under pressure. It is said that most tennis matches are lost, not won. He made Robby lose the match. He kept his game at a high level and refused to move down. Ginepri did. In the third set, after three unforced errors on his serve at 4-5, Robby lost a well-fought match. We thought the Hewitt-Roddick semi would be better than this, but Robby proved us all wrong. He must have felt worse when it the thunderstorms started about 5 min after the match ended. If only he had kept his cool in that game!!
It rained pretty heavily for about 30-40 minutes and we decided to take a stroll when it cleared up. There were a bunch of people waiting at the players' entrance and we figured that Robby and Roger had not left the stadium. Just like the kids and few adults who were waiting to get autographs, we waited to get their photographs. After about 10 minutes, Robby came out. He signed just one autograph and although people were cheering and consoling and encouraging him, left without signing any more. I could not get any good picture of him here.
Then we waited.
And we waited.
After about 1 hour and 15 minutes, we were losing our patience. But there was nothing better to do. The other match was not going to start until next 45 minutes. But we were tired and decided to leave. The moment we moved, I saw Federer's girlfriend come out of the door. Watching all those grand slams had paid off. I could identify her. We rushed back and could see him from about 2 feet. I got a short and sweet video clip too, I will upload it somewhere and let you know, meanwhile here are the pictures. (first one in Full Res)
After signing as many autographs as he could, Federer left the stadium. All of us were still in awe as we watched his back. I shouted " Thanks Roger" and he put his hand up in acknowledgement. Paisa Wasool!!
We got our money's worth after the match and then we saw the Roddick vs Hewitt formality. Frankly, I did not care who won. Andy had the crowd support and as Hewitt noticed, also the support of the linesmen. Two calls went against him but knowing Hewitt, he managed it very well. Andy won in straight sets.
I went to my friend's place and slept like a baby (given that babies wake up after every couple of hours or so, I am not sure why they say that...but you get the idea). My friend was supporting Roddick and I was supporting Federer. He thought that Federer was going to win and after watching both of them play in the semis, I thought Roddick would win. (At the very least, I did not want to jinx Federer the way I jinxed Paes, Bhupathi and Safin)
We reached the ground anticipating some good tennis and Federer once again reminded everyone why he is numero uno. Even God would take some time off to watch him when he is on a song. And to Andy's disappointment, he sang a few upbeat songs on Sunday. There were quite a few "WTF was that?" moments, ones I was looking forward to. Fed saved breakpoints in the first set and broke Andy twice in the first set to claim it 6-3.
[Above Pic in Full Res]Andy, after all, had the disadvantage of having played against Federer a lot. He seemed to have lost half the match even before he stepped in.
The next set started with usual holding of the serve until 2-2 and then the unexpected happened. Roddick broke Federer's serve. There was a thunderous applause followed by "Come on Roger" from a few.
Then once again, in the very next game, Federer happened.
He returned a 140 miles serve and got that point.
Then he returned a 125 miles serve for a winner.
Then he got a point off a 140 miles serve to break Andy.
That, I think, was too much for Andy and he started making unforced errors. Federer was making him lose the match. The final score was 6-3 7-5.
[Following Picture in Full Res]
I must give full marks to Andy for not fighting with the linesman or the chair umpire even once or kicking a sideboard or shouting in his towel (he did the last two last year against Agassi). Even during his post match speech he was quite gracious and he recognized the talent he was playing. I might even start supporting him now ( when he is not playing Federer :) ) Federer had a few wisecracks up his sleeve with his " I enjoy playing against Andy. It is always a fair game.. not because I win but.." That drew some laughter and I have it on a video clip.
Both of them signed some autographs and I got my photographs.
Watch a live cricket match of India (Check. Check. Check..)
Watch a test match at Lords (Check)
Watch Andre Agassi in action (Check)
Watch Federer kick a top 10's butt (Check)
Ladies and Gentleman, Roger Federer has won the Cincinnati Masters..Yeee Haw!
It will be sufficient to say that for me what Tendulkar is to Cricket, Federer is to Tennis. Ever since I saw him play his first Wimbledon finals, I have been a big fan of his. It is true that I will not know who to support when he plays against Andre Agassi but (un)fortunately, Andre withdrew from Cincinnati Masters this year.
Let me begin the story of this year's Cincinnati Masters.
The first semi of Federer against Ginepri was to start at 2:00 pm and I started from Louisville around 7:45 am. My wife was extremely disappointed for not being able to make it this year. She was more vocal than me (and everyone in a 50 feet radius) last year when we were watching Agassi-Rodick. After about 10-15 miles, I realized that I had forgotten my wallet and turned back. It was for the better as I could talk to an old school friend when I came back. I reached Cincinnati at 10:00am. My first stop was Cincinnati library to borrow a book we want to read, "The Agassi Story". I was in the tennis mood and I picked up another book "I've got your back" by Brad Gilbert (ex-coach of Agassi and Roddick). After dropping my car off for servicing, I spent some time in the Kenwood mall reading the book by Brad Gilbert. At 1:00 pm, my friend picked me up and we reached the stadium at 1:15p.
( I have quite a few pictures, I will upload all of them eventually, this one will have only a select pictures, They are pretty huge so Full Resolution on demand :)..).
In came, Federer and Ginepri. This guy, Robby Ginepri, was a wild card entry and he had defeated Marat Safin in straight sets, under an hour, on his way to semis. He has had a great year so far and he had also managed to beat Roddick at Indianapolis.
Robby had the advantage of not having played Federer enough in the past.
To the loud cheers of the crowd, Robby broke Federer in the first set and claimed it 6-4. The ever-cool Federer was cool and both of them held their serve until 5-5 in the second set. (the following pic is in full res if you click on it)
To be frank, I was getting a little bit worried at this point. After the rain delay, Federer happened. There was a loud shout from the stands "Come on Roger, Remind us why you are number one" and he did that in style after that. Federer has an amazing ability to pull his game up when he is under pressure. It is said that most tennis matches are lost, not won. He made Robby lose the match. He kept his game at a high level and refused to move down. Ginepri did. In the third set, after three unforced errors on his serve at 4-5, Robby lost a well-fought match. We thought the Hewitt-Roddick semi would be better than this, but Robby proved us all wrong. He must have felt worse when it the thunderstorms started about 5 min after the match ended. If only he had kept his cool in that game!!
It rained pretty heavily for about 30-40 minutes and we decided to take a stroll when it cleared up. There were a bunch of people waiting at the players' entrance and we figured that Robby and Roger had not left the stadium. Just like the kids and few adults who were waiting to get autographs, we waited to get their photographs. After about 10 minutes, Robby came out. He signed just one autograph and although people were cheering and consoling and encouraging him, left without signing any more. I could not get any good picture of him here.
Then we waited.
And we waited.
After about 1 hour and 15 minutes, we were losing our patience. But there was nothing better to do. The other match was not going to start until next 45 minutes. But we were tired and decided to leave. The moment we moved, I saw Federer's girlfriend come out of the door. Watching all those grand slams had paid off. I could identify her. We rushed back and could see him from about 2 feet. I got a short and sweet video clip too, I will upload it somewhere and let you know, meanwhile here are the pictures. (first one in Full Res)
After signing as many autographs as he could, Federer left the stadium. All of us were still in awe as we watched his back. I shouted " Thanks Roger" and he put his hand up in acknowledgement. Paisa Wasool!!
We got our money's worth after the match and then we saw the Roddick vs Hewitt formality. Frankly, I did not care who won. Andy had the crowd support and as Hewitt noticed, also the support of the linesmen. Two calls went against him but knowing Hewitt, he managed it very well. Andy won in straight sets.
I went to my friend's place and slept like a baby (given that babies wake up after every couple of hours or so, I am not sure why they say that...but you get the idea). My friend was supporting Roddick and I was supporting Federer. He thought that Federer was going to win and after watching both of them play in the semis, I thought Roddick would win. (At the very least, I did not want to jinx Federer the way I jinxed Paes, Bhupathi and Safin)
We reached the ground anticipating some good tennis and Federer once again reminded everyone why he is numero uno. Even God would take some time off to watch him when he is on a song. And to Andy's disappointment, he sang a few upbeat songs on Sunday. There were quite a few "WTF was that?" moments, ones I was looking forward to. Fed saved breakpoints in the first set and broke Andy twice in the first set to claim it 6-3. 
[Above Pic in Full Res]Andy, after all, had the disadvantage of having played against Federer a lot. He seemed to have lost half the match even before he stepped in.
The next set started with usual holding of the serve until 2-2 and then the unexpected happened. Roddick broke Federer's serve. There was a thunderous applause followed by "Come on Roger" from a few.
Then once again, in the very next game, Federer happened.
He returned a 140 miles serve and got that point.
Then he returned a 125 miles serve for a winner.
Then he got a point off a 140 miles serve to break Andy.
That, I think, was too much for Andy and he started making unforced errors. Federer was making him lose the match. The final score was 6-3 7-5.
[Following Picture in Full Res]
I must give full marks to Andy for not fighting with the linesman or the chair umpire even once or kicking a sideboard or shouting in his towel (he did the last two last year against Agassi). Even during his post match speech he was quite gracious and he recognized the talent he was playing. I might even start supporting him now ( when he is not playing Federer :) ) Federer had a few wisecracks up his sleeve with his " I enjoy playing against Andy. It is always a fair game.. not because I win but.." That drew some laughter and I have it on a video clip.
Both of them signed some autographs and I got my photographs.
Watch a live cricket match of India (Check. Check. Check..)
Watch a test match at Lords (Check)
Watch Andre Agassi in action (Check)
Watch Federer kick a top 10's butt (Check)
posted by Nikhil at 6:47 PM
5 Comments:
Thanks BG!
Unfortunately, you will have to wait a year for the US Open blog. Plan is for next year. I doubt I will be able to take pictures from such a close range though. I plan to offset it with the best zoom lens I can afford.
I will upload and put a link to the rest of the pictures and video clips sometime this week.
Bugger Nikhil, have you heard of the concept of "Chapters" ... which in blogging terms means "Breaking up 1 BIG post into several smaller posts"?
:)
Bugger Axe,
I was assuming a slightly more attention span. You need not read it all at once. Have you heard of a concept called "taking a break and reading where you left off"? :)
Who decided the max length of a blog post anyway?
Hi,
Thanks for the great pics & report! When are the rest + the vids going to added? Can't wait!
Glad that you liked it. The problem still is the bandwidth. This time I will just bite the bullet and upload everything on the webspace given to me by my ISP. If download limit is exceeded, it will be temporarily blocked.
I plan to do it tonight (Wednesday, Sep 14th).
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