US Open 2011

Had one of the most memorable matches. One was the unbelievable Longest Tie Breaker Set Record ever between Sam Stosur and Kirilenko. That was Set kept us at the edge of our seats. Stosur then went on to win the Slam title for the first time despite poor behaviour displayed by opponent, Serena Williams. She has one short fuse.

Congrats to Stosur!

Dissapointments still looms over me after Federer's loss to Djokovic. We all thought Roger had Nole under his control when he won the first two sets. And that fifth set, Roger had my hopes up again, but "nay" said Nole. So that's it for Roger :( maybe Australian Open then?

There's one video clip on youtube about Federer's best moments...
http://t.co/K1XkILn (i'll put a proper video link, watch this space).

... Those lucky Federer kids... I envy you twins.

So, Men's final Nadal vs Djokovic... Tough to determine who'll win this one. Both are excellent players. What's your pick?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

D

Ticket Ballot

Something exciting came in the mail today :)





Don't get too over excited. It's just a form to be entered into the ticket ballot box. These things have limited seats and I'm one in a hundred thousand of people trying to get a seat.

It would be nice though, to be one of the "choosen ones".

Will be sending back the form on Monday and it'll be a long wait.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Wimbledon paling bosan

My King has been ousted today from Wimbledon courts :(

This week it seems like I am wearing a string of unfortunate events necklace around my neck. Hmmpffff...!

Nothing much to say about that except some dissapointment.

Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

I hope to see Tsonga win over Djokovic and move to the finals this weekend. Perhaps against Murray. ( we all know what will happen if Nadal goes throught the finals, right? Predictable ).

The ladies singles was also a surprise, Li Na, Wozniacki and William sisters are out. So, who will win? Sharapova, Unseeded Lisicki, or some other girls..


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tribute by a fan

RT @FedererLive: Here's a lovely tribute to Roger, written by @mehermurshed: http://tinyurl.com/3cbhpax

Allez Roger

The men,s finals is still on-going at the moment. Normally I wouldn't blog during the gsme, but not being able to watch it is really getting my nerves!

At first it looked like it was going to be a straight set win, but Roger managed to fight back and right now they're on the fourth set. Hey, at least he's fighting with all his might!

They're on the fourth set and Nadal is leading. 4-1.

Having the ipad, Roland Garros app, and the internet is the third best substitute for the unfortunate tennis fan like me. I feel like a blind and mute person who follows the most exciting match of the season by reading 'live' braille text! Ah, well, it's better than nothing. But i need to say that reading about a perfect backhand and an excellent return, no matter how good you put it in words, is still not the same as watching it on HD.

Allez! Roger!

Note to self: go back home for wimbledon next month.

King Roger and the Asian Princess

Clay is an interesting surface to play tennis on. Maybe the most challenging after grass court. The way the ball bounces sometimes is unpredictable and the player itself must have total control of their limbs because it's slippery. We've seen a lot of players doing the splits since Day 1 at Roland Garros :)

Today is the Men's Finals at Roland Garros, which means Tennis on clay season is almost over. However it is definitely not going away without a Bang! 

The men's semi finals spots were all taken by the World's Top four players in the world. So in any SF games you watched, it's fine tennis in every single serves, returns and shots. Rafa vs Murray. Federer vs Djokovic.

Murray may be in his best form, but it was a tough fight against King of Clay Rafa. He's been the one holding the championship trophy 5 times and clay is his favorite surface. I bet he'd do anything to defend his title, and so he did. Vanquishing Murray in 3 sets, but not so easily. That SF match Was the most difficult straight set wins ever because Murray didn't go without a fight.

The same could not be said with Roger and Nole's match last night. From what I heard it was the best tennis match played this season ( and i missed it!). From what I could deduce before the match, the odds are stacked against Roger. This was mainly because Nole was on a roll. 41 straight wins in this season, which was a real accomplishment and he downed Rafa in the earlier 2 tournaments in Doha (i think) and another place. I would say Nole is like an unstoppable tornado that rips apart every game to win. He is a force to be reckoned with. All that Roger has is experience. We all know Roger hasn't been at the top of his game for a few seasons now. Missing a number of Grand Slam finals previously... Kesian.

So roughly Nole had the upper hand. All I could hope for was that Roger would use all his powers, skills and experience to win against his opponent. And so he did, in 4 sets. Another epic match for the record.

King Roger is back! =))

So tomorrow, we will see another (hopefully) epic Rafa-Roger match on clay. For this one, it's hard to say 'officially' who will win (although i hv a feeling of knowing somewhat, but not jinx-ing it). Let's just say, the only time Rafa didn't held the championship trophy was when he had a knee injury and fallen after Soderling. Today, he fit as a whistle. But Roger is definitely going all out for a second Roland Garros title to his name.

Allez, King Roger!

(btw, following the game via twitter is almost as watching the real thing, but no so. i do miss watching the game on hd tv :(. )

===========================

now moving on to the Women's Final that happened last night.

If you have missed this match, then you missed one of the greatest tennis match in Tennis history. Chinese tennis player, Li Na became the first ever asian woman to win A Grand Slam championship. Ever.

The first set looked like a clear given when Li Na leads Schiavone 4-2. However, the struggle starts in the second set when Schiavone puts up an impressive come back for a number of sets until 5-4, which immediately made "it's anyone's game now". Could have lead up to three sets. But Li Na kept her composure and managed to pull through to the tie breaker set. I think that was a really impressive unfaltering focus from her side. And maybe some luck because of a turn of event due to an over rule.

Li Na, She's a star. Having beaten Maria Sharapova in the semis and won against defending champion Francesca Schiavone has provided a huge inspiration to young asian women that anything is possible.

From the looks of it, 29 seems like the age where people starts to win their Grand Slam title ;) Last year it was Schiavone's. This also proves that age is not a limitation to win because experience is key.

Well, maybe the fact that the Williams sisters were not playing this year was also a factor :p

My parents was in KL and we were all excited to follow the match, but unfortunately i don't have astro installed. So we went scouting for a restaurant that was able to accomodate our viewing needs. Finally found a nice arabic restaurant that had like 3 customers and the owner said, 'sure, go ahead, watch tennis'.

We hogged the channel for the entire match :p i pity those people who wanted to watch Akademi Fantasia, but couldn't. Well, i think we did them a favor of not ruining their hearing by listening to anything less than the talents of American Idol 2011. And tennis is a gentlemen and ladies's sports. So we are introducing some good sports culture.

So tonight, where can I catch the men's finals? Idk.

Tennis: Dokic vs Schiavone

Hi, finally managed to edit and upload a few pics from the Tennis event from 2 weeks ago. I had to do some editing because the noise was unbearable to look at due to maxing out the ISO so that I could set a fast shutter (these girls hit and moved so fast, they were like speedy gonzales!). Anyway, technical jargons aside, do enjoy the pics after the jump and I'd love to hear your comments (love it or hate it).

Tennis match pictures of Jelena Dokic vs Francesca Sciavone was taken during the WTA BMW Malaysian Open March 2011. This was the first highlight match of the first day. I was so excited to see my tennis players up close.

The match was supposed to start earlier in the evening, but was stopped after the first 3 sets due to rain (yeah, normal Malaysian weather). After 1 hour and when they dried up the main court manually with towels and leaf blowers, the match resumed. Taking photos at this time however proved to be very challenging because I was shooting at night, while the players are moving at high speed. So, there's a lot of grainy noises in the pics :S ... See my Tabblo>

Ready. Set. Serve.

Wow..! What a day!!!
Just had to start with that. I hadn't had many close encounters with people that I normally see on telly and admire. Here I'm sharing my brush with two tennis celebrities - Dinara Safina and Marion Bartoli. (They touched my MARKER PEN!)

I think I have told you many times in my previous blog posts that one of the things I wanted to do is be in the Center Court of one of the tennis Grand Slams? Well, this was close enough to the real thing, sort of (but not close enough to cross that out of my list yet!).

I was at the WTA Malaysian Open on Monday and Tuesday. My camera and lenses tagged alongside. Quite disappointing that there were a lot of empty seats on both days even though the admission was Free Of Charge. But where some one loses, another gains. And that some one who gained was me, I get to choose wherever I wanted to sit.

Center Court

Here's a couple of pictures to keep the blog occupied.
(The quality of the pictures are not so good (very noisy and grainy) because I had to bump the ISO up to 1600(max) due to low light condition plus high speed action needs 1/500th sec shutter speed. I was using Tamron's 18-200 f3.5 most of the time. Now I wish I had those f2.8 super zoom lenses. Or a Mark II series camera.)

Gambar eksyen :P

Ready. Set. Serve.

The Rainbow Connection

Have you ever have those days where you feel like playing a song over and over (and over) again? Yes, this is my one-of-those-days.

Right now I'm playing The Rainbow Connection by The Carpenters. It's a really beautiful song and Karen Carpenter's voice made it more pleasing to hear. This song was originally sang by Kermit the Frog in his Muppets movie and that video was quite cute too.

I don't have any specific music choices, I would say my knowledge and tastes of music only covers the popular singers spanning across the decades, but I do have a penchant for ones that touches the vulnerable heart and dance beat-mix music and rock songs, boy bands... ok la semua.

Last week was a very hectic week for me. Waking up early to beat the traffic and sleeping late at night to finish my work for the presentation. Felt like a zombie for not having enough sleep and does make me a bit cranky. Ni baru seminggu, I can't imagine how new mothers cope with not having enough sleep for many, many months and despite everything still rocking in the office. I Respect all mothers out there.

So this week will still be the same, but with less pressure and more pleasure. I'll be at a tennis match (WTA Championship) to take loads of pictures. Oh yeah, I got a free SEASON ticket from the organiser! Lol, being a tennis fan who is addicted to Facebook finally pays off =D

I haven't picked up my camera for months now, I hope I still remember where the trigger is. I'm hoping to capture some shots just like the ones they show in GrandSlam sites and dozens of brilliant ones. I hope my 200mm lens could help me do that. Care to join me anyone?
Then mid-week I'll be travelling long distance for a wedding and some good food and home comfort.

Life is challenging and exciting. You can complain, but you must take action. Wishing you all readers a good week ahead too :)

Nothing but the Aussie Open

I have not the luxury to watch the Aussie Open tis year. All that I can get is the 30 seconds (sometimes it's just 10 and A DAY late!) summary during prime time news and continuous tweets from @AustralianOpen (it's the poor man's version of  following a Live match).

But this week is a tough one to follow. Filled with so much disappointments for tennis fans, for me at least.

First Henin and Venus crashed out earlier last week. So there goes two power houses. I was hoping Henin would make a come back again. And knowing Venus without Serena is just awkward.

So far, the men's round hasn't disappointed me yet, until Nadal crashed out yesterday straight sets to Ferrer. Poor bloke, people are talking about a RafaSlam this year (where he wins all four Slams) but that just had to wait. Did you know that he has a virus and he still manages to cruise to the Semis? He's only fallen out because of a hamstrin injury. Just imagine if he was at the best of health.

Today, my King Roger has fallen to Nole in straight set. Double disappointments. I don't know what to make of it. Maybe he's getting old (30) or maybe Nole plays better today. The Australian Open was his last and only Slam win last year. I hope it's not the last of Roger, 3 more Slams to work for. C'mon Roger!

But the biggest disappointment so far is the retirement announcement of Justine Henin. It came out from the blue. Citing an elbow injury. I am sad, gutted really after reading her open letter to fans. I think she really meant it this time. No more come backs. :'(

I mean Juju is one of the best players on court, especially her footwork on clay, the good backhand. Her determination to win despite all the troubles in the past and personal issues she's still focused on tennis, you gotta respect her for that.

Now I'm going to eat my heart out and drink my own tears. At least this video would cheer me up:

1) Women's Tennis - The beauty of the Power Game:
This is a video of 7 pro players in action. Slow motion. When slowed down, thousand of times obviously, this hard hitting game looks just like dancing. Simply Beautiful. And yeah, Serena just HAD to do it with glitter on her racket :P
Link: http://nyti.ms/avLrha

Hari Raya

Selamat Hari Raya to everyone =)

This year's Eid was a quiet and rather peaceful affair for my family and I. Unlike last year, we didn't travel back to my parents hometown, but stayed in Penang. Apart from the overdose of Dato siti concerts on all tv channels, Senario slapsticks and the never ending ghost stories on tv, everything was smooth and under control.

Although sometimes I felt worksick (something similar to homesick, but you miss work instead), just because I was simply fresh out of work. Heaven knows that if I was still attached to the company I'd be dreading going to work today. Haha... how life is very funny in a cynical way.

[US OPEN]
US Open has closed it's chapter for this year. With Kim Clijsters and Rafael Nadal tops the women's and men's singles. I personally think that Clijsters- Williams semifinals tops the Clijsters-Zvonareva finals match, but fate has it's own plans. I have great respect for Kim because she's won the title for 2 consecutive years (and being a mother at the same time, great respect for working and succesful mothers out there!). The men's final, on the other hand did not dissapoint, although it wasn't Federer-Nadal finals and the game had to be postponed to the next day due to rain. Nole put up a good front and both men played superb tennis this morning. Nadal made history to become one of the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam (only after 'ahem' Roger Federer, of course).

What I like about tennis is that the players are always modest and humble even when they 'slaughtered' their opponents in the match. Providing consolating words and praised their opponents for their fighting spirit, Kim and Rafa both congratulated Vera and Nole and promised that their time to hold the trophy will come in the near future. 'It must be love' as goes the motto for this year's US Open.

Next up, Australian Open. I do hope Roger Federer will find his way again to the finals.

(Almost) Epic Fail

My Wimbledon post comes early this year, in fact on the very first day of the first round.

I watched Roger Federer's first game last night and I could not believe the way he played the his first game. For a 6 times defending champion of Wimbledon himself, he played like it was his first time entering Wimbledon, or perhaps worse than that.

Roger was out of form and not in the right colour. It was as if somebody else was playing and the real Roger only surfaced once in a while. I honestly believe that it would be the biggest upset ever. But it wasn't. Therefore I can still continue to follow Wimbledon this year, and hopefully until the finals.

More news

Roland Garros 2010

I missed blogging about Roland Garros this year. I was too occupied with everything that had happened and now cerita dah basi. Everyone else is talking about football now. But I just have to say something about Roland Garros, bear with me whether you like it or not.

This year, a lot of giants fell to the underdogs. The Williamses, Henin (I was rooting for her to win), Djokovic and worst of all Roger Federer. These steady giants fell under the hands of lower ranking players; the likes of Stosur, Petrova, Melzer and Soderling.

I wouldn't mind if these players went out all the way to win the Tournament, but they've lost. Which was a bigger disappointment to me, at least.

So who won? Schiavone for the women's and Nadal for the men's.

Schiavone garnered great respect from the spectators. She's been playing for 12 years, but never has she reached to this far end of the game. 12 years of perseverance gives her adequate skills and experience to play against the hard hitting Stosur. Man, Stosur hits like a man, some serves are even faster than Serena's. But with the brawns she lacks skills and control. Most of the time her returns goes long and wide, too overboard. I think she'll be back soon with a better control of that arm muscle.

I think almost everyone was expecting another epic match between Fedex and Nadal since everybody knew Nadal had to take a break last year due to injury. He was expected to come with a fight to win back the trophy that he cherished the most. But Soderling came and spoiled the boil. However at the end, Nadal sailed through with much ease, winning all 3 sets.

So there you go, a short summary of this year's Roland Garros. I'll be talking about the World Cup sometime next week. But I'm more excited thinking about Wimbledon which is coming soon! Adieu.

Federer-esque.

Woke up with mixed feelings today because of a very bad nightmare and knowing it's going to be a Federer Day at the finals of Australian Open today. Scared and happy both unsettling at the same time. Anyways, back to the original intention of this post - AO finals.

Today's the first time I'm watching Roger Federer vs Andy Murray in a tennis match. Based on their verbal tongue lashing towards each other (only ever so politely in the world of sports, polite trash talking?), I know both men really want to win the trophy. Andy Murray wanted to be the first British/Scottish man to win a grand Slam after so long and Roger Federer wanted the first Grand Slam win as a dad and also come back as tops in the A.O. since he lost it to Rafa last year, and was reduced to tears!

Winners of Australian Open 2010 [image thanks to Australian Open]

I don't know what is it exactly about Melbourne Park at this time of year that makes men cry. Last year it was Roger who was wiping tears from his eyes, and today it's Andy's turn. I guess modern men nowadays have a larger soft spot in their hearts. Aww... It's o-KAY Andy, you'll have a lot of Grand Slam runs in the future as you're still young.

Over the span of the game, the plays between these two were quite conventional, even though Andy tried to Roger's equilibrium. However, he was no match to Roger's strokes which are deadly accurate and mentally destructive. The game, like I said was quite conventional with a lot of rallies. Roger was playing as himself, calm and focused as always. I couldn't say much about Andy because I've never really observed him before today. I think he wasn't aggressive enough like other players who played against Roger in the finals, unlike Rafael Nadal or Andy Roddick. There were no nail-biting games nor exciting service winners.

Don-cha juz wanna run your fingers thru that wavy hair? [image thanks to Australian Open]

Roger won over Andy in 3 straight set, but it was not a breeze as the last set was the toughest. When you're down 2-5 and slowly gain momentum to make a comeback and win with 12-11 tie break, then you definitely are the Tennis' Great.

Really to say, you're the one of the most consistent player that I've ever known. You are the constant (well, almost). While other players comes and suddenly swipes out the Grand Slam trophies from you (Del Potro, Nadal), but none of them stayed. That is why you really deserve to be No. 1.

It was a good tennis match, but lack of excitement. Maybe that's British tennis for us. LOL.

Other good read: From Federer and Nadal's Intense Rivalry Comes a Masterpiece.
(an epic match that I missed because of a $tup1d business trip! I can't believe I missed it!!! Hotels should subscribe to a Sports channel that shows Live telecast of Tennis Grand Slams!)

Allez Juju!

Winners of A.O 2010 [image thanks to Australian Open]

I love Grand Slam finals weekends. Yesterday was the Australian Open Women's Finals, J. Henin vs S. Williams.

The new age of women's tennis are made up of these two players. The rivalry between them goes a long, long way back, but it's always of the professional sporting kind, of course.

The match started off pretty well at first with the first few couple of games, both players started to gain points collectively. Everything was going so well until the linesmen started calling Henin's 'ins' as 'outs'. There were at least two points that could've been hers was discounted and the point has to be played again. That is just frustrating. The linesmen sucked! Maybe they still have the images of Serena getting angry wanting to shove tennis balls down one's throat in the most infamous US open incident was still fresh in mind. It's really a let down to Justine and I think that was one of the reason why the first set went to Serena.

Nevertheless Justine struggled through the second set and managed to own it. She did played really well in that round and made Serena run for it. Just as things were going so well in the third set, somehow the table has turned and Justine's serves were so low it hit the net a lot of times and compared to Serena's serves which were twice the speed of Henin's, at least.

Justine played well. [image thanks to Australian Open]

Well, if Justine could hold her serves better and not let the nerves get to her, she would prevail eventually. I'm not expecting a super miracle to happen here, because finding Justine at the finals is already a miracle. She's been gone from tennis for more over than a year after her sudden retirement in 2008. As people would say, quit while you're winning, that's what she did, she quit from tennis when she was tops, No.1 player at that time.

Justine is my one of my favourite player on court. Not just because she's the underdog and a wildcard this year, but I admire her strength and courage to pull through all the things and all the drama that happened in her life. It's not easy when you have to go through all the drama mess and focus on playing pro tennis at the same time. She's a great player, for someone who's been out from the tennis world for quite a some time and manage to reach the finals really does say that she's a really talented player, and she rightfully deserves the spotlight. I'm just glad to know she'll be around this season. I'm looking forward to see more exciting matches from her in the coming future, especially in Rolland Garros, where she claims her favourite court.

Allez Juju!

* Big day today. Roger Federer's Day!

US Open x6 win: FAIL!

Right after sahur this morning, I tuned to sports channel to watch the US Open Men's final between my all time favorite = Roger Federer against Juan Martin del Potro. It was already in the second set, and from the looks of it, Roger's serves and returns were all over the court except in. It was either long or wide. Too stressful too watch. Turned off the tv and went upstairs and hope (and prayed) for the best for RF. Yes, this was quite S.a.d.

Came back downstairs after an hour or so. Much to my delight, RF now owns two sets, and now is playing in the fourth. I've been answered? I guess. But everytime I watch the game, RF seems to be struggling. Turned the tv off again and minded my own business.

Before leaving for work, I switched on the telly... "NOOOoooooo!!!'.... An unfamiliar face is holding the big trophy high up in the air, while RF looks on, with a silver 'tray' by his side.

The king have been 'de-throned'? (Image thanks to: New York Times)

To be fair (and to be a in a good sporting spirit - a critical virtue to have this season), JM deserve to win. In a matter of fact, he beat the best two tennis players of all times, Rafael Nadal and the maestro himself. Undeniably the tennis he played in the semis and this morning was outstanding. All's fair.
Takpalah, kasi chance, pasal Nadal macam sakit je masa main semi finals and Federer pun macam tak de mood nak main sebab frust dengan Hawk-eye system.

IMHO, RF best tennis game and best moments were not in the finals, but in the semis when he played against Novak Djokovic. And this tube shows the best two shots of the game. Yes, he practices that kind of shot, you know. And the looks on ND's face (at 0:57) was priceless, haha.



Well, I'm sorry that you didn't win, Roger, but you can't have it all, 'aight? 5 times was already a record and that's a clear statement that you're a superb tennis player. I'll wait for your next epic win in the next coming season.

Everyone goes south every now and then and some goes to win

(Salam,
There's so much that's happening in the US Open that I just need to blog about it).

And that's what happened when S said "I Didn't say I'd Kill You'- Are you Serious?". Well, that tainted the US Open Women's Tennis yesterday. I know there's so much pressure on S at that moment. She's won a couple of Grand Slams this year, but she's still ranked second after D who doesn't have a Grand Slam title yet. "Apekah?", right?? To make matters worse, she's already lost the first set to K and it seems like she'll be losing this one as well. It was the most imperfect timing when the lineswoman called a foot fault that day, and inadvertently started the bizarre drama of the day.

I don't know... there's one part of me that's unhappy with the lineswoman for making that call (which was really actually not a fault at all!!) and buat muka blur je lepas tu. And there's the other part that's dissapointed with S because she got so emo about it. In both ways, the what-would-be-a-great-semifinals had ended abruptly and sourly without any joys and triumphs of sports-woman-ship at all. It's all bland and a bit sad.


However....


Today's story, unlike yesterday's drama, is a combination of both happy and cute. Like a true champion, K strides from being an unseeded player (after 28-months hiatus) straight into the champion spotlight today, ousting this young player from Denmark. Now she's in my list of my favorite women tennis players after Justine Henin.

And the thing that makes this win a MOM-mentous WIN and cuter that a bunch of lolkittenz is because cute bubbly toddlers on the main court and grand slam trophies go great together side by side. Aawwww...

[Queens, September 13. Image via Getty]

Kim Clijsters from Belgium and her daughter Jada with her trophy after defeating Caroline Wozniacki from Denmark to win the Women's Final US Open match at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center September 13, 2009 in New York. AFP PHOTO / TIMOTHY A. CLARY (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)

More to read...

Clijsters' comeback and Open title serve as memorable heart-warmer

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/richard_deitsch/09/14/Clijsters.Wozniacki/index.html?eref=T1#ixzz0R632COdw

Tomorrow - Roger Federer's big historic match. I really do hope he wins.

Hail Roger Federer. King of Tennis!!

Image thanks: ©AP / K. Wigglesworth

I love summer. I love the smell of the fresh cut grass. I love seeing people in flip flops. I love tennis. I love Wimbledon. And most of all, I love Roger Federer. But that wavered a bit and I almost lost faith in him when the finals last night seems to go on.. and on.. and on.... and not forget to mention, every set was nail biting and kept me sitting uneasy for about 4 hours. Argh!

Who would have thought that even without Rafa on the grass, it would still provide great challenges for Roger in the form of Andy Roddick?

Andy Roddick was playing exceptionally well and it seems it took Roger almost 2 games for him to figure Roddick out. And that was not until the game went into a tie break!

Roddick serves we really, really fast. Memang laju giler siot! But it was Federer who was winning the aces (50 in all, now who's crazy?). Federer was making a lot of errors at the start and I do see less of his famous slices.. it's like he's not really playing his best. But somehow, you manage to turn it around and tried to hold his serves, meastro of tennis. Bravo!

The most tense moment was when the game went to the fifth set. Up until when Roger won his 6th points, it's hard to see who's winning. It was anybody's game. Andy was winning all his serves games and Roger has not been able to break it even once during all the previous 4 sets. Luckily it was Federer to serve first,so he was leading.

I guess everybody was a nervous wreck at that point onwards.. During each game Roger was serving I was afraid that if he dropped this game, then Roddick will definitely win because of the reputation of his serves game. As hoped, he stood his ground and tried to inch in into Roddick's serve game and Roddick is doing the same thing during Federer's serve, inching in trying to win points. But both men wouldn't budge a bit.

This went on until the closing end of the 15-14 game, when Andy finally mis-hit a forehand long out.

To my tennis maestro, Bravo! You are definitely THE BEST PLAYER OF ALL TIME, no doubt about that!

More nice pictures and detailed story here: http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/match_reports/2009-07-05/200907051246803778140.html

Federer's Historic Win

I wouldn't go quietly this week without mentioning about the finals at Rolland Garros. So here it is.

(*takde gambar psl takut violate rights :(   I think I have to go there myself next year for pics, sebagai ganti, Play this clip while reading this post about Roger Federer in Roland Garros, Paris.

Roland Garros (RG) is the red center of the tennis world. A number of people has penned down that RG Grand Slam is a title that is hardest to win. It's different from any other Grand Slam courts and it's much more slower but produces higher bounce. There are many great players who didn't manage to win the RG title in their tennis career. Pete Sampras and John McEnroe just to name a few.

Roger Federer, would have won this Grand Slam title much earlier in his career if it hadn't been to this freak of nature from Majorca, Rafael Nadal, who persistently stand between Roger and the Coupe des Mousquetaires (itu Cup perak daa, nama punya panjang belit lidah nak sebut) every year since 2005 and each Finals was nothing less than epic battles. Actually, not just at RG, all of their Grand Slam finals are like duel battles to the death! (ok semangat giler).

This is the second time Roger shed tears, but this time, it's was the total opposite of the heartbreak that happened during the Australian Open finals (and other loses- to Murray, Djokovic). This time around it's to celebrate a joyous occasion that he had been waiting for so long. Finally 14 Grand Slam titles that puts him side by side with Pete Sampras. (I too haz been waytinks for that long). Is he now the Greatest Player of all times (since Pete Sampras didn't win any RG Grand Slams)??

Although IMHO, the match yesterday against Soderling was not as great as the ones we've been watching for the past 4 years, but nonetheless a lot of the shots from both players are brilliant, the play was well composed and importantly Federer is the Maestro of that game (ok mcm terlalu bias terhadap RF, but I don't care, hahaha!). I might sound like a horrible person, but I feel a bit relieved that Nadal was out earlier during the 4th set. And this just opens the big opportunity door to Roger and I am glad I got to watch history being made last night on live TV.

The Women's Finals was not that exciting as that time when Justine Henin (fav!) last played (in 2007). Dinara Safina was thrown all over the clay court wrecked up with nerves playing against Kutznetsova. Poor DS, World No.1 without a Grand Slam title yet. Don't worry, your time will come, one day, maybe in Wimbledon later?

I'm geared up for Wimbledon which is just around the corner! Au Revoir!

All that glitters are bling-blings

... but some of them is pure gold (and diamonds too).

Sempena menyambut 2 minggu yang penuh dengan nasi minyak, ayam masak merah. kuah dalca dan sirap. Selamat pengantin baru dan terima kasih kerana sudi menjemput.

Mon Dieu! It's Rolland Garros mens finals tomorrow!!! The first in 5 years that FedEx have to fight other than Rafa. FedEx deserve to win at least one clay court Grand Slam. Go Go Roger!