Okay, I'm a full-fledged convert now. Anyone who ever thought (as I once did) that Roger Federer was more machine than human should look at this strange ritualistic celebration he performs over the supine body of his doubles partner Stanislas Wawrinka after they won their Olympic semi-final (don't blink, it's in the first couple of seconds of the video). I have no clue what the gestures mean but I submit that no robot on earth could be programmed to do them, not even a Swiss one.
So now we have a situation where Rafa and Roger could both finish the Games with a gold medal - one in singles, the other in doubles - just a day before the official changing of the number 1 ranking. Who would've thought it.
(Meanwhile, young Shamya Dasgupta is in Beijing and putting up photos of himself at matches featuring Nadal and Federer. Unquantifiable envy strikes.)
Update: Roger and Stan won the gold. Here's another video. And an AP news report that begins on this richly evocative note: "Roger Federer extended his arms in triumph and began to hop. Then he embraced his doubles partner and they hopped together."
WOW!!! This is very very unlike Federer. Anyway, I am not complaining. It's REAL bad time for Federer fans right now. We could do with a Gold. Doubles final has just concluded and Federer has given us (as in we, you not included) reason to cheer up. That made my weekend!
ReplyDeleteI am eager to see the post-final celebrations. I am sure that'd be even more unFederer-esque. Please post the video if you find it!
I do hope Rafa wins tomorrow. This is indeed greatest tennis rivalry ever in the tennis!!
Nishit: yes, it was awesome to see him so relaxed and genuinely motivated for the doubles, especially given all the prophecies of doom that have been going around. I think this will definitely get him going for the US Open now.
ReplyDeleteHave put up another video - there don't seem to be many on Youtube yet.
Rafa will have a very tough match against Gonzo today (he's never beaten him on hard-court) but let's see.
ALL TIME GREATEST WHO? FEDERER.
ReplyDeleteTHIS YEAR IS NOT GOOD FOR HIM.
NO ONE KNOWS HIS POTENTIAL.
NADAL MAY BE NO.1 BUT NOT SO LONG.
FEDERER WILL BE BACK.
HE IS THE DON OF THE TENNIS.
Ashik: welcome! I take it you're dropping in from the Rediff.com messageboard?
ReplyDeleteDo remember to get that Caps Lock button fixed.
And the golden lad beats Gonzo after all! On hard-court! Yippeee!! What a way to bring in his World No. 1 ranking! I do hope Federer gets back in form soon though..am glad he won the Doubles.
ReplyDeletePS : Please post the medal ceremony video, if you can!
Empress: here's a high-five! Isn't it just a glorious time to be a Nadal fan? Back in March when he was regularly going deep into every tournament but not winning any of them (culminating in the disappointment of the Miami final against Davydenko), I never imagined we'd be this spoiled the rest of the year.
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen the medal ceremony - hope it's on YouTube soon.
And I thought you would wait until Federer made babies with Mirka.
ReplyDeleteOlympics was a very quick hard court. And boy, how did our man, Nadal, win it. With style, especially against Djokovic, where balls seemed to go up higher and higher and higher until Djokovic missed a smash to lose the game.
Nadal must be banned from playing tennis for two reasons. 1. Doping (he has developed some secret technique to subvert the doping tests) 2. For yawn inducing style of play.
Miami final wasn't disappointing, it was disgusting.
I hope for your sake, Nadal fucks up at the US Open.