Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Fall of a Titan





There is a old theory to quite successful people failing and taking it really hard. The higher you are on the ladder, the more painful the fall that occurs. It was this that came to my mind on Sunday when I saw the once-invincible, still supremely talented, Roger Federer cry out of helplessness. He has tried everything physically possible to beat that man from Majorca. But as is obvious, the problem lies elsewhere - the mind. They say that the face is an index to the mind and I still remember myself remarking that Federer has lost the game in the second game of the 5th set when his face and eyes had given away the fight. He had given up, mentally, at the very least.

I find that it is quite a puzzle that supremely talented people are mentally frail. Another ready example that springs to my mind is Sachin Tendulkar. To say he is the best batsman to come from India is an understatement - his genius partly borders on being paranormal. I think with the current deterioration in technique, there might nobody else who can thump a short of good length ball for a straight driven four ever, on a consistent basis as SRT has done. But, on quite a few occasions SRT has failed when it comes to putting mind over matter - the final of WC 2003 or  the Chennai test against Pakistan or the Super Six game against Aus in WC 1999. Or for another broader perspective, when he was the captain, India regressed - Sri Lanka scored 945 in a single innings. We lost a test series to SAF at home, which promptly made Tendulkar to quit. A stronger soul would have taken it upon himself to lift the team out of the rut.

What is it that these guys who are supremely talented are not made of sterling stuff in the cranium? Is it the fact that they are so unbelievably talented that they are never required to develop a tougher mental make-up?

But getting back to the tennis game, grudgingly, I have to admit Nadal is a tennis great. I was almost 6 years old when I started to follow Pistol Pete. I still remember the sportstar having a cover edition with Pete after the US Open victory. I like Champions who play with grace/elegance. Sampras was an efficient destroyer. No fancy dress stuff nor over the shouting/grunting/mukkal-munagal stuff. And I think it because of that aspect of his game that he was never appreciated for a killer serve. Seeing Federer and Nadal trade breaks was weird having seen Sampras break his opponent and follow that up with a 15-0, 30-0, 40-0 and game pounding, mostly coming in the form of his killer serve or his 'slam-dunk' serve and volley. I think it is fitting that Federer has to dig deep into himself to equal the master. But, again it will be a fairy-tale of sorts if Federer can draw level at Roland Garros and then, break the ceiling at Wimbledon - the hallowed turf. I know this is much difficult that it actually sounds, but I want that to happen so that that cup-biting, grunting-moaning kaattaan from Majorca is put to pasture forever.

6 comments:

RukmaniRam said...

for some reason i knew ud blog about this.

im waiting for wimbledon

Anonymous said...

Well written. Frankly no one mentally frail can achieve what Federer/Sachin have achieved. I do agree that a lot of it is mental but at that level, it always is. I think Abhinav Bhindra too had hired a sports psychologist.

I am a Fedex fan and a regd member on his website rogerfederer.com. In a recent post by him/his team, he had criticized his fans/regd members of the site of playing armchair tennis for posting comments telling him what he should do to improve his game!! Some said go back to the old racket, a new coach etc etc..

I hate to see Federer lose and lose sleep, feel sore when he loses a match.

Being the best in this world in any field, whatsoever, can't be achieved by a frail mind, is my humble opinion.
Opinions differ...

Thanks
Madhav

Karthik Sriram said...

@RukmaniRam,
I'm waiting for the French Open to see Federer's comeback!

@ Madhav,

What I came to mean by 'frail' was that their mental aspect of the game was frail compared to their technique. I'm waiting for RF to claim No.1 ranking again and I frankly do not have any suggestions to him :D

Anonymous said...

Well, the clay courts of the french open have sort of been nadal's forte. I was broken when he beat federer at wimbledon last year..

Nimme said...

Dude, I saw him Federer in emotions but it is not end of his career for sure. Champions will hit back and i dont think we must write him off so soon!

I saw that match live but honestly Nadal was superb that day ..all his backhand winners were stunning and Federer lost it in the middle itself!

Yes, Pete never won French Open i am sure higher the challenges champions set for themselves greater they rise...so Fedex would have to try his best to beat King of Clay Nadal!!

Anonymous said...

Fair enough! I mistook you to be playing armchair tennis when you talked of frailty...

Anyways, lets hope he digs in deep to find what he needs to beat Nadal. Federer is such a nice human being and a good ambassador for the sport.

Madhav