Digitally Exploring the world

I hadn't heard much about the young Spaniard or followed his progress till this week when he beat the inform Murray . I packed up from work early on Friday to catch the Semi-Final Clash between Nadal and Verdasco and boy I was in for one of the best matches I have ever watched. They battled it out for 5hr 14 mins and ran like a mad hatter for every point and not an inch of court was left untouched. I am a big Nadal fan but for this match I was surely supporting the underdog Verdasco. He matched Nadal ball for ball and for every angled shot he had another better one but then I am not sure I will call it lack of experience or some supreme intervention when Verdasco double faulted at match point !! I don't remember watching any tennis match that was played for 5+ hours with the kind of precision, power and touch . No player faltered, no player had a bad patch even the epic Wimbledon Finals between Federer and Nadal last year seemed so far apart. Nadal just won the game by winn...

A video on Somdev , too early to say how his career spans out but he looks like a good find for India.

I finally watched the Chennai open in its 14th edition last week and thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere. These matches took me back to my teenage years spent in Calcutta learning to play the game and participating in tournaments and also watching good Davis Cup ties with Ramesh Krishnan, Leander Paes etc.. Growing up watching junior world champion Leander play was wonderful and it was like a dream even for a late beginner like me to play in the same tournaments in the girls category. (Pics from the semis) This time around there was a new Indian tennis star Somdev, who seemed like a panther on the prowl just like Leander, chasing every possible ball around the court. The crowd was also very supportive and it felt good to cheer for an Indian tennis star after such a long time. I hope his good form continues for a long time to come. A good beginning for Indian tennis this year.

I bumped into these old videos (thanks to youtube) of Cliff Richard singing in one of the rain breaks at Wimbledon in 1996 ..One of my fav. singer's and the game i so much enjoy playing.. Took me back to my early days when these LPs would be played at home again and again and could possibly count amongst the first couple of english songs I must have heard and has remained ... I can still hum most of these songs unlike the newer ones that one can't seem to remember .... Those were the days where one waited months to get a new LP .. and later when the TV came waited eagerly for DD to show live Wimbledon coverage without any glitches at the crucial points.. Enjoy!! Part 2:

Remember those days, growing up watching these two champions battle it out in their respective sections. Graf, I was an ardent fan of hers and was one of the reason me taking up the game of tennis. I liked her reticent, no nonsense self , playing a graceful game of tennis and loved the way she let her game do all the talking. While Agassi, was the bashful young champ with flashy neon clothes and streaked hair. I initially didn't like his attitude (not his game :) ) and ofcourse always cheered the other players-Becker, Lendl,Edberg. But slowly my opinion changed and I liked his spirit when he came back from being ranked 190+ to fight and get back all the way to the top and also comeover his troubled personal life.. Watch these videos where they talk about each other... Agassi/Graf Interview: one more :

Have a laugh watching this video here I will be cheering Djokovic at the US open Finals tomorrow.