Darcis meets Rosol

I remember writing about the shock that Lukas Rosol gave us last year with his second round win against the Roland Garros champion. That match went to five sets and featured troublesome knees. An encore in the first round this year was beyond imagination going by what I had seen the clay boy do in Paris a fortnight ago. Rafa Nadal has never been able to impose his will the same way on the green grass as he does on the red dirt. But becoming the first French Open champion to get dumped out of the first round at Wimbledon since Kuerten met that fate in 1997 is something that the twelve time grand slam champion would want to forget in a hurry. A straight set loss to a journeyman two years his senior would hurt and with the hard courts in the offing, the knees would revolt too. But if there is one person on the tour whose mind rules supreme over his physical ailments, its the great Spaniard. So, don't be surprised if he runs away with the US Open series and lands his thirteenth slam at the Flushing Meadows come August. Till that time though, Fed can rest easy not to face his nemesis in what was shaping up to be a blockbuster quarterfinal. 

Roger has not lost before the quarters in a slam for a decade now and his beloved grass was not going to stall that record. Against the Romanian Hanescu, a facile win was expected and delivered. He is in line to play his conquest in last year's final in this years semis and if things go to plan, the center court would be once again cheering for the Swiss' opponent, a rarity. There were a few more cheers for the old guard as the 2002 champion Hewitt rolled back the years to down Stanislas Wawrinka. The Swiss is a temperamental player and showed that in reaching the quarters at Roland Garros where he met the unbeatable on clay. Lleyton is a passionate player and the way he has kept going in the midst of injuries and middling results is a thing to admire. Another clay court specialist to bite the grass was Sara Errani who fell to Monic Puig, the Puerto Rican who deservedly got a congratulatory tweet from her countryman Ricky Martin. The first day at SW19 brought a few tumbles and a far more run of the mill results. Par for the course I guess.

The Indian cricket team selection committee has generally been a lame duck when it comes to selection. Seniority and not performance has usually been the yard stick for selecting squads and playing elevens. The four tests that India lost to Australia down under where the under-performing batting line up was not disturbed is a case in point. So, when the Sandeep Patil led men chopped off some of the dead wood and infused a little life in the team, the results are there for all to see. Shikhar Dhawan and M. Vijay have done in a couple of tests, what Sehwag and Gambhir did not manage over a couple of years. The slow legs of Zaheer Khan have been well replaced by Bhuvi Kumar and the sparkle that the Indian squad showed in the field  has landed them another limited overs prize. Dhoni now becomes the only captain to have all the ICC prizes under his belt including the ICC T20, ICC world cup, the Champions Trophy and the world test championship mace. That is a resume most would give an arm for and he is certain to finish as India's most successful skipper when he gives way to another man.

Just Superl8tive

If wiggly knees can land you so many trophies, the ATP tour would be flooded with players crying their foot joints out. When Rafa Nadal returned from injury this year and started off in South America on clay, he was supposed to be a contender again. Instead he turned out to be the erstwhile matador and swept all that came his way. There was no sign of hesitation while sliding those knees, nor any indication of rust. All we saw was supreme clay court finesse and execution. In the biggest challenge that he faced against Novak in the semis, he threw the whole bath tub at his dogged opponent every time a kitchen sink was hurled at him. Rafa came out of the 5 setter triumphant and that should have tasted sweet after landing defeat in a similar match in last year's Aussie Open final. Nadal and Nole are currently the top two guys in the men's game and there is very little to separate them, either physically or mentally. Djokovic had made it clear that his focus would be to land a career grand slam this year in Paris but like Federer, he would probably have to wait for the Spanish giant's knees to give away again to capture the three musketeer's cup. Eight titles at the same grand slam is mind boggling but what stretches imagination is that the owner of those titles is just 27 and in all probability end with double digits Roland Garros crowns. A record that will take a life time if not more to break. Tennis racquet wielders like this clay boy don't come often and that the fact that he has bettered his forehand compared to Roger's is something that belies belief. His opponents can only stare and pray when he unleashes one of those beasts from the base line only to land a couple of inches from the court on the other side and kick away like a mad serpent. The top spin, the speed and the accuracy is something that is now stuff of legend. When the Majorca based great hangs his boots, he would probably have overhauled Federer's mark of grand slam titles and can easily lay his claim to be the greatest of all time.

The Giles Villenueve circuit presented Sebastian with his 29th career grand prix win. He was third time lucky after losing out from pole position in the last two seasons. Though he holds a comfortable 34 point lead over Alonso, the race is far from over. A mistake or two can bring the Scuderia rider right back in the frame and that is something the German would be wary of. The red bulls should be secretly assured of their dominance now that they have got their wish for better tyres. Fernando limited the damage by finishing runner up ahead of Hamilton. The start of the season promised a nose to nose battle but it seems the defending champions may run away very quickly unless someone else steps up to stop the rampage.

Three pete Robredo

Winning a match coming from two sets down is a mean feat, doing it three times in a row on the Parisian dirt borders on the super human. Tommy Robredo has spent a large part of the last three years on the sidelines with injury. He was one of the Spanish armada who usually made the quarters line up at most big events before misfortune made him dump the racquet and take the sling. He could not have chosen a better stage to announce his come back. Winning in five sets after losing the first two against Sijsling, the crowd darling Monfils and now against Almagro has catapulted him into the lime light once again. He comes up against another fighter in compatriot David Ferrer in the quarters and  the fairly tale would be complete if he manages to go one better. The other parts of the draw have thrown up results as expected barring a few hitches. Rafa lost a set in the first two rounds against unknown opponents but then his top spin relies on heat and the cool climes of the French capital have not helped his kicking ground strokes. Roger had a slump yesterday that is becoming all too frequent only to revive back and make the last eight of another grand slam. Its been almost ten years since he has not made the quarters of a grand slam and his loss would have been apocalyptic for his fans. He plays on to build on that incredible record and faces Tsonga who has been his downfall on more than one occasion. This is probably a tougher quarter than the semi where he is expected to take on the running machine in Ferrer. Jo Wilfred is tough customer and with the crowd on his side should be the favorite in this encounter. On the other side of the draw, Rafa and Nole should face off in the semis and that is one mouth watering clash in the offing. Djokovic easily tamed the rising star in Grigor Dimitrov. The Bulgarian's love interest though is still in the draw defending the title she won last year. Maria is on another collision course with Serena and unless one of the other ladies make an upset, we should see the old rivalry play out on Saturday again. 

A mention for Nico Rosberg who emulated his father in winning the Monaco grand prix. After three successive poles, he finally managed to put behind his tyre woes and win on "home" soil. While Mercedes battle the secret tyre testing charges, this should provide some balm to the beleaguered team. This may also be the start of the German outfit starting make inroads in the Red Bull and Ferrari stronghold on the points ledger. Now only if Hamilton can get his game together. The two red bulls captured the other two podium places and its in this consistency that they manage to go one up over others when the end of the season comes around.