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.