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.