"So much about tennis .. and now a Urdu poem, is every thing okay?" That's the first question I might ask if someone does like this. Well, this time I am not asking question, but I can give the answer -- Though I may not be able to match Nirmal's article on tennis, one like this, I can still pass my view & if you have read Basir Badr, Sahir Ludhianvi or someone like his talent, you would be doing the same. Other day I was reading some work of Sahir, I was very impressed with some of his poem. I guess you know who is Sahir Ludhianvi , don't know? Okay, just in case, he is distinguished poet which has a big contribution in Indian urdu poetry & Indian film Industry . Remember Amitabh Bachachan singing Kabhi Kabhi? Who wrote those lines? It was Sahir.
Here is an excerpt from his memorable larger than life work:
Well that's actually should be, I mean - you can't walk away with 6th straight title easily. You got to prove and prove strongly ---- much better if you are off form, and off written.
Borg puts Federer on third place in the favorites to win Wimbledon. Borg wants to put his money first on Nadal, then if he got few more - then on Djokovic. Borg even went ahead to said that he wont be surprised if Federer announces his retirement next year.
You can hear those kind of stuff, cause there is player who is lost and out. In a form which not even miles close to his own standard. But Mr Borg remember that even that dark horse is loosing in last few races, people are advised to put their money on him first. No one was ever able to traced him when he was running well.
This is a real tough draw for Federer, have a look at this:
1st Round: I guess that's the easiest one he got. But don't forget that Wimbledon is known to make news in first week, and don't forget the nature of tennis,. though Federer told the world that seeding is everything and rank does matter.
Odds: 9:1 in favor of Fedex.
He can loose only in case, he don't complete the match, well ain't that Federer made us believe.
2nd Round: That's where the test starts in phases, stress gets better round by round and harder tests. Possible second round match with Soderling. Though it should not be a real test for Fedi, but Soderling is not the guy you can run on. He will fight and may break a serve.
Odds: 9:1 in favor of Fedex
Well, one here is more realistic, but Fedex should pull it out, unless it ran out of Petrol (its costly!)
3rd round: Can Federer be out in third round? Well there won't be any deja vu if that happens, last four years, he is last 16 grad slam finals, and last 18 of 20. and that count start from the first grand slam he won. That incredible -- "the day I tasted blood, I replaced it with salt ". Before that, well before that he wasn't this Federer.
Okay back here, highly likely, FedEx will see Molfis again on his track 3rd round. We all have seen this guy in French Open, and he is good. Though one can debate that home environment and supporting audience makes a difference in performance (You remember that memorable Australian open for Bagdathis? Though he has some 60-100 supporters, they were making the noise of 60-100 million), and he got guys, shots, speed, and I think grass will suit him & he ain't fear. So I think he can give a good fight.
Odds: 8 : 2in favor of Fedex Federer is favored because of his class & intelligence here. You know, he can fool you by jumping behind the line while you are chasing the ball and suddenly come to net and play a bolly which is always against the direction you are running in.
4th Round: If all goes well, highly likely 3rd round match b/w Hewitt & Gonzalez. That's too early for titan's clash!. But winner will have honor to get a chance to stop Fedex winning streak. Gonzalez, his part finalist & hewitt with never say die attitude and got all the guts and power to put up a amazing fight on his day, may be defeat Fedi. So this would be a great match to watch if this happens.
Odds: 6.5 : 3.5 in favor of Federer in case of Hewitt.
Take a note of it, though it might have happen many times, but Hewitt is surprise package of every tournament he walks in. He can do it on his day.
Odds: 7.5 :2.5 in favor of Federer in case of Gonzalez.
Well, Gonzalez, you can chase down the ball, hit a great forehand, an orthodox backhand - but point is -- you can run, but you can't hide.
Quarter final: I don't think Berdych, Ancic, Kohlschreiber, Verdasco, Andreev have got what it takes to beat Federer in a grand slam. At least not yet. It boils down to Ferrer. Ferrer is playing in his best tennis time, so he should make it to Quarter. With the kind of attack he has displayed, the serve, reach - though he makes the sound like "man Maria", he can trouble - make anyone think.
Odds: 6.5 : 3.5 in favor Federer.
Again, reason here is, FedEx is too smart for these guys, and he won't play fun in a grand slam. Moreover don't forget only one guy among all those who has got a great reach is able to beat Federer. Ferrer, Gonzalez, Molfis, Bagdathis all gets tired and lost. Only one can make it -- also favored by that his game doesn't suit Federer - high top spin on low top spin kind of back hand, it works for him.
No prize for guessing who is he!
Semi Final: Well no one can bet who would be in semis on a tennis grass count, better have your money in your pocket. There would be one guy for sure in semifinal, record is finally broken.
Possible semifinal match b/w Federer & Djokovic. Though Djokovic has to pass by Safin, Bagdathis & Nalbandian. Though Safin might be easy for him, don't underestimate Bagdathis -- remember that epic quarter final match b/w Djokovic & Bagdathis?. Bagdathis can give a bad taste. Nalbandian can also be tough on his day, he has got the huge backhand which can look like hammer if it works.
Federer semifinal clash with Djokovic would be a replay match of Australian open this year, though Djokovic would want to win it again and make it strong to win the double of Australian & Wimbledon, Federer would not want to loose again on the same stage again the same player. This match will have Federer in the nerve and Federer has got few very important point to prove.
Odds: 4 : 6
Federer is struggling with his fitness this year and his game is also suffering. Looking at his form, he gets a slightly lesser odds. But it would be very close match if both player can play a good tennis. Though I would still say that on his own day, Federer is untouchable. You can see the storm, we can feel the storm, but you can't stop it. On his day, I have seen Federer hitting 25 winner in 40 points with no unforced error.
Final: A possible final with Nadal or Davydenko. Though Nadal is doing well on grass, he is vulnerable. Don't be surprised if some guy comes out, and beat him. Remember Tsonga & those classical drop shots on top spin in Australian open? Nadal has got Davydenko, Roddick, Gasquet, Youzhny, Stepanek on his way. They all have got the caliber to beat him. Specially Nadal & Gasquet would be a interesting match. Guy with the top spin on the backhand & and a guy with the best ideal backhand.
Odds: 5:5 in favor of Federer
Though Federer will struggle against Nadal, he will have equal chances to win the final.
I think Nadal on Grass could be easier for Federer that Djokovic on Grass. Though Nadal defeated Djokovic recently in a grass court tournament final, don't be too biased against Djokovic on that result. Good player saves their best for important places - tournament like grand slams. And if you hear that Djokovic is facing Nadal in the final here, put your money on Djokovic first.
This is a real challenge for Fedi, but if he come through - it can also give him enough time on court, practice and confidence to go all out in semi and try his God level to pull in Final.
"Federer made us believe that Tennis is easy, that you can play in final of every tournament, that he will be one of the last to leave the room. That even worked against him, people feel that he would be in every final match, trust that he will be there and more importantly wanted him to be in every final. He is taken for so much guaranteed. That is why even he is in of both grand slam of the year, in final of one, he is so off written - so discarded ... cause even this performance doesn't stand anywhere near to standard he made up for himself."
I hope Federer will put up a better fight this time than the one is French Open. I hope he will play Federer.
After 3 years of development, Firefox 3 is released on Jun 17 PDT 9 PM (somewhere around that). So After running some beta & rc releases of 3.0, I wanted t o update to complete release.
I checked for update on 18th but it did not worked, I thought may the it take some time for them to put this under updates and allow to download and update from firefox (2.0 and 3.0 rc & beta releases), but then when I checked in today, it still not working, later I found out on their site that Firefox 3 is available for complete download, update is still not supported :-(
That's sad, I thought they cound have provide update it for those who are already running firefox 3 beta and rc releases. I hope they do so and sooner.
How much you change by the way you look? And when you are not in show business where it really matter?
Me? Nothing at all! But yeah there were lots of comments & compliments. ... so many I don't remember all of'em, from "long haired geek", "you look great, You should try in modeling" (well yeah that was from the guy who is getting bald, for him - "You look good 'n' tough in those short hair, don't dare to change that") , " it suits you" ... to " Is it you or is it you?", "lost a bet or something?', "jobless?" - "living in jungle?" (well I don't want to write this one, but someone said that -- and he is still breathing)
I think you must have guess it by know what am I referring to. In case you don't, don't worry you don't need to scroll down large pages or anything like that. It's next line -
Hair cut, that it is. I am in new short hair cut avatar now... and I don't know if my mirror is lying --- it never did till now --- I am looking good ;-) and feeling good. Yeah few symptoms are left though ... finger find something missing on the head, didn't feel like a bath after that ...etc.
But it is .... it's finally off my head .... Reincarnation 2.5 released !!!
What a great run by Monfils in this years French Open. First Frenchman to reach semi in last 7 years, and to do that as unseeded player in the tournament, is one big suprise to all, and thing doesn't fall in his plate, he has to go through some tough matches, walk on some very good - seeded players, likes of David Ferrer, Ivan Ljubicic, some touch times in the match, 5 setters, down breakpoints, tired and still running .............. but he proved himself strong .. a hard nut to crack.
Now I think he need more than that, more than what he did in previous matches, more stamina, more accuracy, better close to be line ... and above all he need to play a surprise game coz FedEx "The Federer Express" is on the same track 'n' its running fast without any signal or warning. Pressure must be on Monfils. In the worst case, first two sets should be a good watch.
This year's Frechopen draw become very dramatic for first 3 seeded player. In their run to semi, they have faced at most just one good seeded player. What sounded as a tough draw for Nadal and Djokovic is turned up to be a easy run till semi. I mean all seeded players lost somewhere before facing them. One way it was easy for them cause they were playing against some relatively in experience players, but one can argue that their opponents have actually defeated some seeded players. Anyway its not easy to repeat the same show unless its recorded. But not it would be a good match b/w Nadal and Djokovic, one is master of Clay ... other - the best player of '08 till date. While Djokovic has to prove that he is good on any surface, Nadal has more than one point to prove .... his supremacy on clay against everyone 'n' anyone. In this case I think pressure would be on Nadal.
But the way they say "Pressure is privilage", and the way Federer said once "It's not about money, We are chasing our dreams"
So tie your seat belts, get a half-day and be ready for these two semifinals, cause Federer Express on comming and is on time !!
Faiz captures the mood of independence in his poem. One of his best. To those who doesn't understand it in its original language, translated to English version. (below)
"Dawn of Freedom" (August 1947) - by Faiz Ahmed Faiz (English Translation)
These tarnished rays, this night-smudged light-- This is not that Dawn for which, ravished with freedom, we had set out in sheer longing, so sure that somewhere in its desert the sky harbored a final haven for the stars, and we would find it. We had no doubt that night's vagrant wave would stray towards the shore that the heart rocked with sorrow would at last reach its port.
Friends, our blood shaped its own mysterious roads. When hands tugged at our sleeves, enticing us to stay, and from wondrous chambers Sirens cried out with their beguiling arms, with their bare bodies, our eyes remained fixed on that beckoning dawn, forever vivid in her muslins of transparent light. Our blood was young--what could hold us back?
Now listen to the terrible rampant lie: Light has forever been severed from the Dark; our feet, it is heard, are now one with their goal. See our leaders polish their manner clean of our suffering: Indeed, we must confess only to bliss; we must surrender any utterance for the Beloved--all yearning is outlawed. But the heart, the eye, the yet deeper heart-- Still ablaze for the Beloved, their turmoil shines. In the lantern by the road the flame is stalled for news: Did the morning breeze ever come? Where has it gone? Night weighs us down; it still weighs us down.
Friends, come away from this false light. Come, we must search for that promised Dawn.
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