WIN-dledon

A one and half hour lunch break bang in the middle of a working day is good, no matter what, but when it is taken so that you can catch the most of the Wimbledon men's quarterfinals, it doesn't get any better than that. So what if the protein you are supposed to make before you graduate is sitting in the cold room without protease inhibitors, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event. Federrer and Roddick are up on the cards and did they deliver!

Even when I diligently watched Pete Sampras play during those stunning ten years, with every shot sending my heart beat jus a little higher, I didn't realize the full potential of a rocket powered ace. But today, watching Andy Roddick tackle who is probably one of the most under-rated tennis players in this decade (IMHO Schalken comes second only to David Nalbandian in that category) I realized just what an ace can do in a game. Schalken was clearly not lacking in any aspect of the game but the serve. Little wonder then that the first two sets ended in tough tie-breakers, with the second one actually goin upto an incredible 10-8 in favor of the american heart-throb. Not to mention the rallies that kept the crowds breathless for minutes on end.

And while we're on the subject of under-rated stars, while some players return year after year to write tennis history and leave indelible marks on the diaries of grandslam tournaments (Krajicek beating Sampras in '96, Ivanisevic winning wimbledon in 2001 as a qualifier), there are some that get noticed for reasons other than the game itself (Anna Kournikova has single-handedly headed that list for a decade now).

Good luck to Schalken---he just has to learn to tackle that serve better and I'm putting my money on him winning a championship. Not to belittle the power and talent that goes into concocting a shot as unanswerable as an impossible ace, you only have to look to taylor dent for testimony. His game screams---"Tennis is more than just whipping up a 145 mph serve"--no wonder the guy has not made an appearance past round four in a grand slam tournament.

Talking of aces-- or rather the lack of them--that was precisely the reason why Hewitt was fighting a losing battle against defending champion Roger Federrer on Center Court today. I am yet to find an aspect of the game that the Swiss player hasn't perfected yet, but Lleyton still could have given people a little more for their money.

And as for Henman, it was a bad day. If it helped him, so was it for ten thousand others. The Henmania that religiously returns to Center Court year after year is testimony to a more reasonable kind of popularity (read: it is not based on short skirts and blond hair).Henman is no doubt a player of great class and other than the forces of destiny and a certain Pete Sampras, I am lost as to why he is yet to a win a grandslam; the one person that stopped him in his tracks all these years retired in 2002, giving fans at the Henman hill renewed hope. He even hired his idol's coach to try to shift his stars a little bit. But unfortunately, three years and Ivanisevic, Hewitt and Federrer later, Henman still looks on at the cup from a distance.

And this year the one to defy that roar from Henman hill was a 6-foot-plus---incredibly good-looking, I must add-- novice to the game, an unheard-of Mario Ancic. I would have let that "unheard-of" be, if I hadn't chanced upon his picture on the site! Roddick thinks the waters in Croatia breed tall giants, but I would attribute more to the water than mere inches.*Sigh* Step aside, Kournikova, here's someone that knows how to look good AND play tennis!

For all my Ancic-mania, unless the 20-year old pulls off a magic act on Friday, the stage seems all set for a Roddick - Federrer final. And that means a good July 4 weekend for tennis fans.