Down Under: Possibilities, Probabilities, Plausibilities

Roger Federer wins his seventh grand slam and sets the stage to grab all four in a calendar year.












[Sorry folks. After learning that the only two players -- the temperamental Safin and comical Nadal -- who could realistically give Him a run for his money on a hard court are out of the Open, I’m drawing a blank. It’s also a shame that Agassi is not in, considering the courts of Melbourne have oft seen him at his finest. I’m afraid this is going to be an even cleaner sweep than any we’ve seen so far.

Unless Roddick performs a magic act or Nalbandian does a re-enactment of the Masters cup final.

As for the women, Kim Clijsters is probably out, if not physically, then at least mentally. I was hoping for a long-awaited all-Belgian clash – since the Williams’ sisters seem to be nursing injuries (to their pride ;)). I don’t even recall any of the other women players, but I think it would be safe to say they go something like _________eva or _________ova (there’s like a dozen of ‘em).

As a patriotic Indian, I am rooting for Sania Mirza, of course, cos she goes into this slam as a seeded player. She is ranked 34 in the world and seeded 32 this Open. I also just found out that she is second only to Maria Sharapova in popularity rankings (if google-search frequencies are anything to go by -- though that could just as easily be attributed to the exclusively Indian tendency of sitting at a computer and typing words into a search box). I am hoping it’s more cos of her attitude and game than the nose-ring and very vocal t-shirts, but hell, I’ll sustain that for the sake of an Indian girl being the 34th best in the world...

In tennis gossip, apparently Roddick and Sharapova might have something going! Won’t that be cute – the currently uncontested studs of American tennis (I use the terms American and tennis loosely ;)). I am wondering if she’d grow taller than him though, and if he could teach her to be a sport and to laugh in defeat...hmmm...

On to more important things – one of the matches to look forward to in the early rounds at Oz would be a potential Roddick - Thomas Johansson match-up. I still remember their stunning 4-setter at last year’s W. Roddick needed two tiebreakers to dispose of the Swede. That’s the wonderful thing about the big servers vs. the baseliners. You hardly ever see a tiebreak in a Federer match (mostly cos he never lets it get to a 6-6 point). And let’s not forget that Johansson has won this slam before, beating Marat Safin, no less.

A probable Federer-Haas meeting in the round of 16 should be exciting. There’s something about Roger Federer’s aura in a grand slam that makes him invincible, but Haas is Roger’s most recent ouster and watching two all-court players (even if one is waaaaaay out of the other’s league) on hard turf is always fun.

One early round match that I’d be sitting glued to the couch for is a possible match-up between Nalbandian and James Blake. You say Blake and you look back to the stunning five-setter between him and Agassi at last year’s US open. I can only begin to imagine how it would be to watch his powerful groundstrokes and splendid returns against an eventual baseliner like Nalbandian. In any case it should be a treat to watch two baseliners battle it out.

And here are the fantasy late-round matches that are playing in my head right now (though fantasy is a bit of stretch, cos I can’t imagine anyone but the following four make it that far).

SEMI-FINAL: A Roddick-Nalbandian clash should be interesting. Nalbandian is already battling a virus (and there’s some doubt about whether he’ll even play) – a big-hitting Roddick is the last thing he needs. I have my doubts about Andy himself – you never know with him. Though David doesn’t yet seem mentally prepared to take home a slam trophy. Plus the very real problem of misfortune combined with the fact that he can’t shoot up and fire an ace to befuddle his opponent.

Now that Hewitt is in Federer’s draw he’ll have to kiss goodbye to his hopes of winning his country’s slam this year. As one fan put it, Hewitt would stand a chance if someone knocks out Federer for him. But who? Considering neither Andy nor Nalbandian will see him till the finals, Lleyton is left to fend for himself. And he has no answers to Roger’s game – if that wasn’t clear before, it was in the US Open, where he was hitting harder than ever, moving farther forward from his beloved baseline and yet coming up consistently short, literally. Apparently Roger is trying to claim underdog status behind the Ozzie – underdog status to a man he has defeated in the last 9 meetings. This is what happens, I think, when you find yourself leaps and bounds ahead of the pack. You want to get back down to the level of the lesser mortals. This is certainly not a match I’ll be looking forward to.

FINAL: I am dying to watch Nalbandian face Federer in the finals. Before you go all wide-eyed, consider this -- there is a very real chance that Nalbandian will beat Roddick in the semis, cos he is pretty good at de-settling the top players, and I think David has never been in better form. Also, he has had a more recent victory over the god of tennis (I am searching my brain for when Andy did that last, and coming up with nothing). Technically, Nalbandian has the game to win against a big server on a hard court. His heavy hitting from the baseline and excellent returns are probably the best in current men’s tennis.

The other possibility would be the much watched and re-watched and uncannily reproduced Andy-Roger clash. Roddick doesn’t stand a chance but I look forward to his cheerful bantering. Talking of which, here’s a recent exchange between the two –

When Frenchman Monfils lost the Quatar Open final to the world #1, he chose not to answer a question about any weaknesses in Federer's game.

"Don't say anything," Federer said.

"No, speak up," shouted out Roddick to loud laughter.

Oh, I just love that guy.....If only I didn’t worship the other, I’d be rooting for him...

I do realize that after drawing a blank I have rambled on for about a thousand words. What makes it even funnier is that I would watch a grand slam diligently if Roger Federer were the only contestant. So, I’ll just wind up now with the amen of tennis: GO Roger!]