Searching Sachin - Finding Federer

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Okay – I know I told you I’d be distracted this past week at the Australian Open Tennis Championship, but I didn’t say I’d have a front row seat! Watching the Williams sisters (no, despite the surname, they’re not relatives of mine) in the Margaret Court Arena, I found the seating intimate enough to see what many in the British press considered scandalous about Venus’s outfit. But we all have bodies, and many of us uncover particular parts of our bodies while sunbaking without turning a hair – so to speak. So what’s the big deal? Sisterhood is powerful – and the Williams brand of sisterhood is more powerful than most, including that of Cara Black (Zimb) & Liezel Huber (USA), as the Williams' stats verify:

Venus & Serena were doubles champions for the 4th time and Serena claimed the singles championship, in her 12th grand slam singles win and 5th Australian Open singles title. Serena acknowledged Billie Jean King – watching in the stand – as her ‘big mentor’ as she equalled King’s record for singles titles. And Margaret Court, herself a 24 time grand slam singles champion, presented Serena with the Australian Open trophy.

The-Big-Daddy-of-them-all-winner was, of course, Roger Federer. Did anyone ever doubt it? 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (13-11). I think Andy Murray’s stand-out quote indicates he has at last learnt some humility from Federer, not only about tennis rallies, but also about the need to acknowledge greatness deserved: ‘I can cry like Roger. It’s a shame I can’t play like him.’

Federer’s win exploded the myth that having children can pull back a champion’s achievements – at least for men, anyway. Fluid, graceful, powerful in turning his sporting profession into an art form – qualities shared by Sachin, don’t we agree?

And while we’re on the subject of Indian sportsmen, I guess you heard that India’s Leander Paes won the Australian Open mixed doubles with partner Cara Black in straight sets 7-5, 6-3. Incidentally, Paes was born the same year as Sachin, 1973.

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK’S PHOTO QUIZ: Sydney Cricket Ground 2008, photo thanks due to Christopher Baron.

See you next Monday - and back to normal routine with the focus squarely on Tendulkar.

Copyright cvwilliams.
Photos The Australian Women’s Register, Getty Images @ Australian Open online, WWOS.

PHOTO GUESSING COMPETITION

This week I'm once again a little distracted - this time by the tennis ... namely, the Australian Open in Melbourne. But not forgetting my beloved bat boy, nor my beloved fans of my beloved bat boy, I'm posting two photographs of said beloved bat boy here & now ...
The questions are (a) in which city were the photos taken, and (b) in what year were the photos taken? Don't worry about the 'Who took the photos?' question as it's probably too hard. I'll let you know the answers to all three questions next week.
See you Monday Feb 1st - once Shane W. has settled into his ambassadorial role in support of Indian (and all other) students all over the world ... Go Warney! And, of course, go Sachin! & congratulations on your 45th Test century!

Copyright cvwilliams.

Loyalty and Pride

Sachin's riposte to what turned out to be Shakib Al Hasan's polite enquiry in Chittagong today. [Photo AFP]

So congratulations and felicitations, Sachin. It’s no surprise that you decided against taking part in the tri-series in Bangladesh and also against joining Middlesex for the domestic Twenty20 Cup this summer – to save yourself for the best of the best, especially next year’s World Cup.

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