Vijay Amritraj

Picture of a very young Vijay playing in the USA in 1974. A claasic player and strong in doubles with his brother where they used lots of cunning angles and creative wristy shots.

Chrissie Evert

A picture of a young Chris Evert in action at the 1974 Forest Hills tournament.

Jimmy Connors - A Trip Back In Time

Hello sports fans. Here's a great pic of Jimmy Connors in full flight in his prime during the US Open at Forest Hills in 1974, a tournament he went on to win.

Men In Black

Clad all in black with only the white Nike stripes showing on headband and left shoulder breaking the shadowy effect, Roger Federer moved into equal second spot on the Tennis Grand Slam list this Sunday with a regulation win at the US Open.

He now has 12 slams and sits only 2 behind the Sampras record.

On the same weekend, only one team really showed form capable of winning the Rugby World Cup - and they too, were clad all in black. Whilst hosts France incredibly lost to an inspired and obdurate Argentina, the New Zealand All Blacks put 70 points on Six-Nations Italy and barely broke into a sweat whilst doing so. Frightening.

Meanwhile England scraped through against the US, Ireland were pushed close by Namibia, as were Wales by Canada, and Scotland had a lot of luck in their game against Portugal.

Clearly Nike are looking for a black period in sporting dominance. And it looks like they're going to get it.

Carlos Moya versus Djokovic and Time

At 32 years Carlos Moya is getting towards grandaddy age in professional tennis terms. However, the former world number 1 and ex-Roland garros champion had made solid progress through to the quarter-finals of the US Open Tennis using his experience to wins over some pretty good young guns.

Still in tip-top physical shape, Moya was moving well and you could see he felt confident. In one of his matches your correspondent caught a couple of middle-aged women spectators almost fainting with desire in the first rows everytime the rugged Spaniard served in front of them. At that point in his 3rd-round tie, two sets in and the humidity of the New York nights making him glow with perspiration, if you had captured a thimble-full of that sweat I reckon you could have sold it to the ladies for a couple of hundred bucks.

Unfortunately for Carlos his quarter final set him up against the new kid on the block Djokovic, a Serb who looks like he could give King Roger a run for his money in the very near future. Although this match looked like a last crack at a big title for Moya and you knew he would try to pull out all the stops, youth was definitely in the ascendant here. The unforgiving clock had run on a bit too far for the old-timer.

And so it proved. Djokovic dispatched Moya in 3 straight sets to set up a semi against another Spaniard, Ferrer. This will be a good match up because Ferrer is fast and persistent - something the young Serb has yet to face, but on present form, and providing his dodgy back holds up, we are looking at a new champion - at least sometime soon.

When Tennis Was Cool - Back to 1970s Part II

More classic tennis pictures from 1974. I give you John Newcombe (in very cool Adidas trainers), a 17 year old Bjorn Borg, Yvonne Goolagong and Stan Smith, + a quite awful ad for Kawasaki tennis racquets - now what ever happened to them eh?

Roger Gets His Man

With top-notch timing Roger Federer FINALLY got to grips with Rafa Nadal on a clay court. "I have cracked the code," said a delighted Roger after beating 'the Beast' in 3 sets in Hamburg. And with Roland Garros the next tourny up, he couldn't have found the key at a better time.



Our favourite Swiss won 2-6 6-2 6-0 to take his fourth Hamburg title and end Nadal's record run of 81 straight wins on clay. "To come through is excellent, I played fantastic, and I really got the feeling in the end I had figured out how to play him," said the Fed Express.

Rog is known for being a gentleman and is well respected amongst his peers but you can sense that he really doesn't like Nadal. Of course, the losing often will be part of it, but I think it's something deeper. I think Rog just doesn't like the whole Nadal style and gets frustrated that he loses to such a blatant hacker. Most especially, the whole quarter of an hour thing between points, really winds him up and one does wish that the refs (or umpires) would hurry the Spaniard up. He takes an age to adjust all his bits and is constantly picking his shorts out of his arse. A match with Nadal takes 4 hours even if he wins love and love.

Anyway, Roland Garros is the focus now and this result has cast an element of doubt over the second Grand Slam of the year, as Federer has proved Nadal is not invincible on clay. With the forecast set for clouds and rain this should also help Federer since the arenas will play less like Mallorcan sun-baked courts and we should see more skiddy balls negating the brutal top spin Mr Muscles likes to put on his balls - or should I say shots.

Fingers X-ed then. Allons-Y Les Gars!

When Tennis Was Cool - Back to the 1970s

Awww man. Came across some old magazines someone had thrown out into the street during a house clear-out. From 1974 I give you Guillermo Vilas, a young Bjorn Borg, bonus cheesy 1970s ad for Fred Perry + super double cheesy bonus tennis lifestyle ad.

Fortiter in re, suaviter in modo

This morning, GMT time about 12.00 hrs, Roger Federer won his 10th tennis Grand Slam. Neatly wrapping up the last game to love, King Rog had just swatted away his challenger in 3 sets and become the first person since Borg in 1980 to go through a slam tourny without dropping a set. And that challenger was no mean player, being Chilenean Fernando Gonzalez (or 'Super Gonzo' as the Aussies had labelled him) who had himself been playing the best tennis of his life - previously dismantling Nadal (the No.2 seed here), Blake (5th seed) and storming into the final after blitzing Tommy Haas (12th seed) in straight sets in under 1 and half hours when hitting 42 winners and making only three unforced errors. Yet Roger simply took him apart.

Ladies and gentleman, all I wish to point out in this post is that we are witnessing the greatest player to ever hold a tennis racquet. The man is sublime. He is dominating a sport that has literally millions of players and he's doing so with grace and beauty. Not even Schumacher or Tiger or Valentino Rossi, all kings of their chosen sport, come close to what this man is achieving. And many many people agree with me. Here are a few quotes from blogs and websites culled from this afternoon's reactions to Roger's latest triumph:

"Congratulations to the most wonderful athlete I have ever had the privilege of seeing." - Emmy Hughes

"He is the best tennis player on the planet and nobody has the ability to out class him..." - Chelseakyle

"Could never tire of watching this man. Has every shot in the book." - 1FDERER

"...simply the greatest tennis player the game has ever seen." - wastastic

"Roger Federer...best in history no questions asked." - mattgor123

"The guy is pure class. The 'Best Ever'." - marisask69

"I could watch slo-mo of federer for hours... and hours." - makahuhu

"He is like one of the characters in 'Heroes'. His genes have mutated to where he has special powers and he is just keeping it a secret. He can probably fly too but doesn't want anyone to know. " - golddigger90210

"Federer. melhor tenista de todos os tempos, backhand monstro!" - pajeuhp

"Tennis genius of a kind that we're lucky it's in our lifetime." - NewMinkey

"... perhaps there should be a new ranking for him - No.1 Plus." - Bud Collins

As it stands now, the Fed Express is now equal fifth in the all time slam list, which goes: Pete Sampras (14) Roy Emerson (12) Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg (11) Bill Tilden and Federer (10). He is the first man to win three of the Grand Slam events on at least three occasions each and surely the only target left for him now to cement his place in the sporting pantheon is the Grand Slam which means he has to win Roland Garros. This makes Paris spring 2007 surely the hottest sporting ticket on the planet. So I urge all of you to urge Roger on in an urgent manner and cross your fingers that he remains injury free for this tourny.

Review of a Year in Sport 2006

What sporting moment do you remember most about the year past? Was it Zidanegate – the headbutt that shook the world? Shane Warne’s 700th wicket in Test cricket in front of his home crowd at the MCG? Maybe Monty Panesar’s defining exuberance frolicking about the pitch having just taken a wicket sticks most in the mind. Or how about the image of an imperious Roger Federer winning any one of his 12 major titles and three grand-slams in 2006? Another great year in sport was perhaps tinged with disappointment for English fans who had little to shout about or celebrate but here I run over some of the key events in the last 12 months and award a few gongs along the way.

Football

Man Utd’s Alan Smith’s shocker of an injury during a 1-0 loss to Liverpool was a rude introduction to the soccer year and many Irish fans were also rather stunned to get Steve Staunton as their new manager. Cheeky chappy Jose Mourinho’s blue machine secured back-to-back Premiership titles whilst England prepared for the World Cup tourney without Wayne Rooney who had broken a metatarsal. Liverpool lifted the FA Cup and Barcelona triumphed in the UEFA Champions League. Steve McClaren was named as the next England manager and would remain Eriksson's right-hand man in Germany where Italy claimed their fourth title, and in doing so inadvertently destroyed the image and reputation of ‘le racaille de moment’ Zinadine ‘I’m a thug’ Zidane. Juventus were relegated to Serie B for the Moggi led match-fixing scandal in Italy whilst in England the footballing community grappled with bung allegations and the results of Lord Stevens report into football's finances. November saw Fabio Cannavaro crowned European Footballer of the Year, but football lost one of its greats as Ferenc Puskas passed away.

Football Person Of The Year: Marco Materazzi (for ‘psyche’ of the year)
Runner up: Jose Mourinho (for endless entertainment)

Cricket

Australia, Australia, Australia we love you, Amen. Well, no, this blog tends more towards the hatred and envy feelings rather than love, actually, but on any fair reckoning they’re clearly the best team in the world with the best individual players. While the rest of the world scraps around for cricketing heroes (Ashley Giles, King of Spain?) the Australians can pick any from 10, which was also the number of test wins they racked up this year – out of ten matches –and they also triumphed in the ICC Champions Trophy in India. A mixed year for England as drawn series against India and Sri Lanka and a victory over Pakistan were then followed by a total mauling Down-Under.

Cricket Person Of The Year: Shane Warne (for 700 wickets and all-round cricketing ability)
Runner up: Monty Panesar (for endless entertainment)

Rugby

Oh dear, everything is going dark. All I see is blackness enveloping me. It’s a strange nightmare. Yes, folks, team of the year are the very scary All Blacks who are looking ominously powerful as the Rugby World Cup approaches in 2007. Only the Springboks bested them this year (and gave them a good kicking in the process too) and only Ireland managed to run them close. Everyone else just got blown away. It has been an unending source of mirth and glee being able to remind NZ rugby people that they haven’t been World Champions for 20 years but it looks like that run is soon to be finally over. Certainly England will not stop them. A dismal year for the reigning World Champs was finally put to sleep following Andy Robinsons resignation following defeats to…, well, just about everybody really. I think we might have beaten Italy at some point but I’m not sure. Everything is a daze. Oh, here we go again, it’s getting dark, so dark. Help me mummy, big brutes in black shirts are coming for me. Mummy, heeeeeelp.

Rugby Person Of The Year: Ronan O'Gara (for telling the truth about English rugby)
Villain of the Year: Andy Robinson (for getting it oh so wrong)

Tennis

Roger Federer was the dominant force in men's tennis once again in 2006, winning three of the four Grand Slams, while Amelie Mauresmo captured two of the four major titles in the women's game. 2006 also saw the return to action of former women's world number one Martina Hingis after a three-year retirement. The year began with Federer's third successive Grand Slam success (following victories at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2005) while in the women's event, champion lezzer Mauresmo beat Henin-Hardenne to win her first major. Nadal beat Federer in Paris making it back-to-back French Open titles for the muscles from Majorca and destroying the Grand Slam dream of holding all 4 titles at once for Federer - shame. Henin-Hardenne beat Svetlana Kuznetsova for the women’s Roland Garros title. Federer exacted revenge for his Paris defeat by beating Nadal in the final at Wimbledon to become only the third man ever to win four consecutive titles at the All England Club, while Mauresmo beat Henin-Hardenne in the ladies final. Roddick found some mid-season form and went all the way to the US Open final before losing to Federer, who made it a hat-trick of titles at Flushing Meadows and Sharapova grunted her way to a second Grand Slam title in New York, where Henin-Hardenne completed the set of major finals for the year, but suffered her third defeat. In September, Italy won the Fed Cup final for the first time with a surprise win over Belgium. Federer wrapped up his magnificent year with a 12th title, thrashing James Blake in Shanghai to win the Tennis Masters Cup for the third time and Marat Safin led Russia to Davis Cup success clinching the deciding rubber by beating Jose Acasuco of Argentina in four sets to spark wild celebrations in Moscow.

Tennis Person Of The Year: Roger Federer (for 3 Grand Slam titles)
Runner up: Roger Federer (because he is so dominant he even wins second place)

Other Sports

In Rugby League it was business as usual - St Helens winning the engage Super League and the Powergen Challenge Cup in the UK while Australia regained the Tri-Nations Series as it was staged in the southern hemisphere for the first time. Boxers Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe both enjoyed great years, with the Welshman providing several ‘boxing lessons’ to several would be contenders. Michael Schumacher bowed out of F1 (hooray!), Jenson Button scored his first GP win (hooray!) and Benetton / Renault and Alonso won the titles (hoo.. well, er, polite applause). On two wheels beautiful pixie Valentino Rossi had to cede the Moto GP title to Nicky Hayden, but only by 2 points and in the very last race of the season. Troy Bayliss won the Superbikes whilst Jason Crump was speedway's dominant figure. In golf, Tiger Woods came back from missing his first cut in over ten years by winning two majors but could not prevent Europe's glorious and boozy weekend at the K Club in the Ryder Cup. Phil Mickelson and Geoff Ogilvy won the other two majors. Although Jamaica's Asafa Powell equalled his own world 100m record of 9.77 seconds at the British Grand Prix in Gateshead, highlights in the athletic world mainly revolved around drug testing and cheating, the curse of which also touched cycling as exemplified by Floyd Landis who got caught after ‘winning’ the Tour de France.

And finally, to the internecine world of darts where the passions ride high and the bellies even higher. BDO world champion Jelle Klaasen will not have to face his fellow countryman and biggest threat when defending his title – as Barney has moved over to the Dark Side and joined the rival PDC organisation. Their final, to be played on New Year’s day, will feature Van Barneveld versus 13-time world champion Phil Taylor. Barney’s been giving it the old Rocky treatment: "I wanted this man. I gave up everything to get to this final. It was my biggest dream. A lot of people in Holland were telling me I had won Lakeside four times and that I was the best player in the world. But there was a voice in my head saying 'no, you're not, there's one better than you'. That was in my head in January and February and so I decided I had to give up everything to come here. Now I hope I can beat him in front of everyone. The final was my biggest target - beating Phil is something else. You have to play world-class darts to beat this man. I hope we have a great final." That’s right, world class darts requires dedication, stamina and mental toughness – and the only drugs these boys consume is triple vodkas and pints of ale. What a wonderful way to start 2007. Best of order now ladies and gents. Let’s Play Darts!

Sports Quote of the Year
"All their players have tested positive for being assholes." - Lance Armstrong on the French football team after their World Cup final defeat to Italy.

This Is Not A Tennis Crowd

The Madrid Masters, Spain's biggest tennis tournament, was on this week: the Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid 2006, featuring 64 of the best male players in the world in singles plus a mens doubles tourny. It's hosted indoors at the Madrid Arena de la Casa de Campo with a lightning fast surface (Green Set), and this year's favourites were Federer and last year's winner and local hero Rafael Nadal (who hails from Majorca - where the worter darn't taste like wot it oughta). It proved to be a fractious 9 days in the ATP Masters Series with lots of thrown rackets and temper tantrums.

Tiger Tim (lol) upset the partisan home crowd by knocking out two Spanish players in the first two rounds and then lost his gentleman image by getting into a fight with ginger whinger Nalbandian in the 4th round over a disputed line call. Murray also made it through to the fourth round, beating world No.3 Ljubicic on the way before losing out to Djokovic. El Rey Federer cruised through the early rounds as did Rafa until the Friday quarter-final when he got downed by Czech player Tomas Berdych, who sent the crowd apopletic when he put his fingers to his lips in a shushing gesture at the end. Come Saturday and the semi-final against Chilenean Fernando Gonzalez the spectators gave the Czech a torrid time: "I've never seen anything like it, it's like a (bad) dream," said Berdych. "It's not a tennis crowd."

An amusing sideshow in the tourny was the use of models as ball-girls. As a red blooded male I whole-heartedly approve of this measure (lol). Being models they're not quite as keen as, for example, the ball boys and girls at Wimbledon who will rush to give a player his towel or new balls when serving. Instead, the girls sort of sauntered around and scowled a lot (as models will) but hell, they were cute and the TV directors filled in empty time with close-ups as they adjusted their pig-tails or fiddled with their knickers. Grrrrr.

In a best of five-set final, attended by stars such as Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid and Spain striker), film director Pedro Almodovar and other Spanish worthies who I didn't recognise, Federer crushed Gonzalez 7-5, 6-1, 6-0. "Super Numero Uno" the TV commentator called him. Exactly.

The Pain Of Spain

Alas and alack, Nadal swooped on the Rolland Garros prize, the Coupe des Mousquetiers, and he didn't even have to ask his uncle to coach him from the sidelines to help him swoop. And yet, it had all started out so well...

Our hero, Roger the Knight de Vaillant, in his shining blue Nike tennis shirt, has swept all before him with barely a flutter up to the quarters. Nalbandian then succumbs in the semi-final, despite winning the first set comfortably, when he retires hurt in the third set - feelings or stomach muscles, it doesn't matter what is hurting so much as it gives our prince an extra couple of hours rest and no five set gruel-a-thon to tire him out before he plays the tiresome one. Nalbandian's cunning decision to wear a deep orange shirt that actually blends with the clay on the court, no doubt to try and appear invisible and confuse his way to victory, works for the first ten games or so, but once Federer finds his range it's clear what the result will be and Invisible Dave steps, gingerly, clutching his stomach muscles, aside.

Come final day, it's a blistering 31 degrees and the clay is truly baking. The court is packed, the crowd expectant - even the box seats for all the vips is full, which makes a change. Rog steams into a 6-1 first set lead and it's on - the mythical Grand Slam is on. And then. And then. And then... he seems to lose touch. Backhands start skewing high into the air, he's sort of standing around, stops arrowing it on to Nadal's backhand relentlessly. Blah, blah, blah - I can't even bring myself to write it...the bad guy one - total frustration.

Elsewhere, a callow England rugby union team lost tamely to the Ozzies, at a scorchio and baking Silverstone another Spaniard took the number one prize (these paella eaters really like the sun) and Alonso was pure class all the way, leading from start to finish. The World Cup kicked off with our hosts claiming a 4-2 win vs Costa Ricacacacacaaaa and England beat Paraguay 1-0 courtesy of an excellent glancing header - by a Paraguayan. It's gonna be mostly chavball for the next 3 weeks, with 3 games a day for the first 16 days, with a little bit of Queen's Club thrown in for variety. And thence to Wimberleydun SW19 where, hopefully, Roger will have stopped crying by then and be up to re-assert his dominance on the court. I herewith predict Nadal will pull out citing an injury before the third round so he doesn't have to face Federer and be humiliated. A+ mes amis.