Hilarious scenes from a forgotten gem of Indian cinema -- Bollywood Calling by Nagesh Kukunoor! I saw this movie earlier this evening and decided to edit some scenes out and put it up on YouTube… Enjoy! (especially you Guru!)!!
A friend e-mailed me earlier today with this:
“I know you are in Fed’s corner but request your unbiased insights. For the last 2 years, I”ve been just a lil sick of hearing drooling Fed fans going on and on and on about Fed being the greatest player of ALL times and all that. I’ve put down my thoughts on the same in the debate below – but based on your encyclopaedic knowledge and genuine love for sport, what are your, and I repeat, unbiased views on the topic?”
My reply:
Firstly, I am a fan of the sport… and I like Fed’s game a lot… classical one-handed backhand… watching the ball onto the sweet-spot… footwork… overall consistency and general sportsmanship… However the way I see it is… every champion also has a weak spot… like Shane Warne is unarguably the greatest slow-bowler ever, but against India… well… Michael Jordan was tormented by the Pistons and could not overcome them until Pippen arrived to help… Kobe is the greatest player in the NBA right now… but Bruce Bowen of the Spurs used to give him nightmares… Sampras was "scared" of Michael Stich (says so himself in his bio)…
At one level, Nadal’s game is a matchup nightmare for the Fed… anytime he has to take the backhand over shoulder height and rip it down the line, or cross-court, he has much lesser control… and Rafa consistently just puts on a lot of topspin that makes the ball jump even if it’s hit deep…. also, the sheer physicality of Nadal’s groundstrokes and his retrieving ability takes it out of The Rajah… he has to win the point about three times to actually win it… not to say the Fed does not have the tools to do the job… yesterday, when he got his sliced backhand right, created issues for Nadal cause the spin makes the ball jump into his forehand or away from the backhand, makes it more difficult to control the shot…. but then, he was serving at about 45-50% first serves for the match… you can’t give Nadal those many looks on a second serve and expect to win…. in fact that’s one fundamental difference between Pistol Pete and The Fed… Pete could serve his way out of trouble, almost at will… The Fed’s groundies are that much better though….
However, my frank impression is that Nadal has got into The Fed’s head…. I think that at one level Roger feels that he can beat anyone by playing his regular game, and Rafa is no exception… there is almost a visible reluctance to change the gameplan.. you know, get the first serve in and attack the net relentlessly… and make Rafa pass.. yeah, he will pass you, but he’s doing that anyway… cut the angle and see what happens…. or try hitting the slice backhand to Nadal’s backhand to cut out the cross-court pass…. he’s not trying anything new consistently…. even the chip-and-charge… might just work… nothing else seems to
All credit to Rafa man… I mean… the guy is not just an amazing striker of the tennis ball… but is an absolute physical specimen…. 9 plus hours of grinding tennis within 48 hours… wow!…and frankly, if he can win 3 slams this year, I for one am ready to include him in the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) discussion….
But ultimately dude… my fave player of all time, irrespective of whether the Fed manages to beat Rafa some day, passes Pete’s record, or for that matter if Rafa manages to win the grand slam this year, is Boom Boom Becker… 
