After all... He is Roger Federer.

Even before I start, let me make a point which I have felt strongly for long enough and probably so do others. If you really like something you will always like it. It makes more sense here to say this way that if you are a real supporter of someone you will always support him whether or not at the end of the day he is a winner or not. For me I have been always a blind supporter of Real Madrid. It never mattered to me if Barcelona was the Spanish league champion or Manchester United was the European champion. I have been always following Michael Schumacher and Ferrari. So even though Michael did not win the championship in his last career season or even after he was long gone and someone like Jenson Button is cruising all the way this year, I have been a follower of only Ferrari. And I like Roger Federer. After Andre Agassi for me Tennis meant nothing but Federer.

Now though I don’t want to justify his position as one of the greatest players in the history of Tennis here, I can’t find myself from being stopped doing that. More so because after his triumph at this years Roland Garros. This was important for him and everyone who believed in him. This was one trophy which remained invincible for his entire career, which eluded him for ages and ages. In last four years he lost it in one semi-final and three consecutive finals. This year he fought heard. After surviving early round scares he came back from two set to none down in the pre-quarter final against Hass. He had a comfortable outing against Monfils in the last eight. However he was really tested be Del Porto in a grueling five setter in the semis. He was down by one set, made a come back to lose the third and then stormed through the last two sets. And so came the final. One more time. Lots of questions, lots of anxiety. The buzz was always there in the wind, ‘Can he take up the pressure?’, ‘He is not at his best’, ‘Soderling will crush him with his big forehand’ and so on and so on. And he showed that people need not to worry about his competency or forms in any way. As the match started my friend asked me, ‘What do you think? How many sets it will go to?’ I said, ‘Three and it will be him’. He broke Soderling and was holding his serve in the second game of first set by that time. Probably it was too early to say so, but I just felt that. The first set was over even before anyone was getting into the mood. Second set was a well fought one by Soderling, but Federer was too good for him in the tie-break. And then it was very clear Federer will cry once more today, but not being the second but being the one who he truly deserved to be. And so he was the champion! So how good an ending is this, what do you say? Sixth person to win all major titles, record equaling 14 Grand Slams with Sampras, 19^th appearance in the final of all the major championships and most consecutive to do so. And many more. Is not that something special? Really does not matter who you are fan of; you have to give this guy his due credit for this.

But that one thing will always keep this topic long alive. The fact that he did not have to face Nadal after all in the final! If it was Nadal against him in the final he would have never won it. Most Nadal fans will think so. May be it would have been nothing but the truth, a truth which Federer followers would have never liked to see coming true. And then the obvious debate came into picture – Is Federer the greatest among all? Again there were people who had to compare him with others. But on the basis of what? Just some records. Or how many times he has won it? The question which I feel most awkward that people are asking now after his win over French Open is about his supremacy and how best he is. So now I understand, that’s one more criterion to consider someone to be the best – someone who has won all the four major trophies. Nadal fans, then forget it. He has a long way to go. What's more? Sampras is then probably will never be the greatest, because he has nave own at Roland Garros! Seems like the other 14 just does not count. Now I didn’t mean to compare Sampras, Nadal and Federer on the basic of these. Sampras was undoubtedly one of the best among the best and Nadal will probably even be better than Federer by the end of his career. But very unfortunate to see, that’s what is exactly happening. I know very little to judge someone’s creditability here which was built over a period of lifetimes hard work and dedication. But isn’t what people have been doing all along? Critics are always welcomed to me, but don’t impose your ideas of judging someone’s greatness on the basis of some records or to the fact whom he played against and how many times.

And talk about skills, performance, and consistency? It will never be a true comparison to Federer’s achievements. Talk about 60s and 70s and even during the era of Sampras. Then there was one king. And there were others who always followed the king. During most of their career span they ruled the Tennis world without much of a challenge to face. And have a look at now. There is no king. Because any day everyone’s king. Nadal and Federer are far better than others, but Murray, Roddick, Davydenko, Djokovic everyone is a great player of Tennis. And last but not least to add to the records book; playing against all of them Federer was the number 1 player in the world of Tennis for a whopping 237 consecutive weeks. Hmmn, how does that sound? Very easy to do? I will wait to see who breaks that! May be all the best to Nadal.

Let's for a moment forget about everyone else! Let’s have a true debate on who is better – Nadal or Federer. I have friends who are true fans of Nadal and they often say that, ‘Look at Nadal! He is just 22 and what has he done already!’ Very true. I really believe that he has already done enough to his reputation and only is at his beginning. He has a long long way to go and it can only improve with time. Also this is a very simple fact; he has been a true competitor for Federer. Holds a 5-2 record against him in the major finals, and he is the one who could stop Federer from having sixth straight victory at Wimbledon. But man Federer is Federer. There is no comparison to him. Forget about the records, he has been a true sportsman who has promoted Tennis better than anyone else all over the world for a decade now. He has been gracious not only with the wins but his loses on numerous occasions. He has been someone with the most simplistic approach towards Tennis and life and yet made it look so extraordinary! A game after all is a game. There will be the records, there will be the critics and most importantly there will be always some comparisons. But at the end of the day what matters most is how good a person someone can be. How do you feel about your own deeds and yet make it look so simple? And the way the tears rolled down from Federer’s eyes after yesterday’s final, there was nothing fake about it, it was just a simple outburst of his emotions and feeling that he has kept alive long within him even after failures and failures. Others can only be a shadow of him. There is only one – and that’s Roger Federer!

The End; And the Beginning

What a Season? What a Drama? What High Adrenalin driven action? What a way to end the season? And what a finish line all the way to the last two minutes and then the dying five seconds? Need any more? Yeah, this was the end to the 2008 F1 racing season at Interlagos at Brazil.

Every looser becomes a better Hero than the winner. Lewis was the winner, but Massa was not the looser. He was the champ for the 90 thousand people present in the circuit yesterday and he was the champ of thousands of Ferrari fans across the world and I thought, yeah, bet he is the CHAMP.

Lewis deserved it. No question about that. He was unlucky last year, like Massa this time. This season also he dominated most of the time and was a way ahead of others by the third quarter of the season. But it was meant to be a High Dramatic, never ending breath taking finale. And there was twists, turns in every lap, every corner of the 4.3km lap at Interlagos this Sunday. However, in the end Lewis seemed to be the triumphed one above all the possibilities and become the new youngest champion of the world.

But Hail Massa! What determination, what a character. He was sitting in the pole no doubt and had the best start with a flying lap. But there was always a chance with rain playing the spoiled child. And then Sebastian Vettel was always pushing him from the back with less than 2 seconds delay. Hamilton was always hovering around fourth to sixth position. The last pit stop of five and half seconds was just perfect a strategy to put him back in front of others with five laps to go. Still it needed a miracle for him to see to the very end, to the finish which thousands of people were expecting to see. A joint but individual effort from Kubica and Vettel saw Hamilton down to sixth position with just two laps to finish. The stadium roared and my heart beat tripled at night 12.30 sitting in front of the TV alone. Massa cruised and followed him from behind Alonso and Raikkonen. Hamilton pushed and pushed but Vettel was now in fourth position and Glock was between them driving dangerously on a rainy wet last lap. As Massa crossed the finish line a volcano erupted in the stadium and I pumped the fist. Vettel crossed and then in the last corner of the finish line unfolded the most unwanted drama of the season. Glock ran out of air for the last few meters and Hamilton crossed him to touch the line fifth, just what he needed. And the history was overwritten twice in a period of three minutes.

I think Massa wished he could cry out loud with a scream from his heart. But how could he? It was his home ground and he was in front of his own people. And he was the winner for that day. Luck was not quite his side but he had his share of glory and gave Ferrari its precious constructor’s trophy. He is the Champ.

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Thousands of Hearts cried with Massa today. They have their right to do so being a true Ferrari or Massa fan. But I found some kind of wired and interesting similarity between him and me today. I too lost not one but quite a few races of my life today. I lost more in last few days. But today at 12.30 in the night all these has just added up to a few more new dimensions to my life. There is a long race ahead and a very important one. It has been quite dull and down till now, but now its time to wake up, burn brightly and illuminate all the way along.

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