Nadal

Tomorrow it’s his birthday, so lets wish him luck for his future. His appearance on the tennis court is nothing less than a festival for his fans. The upcoming tournament will decide his records.

But is he only a record maker? I don’t believe. He is a natural. We like to keep records. He plays oblivious of the record in the making. Of the big three, he is the only left hander. His style is unique. The technology has let them use the best of the equipment but that doesn’t belittle their skills. All of them are unique. Their styles are different yet their dominance on the court remains the same. May be Federer or Djokovic, their presence makes it magical.

My father was a die hard fan. He visited UK & watched Wimbledon live. It was his dream to see Bjorn Borg on court. He really liked Conners. He would be glued to the TV screen & watch all the matches available. I had no idea about the scoring & could hardly understand what this ‘Love -15’ meant.

Then the ladies on court would be Navratilova or Chris Evert . Both of them in whites & amicable on court. Steffi Graf, Serena later changed it to aggression.

Lars Burgsmuller remembers telling himself , he could beat Nadal on the red clay at the french open. Lars was a veteran & Nadal 18 little known outside the game. But he became Nadal’s first victim in a list of clean 100 today.

Three years after the Nadal match he went to a medical school & became a Radiologist. He is Dr Lars Burgsmuller, 45, who treats cancer patients at a hospital in Essen, Germany. We should take a leaf out of his book & start thinking out of the box from today.

If we know Nadal as a great player , his encounter helped his opponent to become someone greater ! I know some will say it is running away from the field . Who does it after being a professional ? Very few. But that’s why it is commendable. If we consider him great, it has touched lives in so many ways! Isn’t that just great!

Today he acknowledges that he is a bit of that great history that Nadal has carved for himself! Hats off to this player who created history!! Long live the legend.