Here's someone else talking about tennis, far more eloquently than me (it's a great article, but I particularly like the phrase, "Roger is so cool and frictionless", which refers, of course, to Federer; and the description of Nadal's forehand: "you know, the one where he swoops the racket all the way around his head like he's whipping the team pulling his chariot.")
I didn't know which player I wanted to win in the Djokovic-Nadal Australian Open final - Nadal is the one I had a soft spot for, but I couldn't help admiring Djokovic's self-discipline and the apparent disappearance of some of his earlier more unattractive mannerisms. However, after seeing Djokovic tear off his shirt and strut about in victory, I knew Nadal would remain my favorite. In the article I've linked to above, Brian Phillips mounts a convincing case for why.
One other admirable thing about Nadal is that, apparently - I'm relying on a Twitter source for this one - he used to be a right-handed player but, having damaged his shoulder, he taught himself to be left-handed. Now that takes guts, if true.
So yes, to put it in a nutshell: after all these years, I'm once again experiencing the sensation I had when the Beatles arrived upon the scene, (and yes, I am a Tintin/Beatles wimpy kind of person, not an Asterix/Rolling Stones cool individual, but that was probably obvious already). Once again I'm enjoying understanding just what it's like to be a fan.
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