| Serve, ace, game 2008 |
Vineet Sharma
The year 2008 started off with the anticipation that it would be a year to be remembered in the history of tennis. It was the year when everyone thought that Roger Federer would carve his name in the history books with his sixth consecutive Wimbledon win and would also break Pete Sampras’ 14 Grand Slam record. If you think that is how the year progress.
“Almost a perfect season, no?” was the answer of the paradox, Rafael Nadal. The year 2008 saw the emergence of Spanish tennis and it was Nadal who stood at the apex of the revolution. He came out of the shadows of the long term number 2 slot and stamped his name as the numero uno tennis player in the world. He even won the coveted gold medal at the Beijing Olympics to his mantle.
On the women’s front, it was a year of heartbreak for many as Justine Henin, the undisputed number one player in the circuit announced her retirement from the game. The result of this was far reaching and the top spot in women’s rankings fluctuated quite a few times before finally being stable with Jelena Jankovic in the end.
It was the year that the 237 weeks reign of Roger Federer came to an end. The shift in power came after a befitting battle and it would be right to say that the christening of the new champion was befitting and was symbolized by the epic match at Wimbledon, the longest one in the history.
It cannot be said with certainty that the years of Roger Federer are gone as the Swiss master rocked the hard court once again to remind his critics of his indomitable spirit with his fifth successive win at the US Open.
The Indian challenge this year was rather placid with Sania Mirza’s injury woes continuing and the only solace was provided by Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes who struck aces with their respective doubles partners.
Russia was the one country to have given the Spanish tennis matadors a run for their money as they captured the Fed Cup title yet again, making it four out of the past five times.
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