Nadal in Chennai

Well, what a new year! For the first time in my life, I watched a tennis match 'live'. No. Why do people always want to watch something LIVE on television? My friend took me in his bike to the stadium of Sports Development Authority of Tamilnadu, Nungambakkam, Chennai. Never ask me how I managed to get the ticket for the match. I'm not going to tell that anyway. One thing is sure - I have to improve my bargaining skills yet. OK. Back to Tennis.

We - my friend and I - were given the 'Brown' seat o'er the top. But I assure you that it is from where the best view you can have in a tennis match. The stadium is a colorful one - forget the footprints on the chairs and the left-overs of that overrated pizza box - it IS a good stadium with all the basic facilities intact. I didn't check out the fire exit though. And who cares - even if you don't like tennis, you can at least admire the glittering cheerleaders.

I saw Vijay Amirtraj and Charu Sharma from a distance people call a stone throw away. The first match started exactly 6 minutes behind schedule. Robin Hasse (Netherlands) outwitted Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) in straight sets. The second seeded Marcos would not have imagined his new year will start the way it eventually did. Nevermind. The next match was what I and almost everyone came for - the brutally strong and powerful Rafael Nadal's match.



Nadal was clinical in his demolition act, save that dragged match point when his opponent - Mathew Montcourt of France, showed some resilience and earned a break point - only to face the brunt of facing Nadal for some more time. Though not the quickest in serve, this lad from Spain has that trademark backhand stuffed with power. You can try bullfighting instead of facing him in a tennis court. I wonder how brutal Federer could be despite his innocent smile.

The matches were worth the money, and we had a tremendous new year day. No bargain this time.