Champions at the receiving end

What a month January has been for sporting activities. Australian open tennis and India tour of Australia cricket. Both the events were feast to watch.

To start with let’s begin with Australian open tennis. I have been a tennis fan since I was a kid. After coming to US the enthusiasm has increased as now I have even started to play the game. I am a diehard fan of Agassi and Nadal.

This year Australian open was quiet important for Nadal as he had to prove his point on hard court. It was also important for Federer as he was defending the championship and was playing to win the championship three times in a row. But both these great players lost in Semifinals. Federer lost to Novak Djokovic in straight sets. The last time when Federer lost in straight sets was way back in 2002. Nadal lost to Tsonga in straight sets.
What this year Aus open proved is that even Masters of the game are vulnerable. If pressure is applied at the right time they too make mistakes. Its always the masters of the game are the one who are in pressure as they are considered to be the favorites. The underdogs are the one who have nothing to lose. Djokovic played superb tennis for which even Federer has to bow.

The next big event of the month was India tour of Australia. The two best test team in the world. It’s always difficult to defeat Australians in their home. And after losing the first test Indian team looked vulnerable. But Indians came back fighting hard in Sydney, but unfortunately they lost that test too. Going for the third test Australians were playing to set a world record of 17 consecutive wins. But Indians fought hard and defeated the Australians in third test at Perth where only few thought that Indian could survive. One should really appreciate the way the Indians have played as they were down under and were also involved in lot of controversies.

The young bowlers did the trick for Indians. Australian middle order batting line up was never in pressure in the past 3 years as their openers would give them a solid start. But in third test the openers failed which tested the middle order. For Australians Attack was the best weapon, but in third test the attack from batsmen back fired them as they lost quick wickets for bad shots. Even here too the Masters were at receiving end. Indians proved that if you play good sensible game you can defeat the toughest opponent too.