Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
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Roger Federer bids for Olympic glory to complete the set
Tragedy may not have been a constant companion as it was in Vincent van Gogh’s life, but Roger Federer’s game has the genius of the maestro’s work. If the Dutch artist’s canvases had yellow as its dominant colour, reminiscent of the sun, the Swiss player’s strokes pack all the sun’s brilliance.
Both artists inspire as much awe as disbelief. From 2003 to 2012, Federer achieved what history had never witnessed: 17 grand slam singles titles and 287 weeks at the top. Now he has his sights set on Olympic glory, the one big prize to so far elude him. The London Olympic tennis takes place in the next two weeks at a familar venue — Wimbledon.
It wasn’t quite a setting-the-court-on-fire sort of start for the unathletic-looking lad from the tennis backwaters of Switzerland. After dominating the junior ranks, Federer cut his teeth in men’s tennis in 1998. He showed promise but little more
Success came in 2001, when he left the tennis world speechless with his triumph over the seven-time champion Pete Sampras at the Centre Court of Wimbledon. The first major title followed two years later when he held the Wimbledon trophy aloft after defeating Mark Philippoussis.
Federer’s ascendency coincided with the decline of two of the greatest players and rivals: Sampras and Andre Agassi. Evidently, the era of Sampras’s power and Agassi’s craftiness was making way for a more evolved form — Federer’s elegance. And with it came Swiss precision.
What makes his game special is remarkable anticipation and movement, which help him to read his opponents’s next shot a tad early and be there for a winner.
Milan’s future could lie with Inzaghi clones
Defenders in Italy breathed a sigh of relief this week as Filippo Inzaghi hung up his boots. The bad news for them is that his new challenge is to produce the next generation of Italian goal-hanging greats as AC Milan’s youth team coach.
Inzaghi was the simplest of goal-poachers, with a bloodhound’s instinct for sniffing out a chance and the cobra-like reflexes to exploit it. He was neither a dribbler nor a passer, and his career-long battle with the offside rule reached ridiculous proportions at times, but his finishing ability was second to none.
Indeed, it’s worth asking if Inzaghi’s greatest talent is something that can be taught – and if it can, is it still required?
The manic ability of “Pippo” to make run after run off the last defender – and fail repeatedly, only to finally get one right and score – is seldom seen in the modern game, and requires enormous mental and physical endurance.
Even if he can teach the next generation to shrug off linesmen’s decision as easily has he shrugged off defenders, it’s not certain that there will be a place for them in the modern game.
Spain’s successful defence of their European crown was based on a formation with no recognised centre-forward, much less an Inzaghi hanging so far forward.
from India Insight:
Mark of Boucher
In cricket, and in life, a perfect end is a rarity.
Even Don Bradman was bereft of it. Yet a not-so-perfect ending cannot deny a few sportsmen their legitimate place in the sun. South Africa's wicket-keeper Mark Boucher is one such cricketer.
His remarkably long international career, of almost 15 years, was tragically snuffed out when he was hit in the eye by a bail in a warm-up match against Somerset on July 9 during the ongoing England tour. He was only one short of 1,000 victims -- an unheard of feat in the 145 years of international cricket history.
Agonisingly short of a milestone, just like Bradman who could not score the four runs in his final innings to sign off with a perfect test average of 100.
The England series was meant to be Boucher’s last, where he was expected to walk into the sunset having crossed the monumental mark of 1,000 victims and 150 Tests. The plan was perfect, not destiny.
In cricket, keeping is, by far, considered the most thankless job. A difficult catch may get a slipfielder all the plaudits but for a keeper, standing only a couple of feet away, it's considered a routine job. For him the bar is much higher -- nothing short of spectacular gets talked about. And he is expected to pick up every wayward throw of his colleagues and yet script impossible run-outs. That's not all -- conceding a bye is viewed, even by his team mates, as almost criminal.
Life for a keeper is not only unfair but often cruel. Boucher, with his feline agility and characteristic combativeness, transformed this difficult job into a fashionable profession. His celebratory leap into the air after pulling off a stunning catch will remain frozen in the minds of cricket aficionados.
from Photographers Blog:
Roger and out: Wimbledon 2012
By Toby Melville
After two weeks of rainy, cold and windy tennis, somehow kept on schedule courtesy of early starts, late finishes and a much used Centre Court roof, the traditional tournament highlight of the Men’s Singles Final took place on Sunday.
For the first time in 75 years a Briton would contest the match. The only obstacle in Scot Andy Murray’s path to glory was the huge boulder in the shape of sixteen grand slam winner and six time Wimbledon victor, Switzerland’s Roger Federer.
I was lucky enough to have my name pulled out of the hat for the East Pit photographer’s position at ground level, with Reuters colleague Dylan Martinez shooting the game from one end, near the coaches, and where players often react to provide strong images.
Despite this being Murray’s best chance at a Slam after three previous dismal performances in Grand Slam finals, I already had a sense of foreboding after our top London-based Swiss tennis shooter Stefan Wermuth - fellow countryman of Roger Federer - had NOT had his name pulled out of the draw between the three Reuters shooters for the two photo positions. Small retribution for this bad luck would at least be if Federer blew Murray away...I should have guessed!
from Photographers Blog:
Paralympic spirit
By Nir Elias
When the idea to photograph Israeli athletes for the London 2012 Paralympic games came to mind, the second athlete I met was Pascale Berkovitch.
Pascale, 44, lost her legs in a train accident in the suburbs of Paris when she was 17 years old. She now lives with her partner and two daughters in Tel Aviv and is part of the Israeli Paralympic staff for the 2012 games in the field of Hand Biking.
During my first meeting with Pascale, I was struck by the expression 'sport spirit'. The more time I spent with her while training in the park, at home with her partner or while wandering around her neighborhood with her little girl, the more I felt this was an understatement.
Pascale, like many other Paralympians, has a very optimistic character. I could feel that in her case, this character expands to become something outstanding. Pascale gives the impression that she has no self pity over her physical condition and the way she lives with her disability is totally ordinary.
Greg Rusedski blog: Murray will one day win a grand slam event
The second week of Wimbledon started with another massive upset. The world number 1 and a lot of people’s pick to win the championship, Maria Sharapova, lost in the fourth round to Sabine Lisicki of Germany in straight sets.
This really opened up the top half of the woman’s draw and meant there would be a new world number 1. Victoria Azarenka the world number 2 or Agnieszka Radwanska the world number 3 would become the new world number 1. It all depended on who went further in the tournament. Radwanska took full advantage of Sharapova losing and made her first Grand Slam final.
On the other side of the draw Serena Williams powered her way through the draw to get back to the finals. In the semi-finals she outclassed Azarenka, which meant Radwanska became the new world number 1 on Monday. Serena beat Radwanska in the finals in three sets but never really looked like losing the match. If Serena played a full schedule, she would be the world number 1. This was not a good thing for woman’s tennis because the new world number 1 will be like all other previous world number 1′s on the woman’s side, who never have won a Grand Slam.
On the men’s side Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, and Jo-Wilfred Tsonga all made the semi-finals. This was the expected line up once Rafael Nadal lost in the second round.
Many were predicting a Djokovic versus Murray final, and so was I. Roger Federer turned back time and played a blinder against Novak Djokovic to make his record breaking eighth Wimbledon final. Roger rose to the occasion and has never lost in a Wimbledon semi-final. Novak Djokovic on the other hand, came out nervously and did not manage to lift his game when he need to, for the first time since dominating men’s tennis for the last year and a half.
Andy Murray in his fourth Wimbledon semi-final came out playing his best tennis of the championships against Jo-Wilfred Tsonga. He won the first two sets in no time and looked like he was on his way to his first Wimbledon finals. Then Tsonga lifted his game in the third set to win it, but Murray showed great mental toughness to win in four sets. Ivan Lendl has done a great job and is starting to give Murray the tactical and mental edge he needs to win his first major. Andy became the first British man since Bunny Austin in 1938 to make the Wimbledon finals. Murray mania was hitting the whole nation.
The finals between Roger Federer and Andy Murray was intriguing because if Federer won, he would tie Pete Sampras with seven Wimbledon Championships and become world number 1 again. Also, breaking Sampras’s record of most weeks at number 1.
Other sports can learn from chilled out Tour de France
This has been my first Tour de France and it has been like going back in time.
Sport has become big business and egos have exploded too, while security restrictions have made visiting many stadiums something of a chore.
But not on the Tour. To say the French approach is laissez faire is an understatement. As a journalist you can practically go wherever you want with hardly any checks, even standing just behind the stage finish line. Yes you might get your toes clipped as the rider speeds past but the access to the cyclists is remarkable.
On the time trials, reporters are all but dragging the exhausted riders off their bikes for interviews seconds after they have finished. It is probably over the top and cyclists should be given a bit more privacy, but the difference with a sport like soccer is extraordinary. Nowadays jounalists are lucky if they get one news conference a week to speak to a manager or a player.
Cycling fans are also amazingly close to the action, with the madder ones running alongside the riders and almost touching them. Yes security is of course important at sporting events but the Tour is realistic about the limited means it has to police kilometres upon kilometres of road side.
Apart from the anti-doping controls, there seems to be few of the restrictive rules which make other sports so soulless at times. Favourite Bradley Wiggins swore repeatedly in a news conference and appears to have got away with it. A rugby or cricket player can’t even look at a referee or umpire without risking a fine.
The riders themselves make modern soccer players who roll around on the ground at the faintest contact look like the wimps we all suspected they were. Cyclists, on a strength sapping three-week voyage, have been riding for hours with cuts galore and broken bones on this Tour. Footballers only played with fractures in the 1950s when they had two games in two days unlike now.
Van Persie in the hunt for medals, not money
As the annual Arsenal transfer soap-opera gets underway, it’s worth wondering why such high-profile players leave one of England’s best clubs every year.
Should Robin van Persie sign for Manchester City, much will be made of their financial muscle, but they are not the only club in England with resources – indeed, Arsenal are one of the richest clubs in the world and could easily afford to offer competitive wages.
But after seven trophyless years, it doesn’t take long to work out why Van Persie is likely to follow Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri through the exit doors in north London. It’s medals, not money, that makes Arsenal players move.
Premier League wages are generally so high that even after a season or two at the top level, players are financially independent for the rest of their lives – provided, of course, they manage their money properly. But that money cannot fill a trophy cabinet, and players like Van Persie need to win titles to feel that they have been successful in their careers.
It would be interesting to see how the Dutch striker would have reacted to his club situation had Netherlands not performed so pathetically at Euro 2012. A winner’s medal there may have prompted him to give Arsene Wenger one last chance to prove that Arsenal were capable of fighting for the league title in England.
Instead, the likelihood is that the 28-year-old will head for a club that can offer him the chance of a handful of winner’s medals while he is still in his prime.
Still craving Euro 2012? Get ready for Euro 2013
As Spain’s victorious Euro 2012 male side returned to Madrid with the Henri Delaunay trophy, football administrators in Sweden were already working to make Euro 2013 for women a similar success.
“Euro 2013 is the second-biggest event UEFA are planning next year, after the Champions League final for men,” former Sweden international Viktoria Svensson told Reuters in an interview.
Having hung up her boots in 2009, former forward Svensson is now responsible for public relations and team service at the upcoming championship, which will kick off in Sweden on July 10 next year.
With Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine having been followed by millions of fans in stadiums and on television, Svensson is aware of the challenges faced by the women’s game.
“That Sweden can organise a tournament, that’s no problem. Our biggest challenge is to fill the stadiums. UEFA set pretty high goals – they compare with the Women’s World Cup in Germany, and that is pretty tough,” she said.
“German people are great at going to sporting events, if it’s biathlon or cross-country skiing or football, it’s packed all the time.”
