Sports Then and Now

Soderling's victory over Nadal is considered as the biggest upset in the history of Roland Garros

One of the (dis)advantages of being a software junkie is I like to come up with weird geeky nicknames without any context, and those are not taken particularly well, especially with the fairer sex. This disappointment is usually covered up by the amusing happiness I get by basking in my own glory of false intelligence.

Robin Soderling was assigned a similar nickname when he created the greatest upset in the history of Roland Garros — BSOD — an acronym for “Blue Screen of Death ” which we often get while using a Windows Operating System. Soderling became famous after this historic match and his career has steadily progressed after this tournament, rather than being lost after a one off, which further justifies the nomenclature.

Things were not the same for this Swede, though, till he met Nadal at Phillip Chatrier.

Unlike his precedents, he does not possess the ice cool demeanor of Bjorn Borg, the adaptability of Mats Wilander, the elegance of Stefan Edberg, or the raw, but underutilized, talent of Thomas Enquist. And there is only so much that you can achieve with a big serve and a massive ugly forehand which works best only in normalized conditions under a roof.

Yet, mentally stronger people have fought and achieved much better results with even lesser talent that what Soderling had achieved till May this year.

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Dinara Safina surpasses Serena Williams to once again be ranked number one at Sony Ericsson Championships that begin on October 27 in Qatar.

Finally the end of another agonizing year for the women’s tour is upon us.  As the eight top seeds in the women’s game head off to Doha, the tournament will reveal once and for all who will end 2009 ranked
numero uno.

Poetically, Dinara Safina surpasses Serena Williams to once again be ranked number one as they enter the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships that begin on October 27 in Qatar.  Currently Safina is
ranked five points behind Serena Williams.

As of October 26 when the new rankings come out, the points from last year’s championship will come off the totals.  Safina has earned more points than any other player after winning titles in Rome, Madrid and Portoroz as well as reaching six finals.  Therefore, she has earned the number one seed.

Throughout the year players earn points but only the top eight players are awarded entry into the Sony Ericsson Championship Tournament.  For doubles, it is the top four teams that gain entry into the year-ending championship.

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Bjorn Borg was the face of professional tennis in the 1970s.

“My greatest point is my persistence. I never give up in a match. However down I am, I fight until the last ball. My list of matches shows that I have turned a great many so-called irretrievable defeats into victories.”
– Bjorn Borg

Former world No. 1 and Swedish teen sensation Bjorn Borg brought fame, fortune, and much-needed publicity to tennis in the mid-70s, when he began to play. His long blond hair, smoldering good looks, and rock-star status elevated tennis in the hearts of teenaged girls, if not the media corps.

There was a rhythm, a dance in his cat-like movements along the baseline as he swayed back and forth, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, tensed, ready to pounce as his opponent hit the ball over the net—like a cat playing with a mouse.

Borg understood the necessity of being in shape, of being as strong at the end of matches as you were at the beginning. This athleticism allowed him to dictate matches and gave him five Wimbledon Championships and six French Open Titles, often won back-to-back. Borg was the author of the modern game built on talent, but bolstered by strength and endurance.

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Ilie Nastase was the original tennis "bad boy."

Ilie Nastase permanently etched the template for tennis bad boys, setting the standard against which all are measured today.  His exploits on and off the court are legendary.

The most staggering feat credited to the romantic Romanian is that he slept with over 2,500 women.

What colossal stamina! This pure speculation is based on comments from Maxim Magazine when they accorded him the sixth spot on their top ten “Living Sex Legends” list. To say Nastase was outrageous is a vast understatement.

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Who is the Greatest Tennis Player of All-Time

Roger Federer’s recent move past Pete Sampras in the tennis record books and the readiness by many to label Federer the “greatest men’s tennis player of all-time” begs the question of whether true greatness can really be measured through records-held.

Every sport has at least one iconic statistic or record. Whether it is the baseball career home run record, career passing and rushing yardage records in football, most major championships in golf, or most points scored in basketball, there are some numbers that are coveted and cherished.

However, in many cases the players who hold these coveted records are not the same players regularly in the conversation when discussing the “greatest player of all-time” in that particular sport.

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