Game, Set and Match!
It was that time of the year again.The biggest event on this city's annual sporting calender, the ATP Chennai Open.My third year at the show, and it seriously is the place to be!
Things to look out for during the week every year-
Stands filled with raucous, frenzied pseud fans.
Paradorn's namaskarams.
Moya's tatooed biceps.
The city's high-flying snobs forced to rub shoulders with the lower middle-income strata.
Paes-Bhupathi and their chest-thumping antics, though that sadly seems to be a thing of the past.
And yeah, some decent tennis....given that this is a tier-3 (or is it 2?) ATP event.
The crowd is as much a reason to be present there for the show as the tennis stars themselves. The ambience is great and the conversations floating around you can be quite illuminating at times.
A-red-in-the-face-from-shouting dude1 : MO-YAAAAAAAAAAA! MOYA! MO-YAAAAAAAAA! MOYA!
A-deaf-in-the-ear-from-enduring dude2 : Dude, what's with your fascination for Moya, eh?
Dude1 : Nothing! Just that it's such a cool and crisp name to chant. Try STE-PA-NEEEEKKK, and you'll see!
Yes, I see.
Frustrated dude1 (in the middle of a rain delay) : Enna da ithu? They should have some sort of provision to move the match indoors when it rains....
Understanding dude2 : Illai, machan! How can they? This is the Chennai Open, remember?
Aah yes, I remember.
But seriously, tennis has got to be the best spectator sport possible.
Watching cricket in the stadium, you often believe a batsman's been dismissed lbw, only to come home and realise that he had actually been bowled!
At a football match, you actually have numbers on the players' backs so that the spectators don't suffer too much.
So did you get to see Bhutia in action today?
Yes, I did! The number 10 jersey is his, right? Oh yes, I saw him alright!
But in tennis?...you actually can see the sweat on the brow of the players, the strain in their aching muscles, literally...from just about anywhere on the gallery. Atleast, it hold true for the Nungambakkam stadium!
Finally, to the tennis that actually happened,...Ljubicic continued his fine mid-career form which has seen him break into the top 10, Srichapan continued to spiral downwards with his inexplicably insipid play, Moya continued to show off his sleeveless T and powerful forehand, Nadal continued to create a buzz inspite of his non-presence and Amritraj-Bopanna just about managed to provide a glimmer of hope to be worthy successors to the Paes-Bhupathi legacy here at Chennai.
Here's to an action-packed year of tennis ahead!
posted by Jonas at 1/10/2006 11:55:00 AM |
3 Comments:
I dare to disagree with your argument when you say Tennis is the best spectator sport .... Imagine 22 people on the court playing the yellow ball .. there is no way to identify someone other than from the number he is wearing on his back .. ( against false argument pitted against football ;-) )
Okay.. how many times have you known that a back-hand-cross court ( traveling close to a 100?? mph) has landed on the line or beyond it ? ( even the empire cant make a close-call right ) (against false argument against cricket )
Well in case you denounce the entertainment factor of a 'spectator-sport' and merely put weightage to the physical closeness of action or the players ... ever considered giving some marks to Golf ??
Well I liked the "sepectator"'s idea of Chennai Open .. made me "sigh" a gust of wind through my nose ;-)
Maybe its open to people of all economic strata .. thats why Chennai Open ! Nice entry once again .. as usual ..
Imagine 22 people on the court playing the yellow ball ..
but there aren't, naa?....
and another thing, cricket and football are sports which are built on occasional moments of intense drama, like a goal scored or a wicket taken....tennis though, has a more constant level of drama to it, without too many distinct 'peak points'...it isn't a 'blink-and-you-miss-it' kinda game, which makes it more spectator-friendly :-)
and golf?...methinks it's a great TP activity for corporate types...nothing more, nothing less ;-)
Touche ! Touche ! :-)
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