VAMOS RAFA!!!

Photos courtesy of Yahoo news.

This Spanish tennis phenomenon, often booed during his matches at Roland Garros, proved to everybody once more why he is worthy of the title "King of Clay." Rafael Nadal Parera, or Rafa to his family and friends, just won his third consecutive French Open Title in a row. My voice is almost hoarse from cheering, even if I just watched the French Open in the comfort of our bedroom.

I was surprised to find out that this left-handed Capri-wearing Spaniard is not naturally left-handed. Rafa is really right-handed. However, when he was ten years old, his uncle and current coach Toni Nadal discovered that this young lad had a future in tennis. Toni Nadal then decided that his two-handed backhand would benefit from a strong right arm, so he taught Rafa to play with his left hand.

What really amazed me most is the fact that he still lives in his hometown, in the island of Majorca in Spain, in their family home with his parents, grandparents, his sister, Uncle Toni and his family. His family is what keeps him grounded. There are talks that he still occupies one room even if he is already a millionaire. The locals have gotten used to having him around so that he doesn't get special treatment. He still has the same set of friends he had before he became famous. Humility among successful sports figures is a rarity nowadays.

As well as producing a champion, the family is happy it has brought up a well-mannered young man. "He has never broken a racquet in anger," Toni said. "It would be showing a lack of respect to people who actually have to buy the equipment to play the sport."

With this, I leave you with a funny video I found featuring Rafa. Enjoy!

RAFAEL NADAL "La Bamba"
Uploaded by sportvideos

Vamos Rafa!

New Rules to be introduced at the U.S. Open

Aside from being a badminton fanatic, I also love watching tennis tournaments, especially the 4 grand slam tournaments. I also have lots of books about tennis at home. Sadly, I can only manage a decent forehand and backhand stroke. I don't even know how to serve...that's because my tennis lessons went only as far as those 2 strokes before I eventually ended up playing badminton exclusively. (Previous story on this topic.) However, my love for tennis still persists.

I'm glad to learn that the upcoming U.S. Open Tennis Championships at Flushing Meadows will introduce a new innovation to the sport...instant replay. What happens is that when a player questions a call, above-court video screens show a graphic rendering of the ball's flight, in slow motion, with a dark spot indicating where it landed. That spot either touches a white line -- the ball was in -- or it doesn't -- the ball was out. Simple as that. (Wow!)

(Photo courtesy of the official website of the U.S. Open)

According to the U.S. Open official website, here's how it works:
- Each player will receive 2 challenges per set to review line calls.
- If the player is correct with a challenge then the player retains the same number of challenges.
- If the player is incorrect with a challenge, then one of his/her challenges is lost.
- During a tie-break game in any set, each player will receive one additional challenge.
- Challenges may not be carried over from one set to another.

This is a major change in a sport steeped with tradition. I'm glad to see that they're moving in step with advances in technology. I'm certainly looking forward to it! I just hope that the International Badminton Federation also adopts this new rule. Now, wouldn't that be something?

BADMINTON VS. TENNIS

A friend introduced me to badminton during the summer of 2001. I was hesitant at first because the sport did not seem to be challenging at all. I would often see children on the streets playing “backyard badminton”. Tennis, on the other hand, seemed a lot more prestigious, with all the “Grand Slam” tournaments being televised, having “million-dollar” prizes and famous players landing ridiculously high-priced advertising contracts like Sampras, Hingis, Agassi and Kournikova. (Note: Remember, this was during 2001.) I would often dream of hiking off to England and watching a badminton game during Wimbledon, often considered as the most prestigious of the 4 Grand Slam Tournaments.

During that time, I made the mistake of training for badminton and tennis at the same time. What I lacked in talent, I made up for in enthusiasm. I would play badminton during the week and tennis during weekends. My hand suffered in the process. I had tendinitis on my right hand. Rest was the only cure. I could not play both sports without sacrificing my body and risking further injuries, so I had to choose between the two.

Badminton and tennis are often compared to each other. Players at opposite ends of the court aim to hit a shuttlecock (in the case of badminton) or tennis ball (in the case of tennis) over the net so that it lands inside the marked boundaries of the court, and aim to prevent their opponents from doing the same. However, unlike a tennis ball, the shuttlecock flies with a lot of drag and will not bounce significantly. Badminton is considered as the fastest racquet sports in the world with shuttles reaching speeds of up to 200 mph. Badminton champion Fu Haifeng of China set the official world smash record on 3 June 2005. The actual shuttlecock speed was measured as 332 km/h or 206 mph, faster than the Eurostar train.

The rallies of each point tend to be much longer in badminton than in tennis. This is true even though winning a ‘shutout’ match in badminton requires only winning 42 points (21-0, 21-0, in a Men’s Singles match according to the newest rule set by the International Badminton Federation), whereas in tennis it would require 72 points (6-0, 6-0, 6-0). Badminton can be physically more tiring than tennis as the time between shots can be much shorter (since the players have to hit the shuttle before it bounces, whereas in tennis, the players have to hit the ball before it has bounced twice or hit any fixtures.)

When a shot is played in tennis, the whole of the arm is used in one sweeping action, whereas in badminton, a wide range of motions is employed, from delicate flicks of the wrist and pressing of fingers to full-body smashes and clears. Speed, reaction and endurance are all important to a successful badminton player. From a fitness perspective, a close comparison can be made to squash which also has the same explosive starts. (Courtesy of Wikipedia.)

For personal reasons that will be made clear in future posts, I have chosen to concentrate on playing badminton. I recently cleaned my closet and gave away my tennis rackets to others who will put it to good use. I am not saying that one sport is better than the other. This is all about personal choices, about what kind of sports will fit each individual. After all, variety is the spice of life.