When God became one of us..
"What if God was one of us..": Well, that's what one can expect when you see Pete Sampras break down in Center Court! Sampras was often criticized as the most boring player on the ATP circuit, for the stiff face and dull body language that he displays on court. Some of the sports journals used to mock him as Samprazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... But have you seen him cry?
The Event: 1997 Australian Open Quaterfinal
The Opponent: His close buddy Jim Courier !
I had the privilege to witness this battle live on TV then. Last night, i happened to watch highlighths of this game again. This was one of the greatest moments in Tennis history, especially if you know the background of this match. Sampras's Coach and his best friend Tim, who was diagnosed with brain tumour, had to leave for US the previous day. Sampras lost the first two sets and was struggling to save the third. Overcome with so much grief about his Coach's illness, Sampras broke down in front of the audience! When someone in the crowd shouted "Do it for Tim, Pete", he started weeping like a kid. Jim infact asked Sampras whether he would like to play the remaining part of the game, the next day. Sampras then pulled himself out of the grief and fought the rest of the battle like a true Champion. He won the game, a marathon five-setter, which stretched well beyond midnight.
Courier did play his heart out, but he lost to a man who wasn't willling to give up under such tiring circumstances. Though every journal talked about how Sampras came back from behind to win this game, very rarely they offer Courier's perspective on this incident. In the interview last night, Courier spoke about this. Only then, i realized that he was as much stressed out as Sampras was! Infact, the day before the game, Courier, Sampras and Tim had been to dinner together. Tim was their Davis cup coach and was a close associate of Courier too! Courier couldn't sleep well the previous day and moreover, he had to mentally prepare himself to face his best friend in the quarterfinal. After the interview, i felt that Courier was as heroic as Sampras on that day!
Here is some write up on that game.
"What if God was one of us..": Well, that's what one can expect when you see Pete Sampras break down in Center Court! Sampras was often criticized as the most boring player on the ATP circuit, for the stiff face and dull body language that he displays on court. Some of the sports journals used to mock him as Samprazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... But have you seen him cry?
The Event: 1997 Australian Open Quaterfinal
The Opponent: His close buddy Jim Courier !
I had the privilege to witness this battle live on TV then. Last night, i happened to watch highlighths of this game again. This was one of the greatest moments in Tennis history, especially if you know the background of this match. Sampras's Coach and his best friend Tim, who was diagnosed with brain tumour, had to leave for US the previous day. Sampras lost the first two sets and was struggling to save the third. Overcome with so much grief about his Coach's illness, Sampras broke down in front of the audience! When someone in the crowd shouted "Do it for Tim, Pete", he started weeping like a kid. Jim infact asked Sampras whether he would like to play the remaining part of the game, the next day. Sampras then pulled himself out of the grief and fought the rest of the battle like a true Champion. He won the game, a marathon five-setter, which stretched well beyond midnight.
Courier did play his heart out, but he lost to a man who wasn't willling to give up under such tiring circumstances. Though every journal talked about how Sampras came back from behind to win this game, very rarely they offer Courier's perspective on this incident. In the interview last night, Courier spoke about this. Only then, i realized that he was as much stressed out as Sampras was! Infact, the day before the game, Courier, Sampras and Tim had been to dinner together. Tim was their Davis cup coach and was a close associate of Courier too! Courier couldn't sleep well the previous day and moreover, he had to mentally prepare himself to face his best friend in the quarterfinal. After the interview, i felt that Courier was as heroic as Sampras on that day!
Here is some write up on that game.
1 comment:
That was a good one man..i didnt know abt this :)
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