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meteordustThe only sport I have ever followed is tennis.
I used to watch it devotedly, back when Rafter was top of the Aussies and Philippoussis still seemed like he might make it big and the Woodies were the doubles champions of the world and Hewitt was this amazing kid who you knew was going to go far.
The highlight of those days, for me, was the Australian Davis Cup campaign of 1999. Oh, the ups and downs! The riveting drama! The star sidelined by injury. The kid and the veteran having to step up. And the black sheep returning to the fold and redeeming his past mistakes. The win was simply the fairytale conclusion of an epic saga.
But then Rafter retired, as did the Woodies. Philippoussis kept promising and disappointing. Hewitt achieved his goal of world number one. And gradually the Aussie scene became less interesting, and I stopped paying attention to the tennis.
Anyway. The Australian Open.
Dokic was the reason I tuned in. The comeback kid, returned from exile, shooting up the ranks with her cool nervy performance. It was great to see another Aussie on the scene again, and I was disappointed when she finally exited. But my interest had been piqued. *Maybe I'll check out the men's final.*
See, tennis-wise, I've pretty much been living under a rock for most of the past decade. Many of the names I remember are gone, and it's totally different world. For me, that Federer guy was vaguely up there as a contemporary of Hewitt and Safin, part of that generation of young turks. And Nadal was an even vaguer blur, the generation after. But hey, World No 1 vs World No 2. *I guess that's got to be worth checking out.*
Understatement of the year.
Why did no one ever tell me?
Well, I guess since some of my recent fandoms have tanked, I need a new obsession.
Sorry, Merlin, you're going to have to move over before you've even sat down.
*This* is what destiny looks like.
I used to watch it devotedly, back when Rafter was top of the Aussies and Philippoussis still seemed like he might make it big and the Woodies were the doubles champions of the world and Hewitt was this amazing kid who you knew was going to go far.
The highlight of those days, for me, was the Australian Davis Cup campaign of 1999. Oh, the ups and downs! The riveting drama! The star sidelined by injury. The kid and the veteran having to step up. And the black sheep returning to the fold and redeeming his past mistakes. The win was simply the fairytale conclusion of an epic saga.
But then Rafter retired, as did the Woodies. Philippoussis kept promising and disappointing. Hewitt achieved his goal of world number one. And gradually the Aussie scene became less interesting, and I stopped paying attention to the tennis.
Anyway. The Australian Open.
Dokic was the reason I tuned in. The comeback kid, returned from exile, shooting up the ranks with her cool nervy performance. It was great to see another Aussie on the scene again, and I was disappointed when she finally exited. But my interest had been piqued. *Maybe I'll check out the men's final.*
See, tennis-wise, I've pretty much been living under a rock for most of the past decade. Many of the names I remember are gone, and it's totally different world. For me, that Federer guy was vaguely up there as a contemporary of Hewitt and Safin, part of that generation of young turks. And Nadal was an even vaguer blur, the generation after. But hey, World No 1 vs World No 2. *I guess that's got to be worth checking out.*
Understatement of the year.
Why did no one ever tell me?
Well, I guess since some of my recent fandoms have tanked, I need a new obsession.
Sorry, Merlin, you're going to have to move over before you've even sat down.
*This* is what destiny looks like.
