Nothing Gold Can Stay
Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.
------Robert Frost
best snippet
Into my own
Free mind
A virtuoso can detect definitively, unfailingly some coherence. What i do, where i go, i may be subjected to new people, ideas. But it is that beauty of relaxed mind that nothing new seems to be happening barring few actions around me. Whatever has to happen and is happening around has already been discounted by mind and thus, it renders almost all data floating around me, meaningless. Consequently the radar system in my head has grown extremely strong to catch anything what may appear to me; important , or funny or curious. and nowadays happiness comes only from nothingness and awareness of nothingness. I just avoided the word 'void' as it has negative connotations for many. But even avoid has a void, to give an example of my earnest desire. It is almost like i have been sailing through crowd around me daily, effortlessly separating noise from myself. No accident that i was laughing in the elevator thinking about some silly office love affairs going on. The most useless of things catch my attention, sometimes. I must here admit that this state is not exclusive to me, and countless people experience it for a short period of time. But a large portion of those people are either in pain, or want to get out of it soon to seek some smile based on tangible reasons. These are the people who make efforts to get out of puddles in the road. Laziness and, the tenet of rejection of any sort of effort, is what enriches my thinking and adds consistency in my case, which happily, is very good. I think Ravana's brother kumbhakaran must also have reveled in the same state for his lifetime. Perhaps this was why staying awake did not add much value to him. ( Well, that was extreme ! )
reuters- tennis wrap up stats
WRAPUP 1-Tennis-Nadal seals magnificent seven
PARIS, June 11 |
(Reuters) - A gaping hole on a smashed-up on-court bench bore testament to how maddening it is to play Rafa Nadal at Roland Garros as the Spaniard was hailed as the 'greatest ever claycourt player' after hoisting the French Open trophy for a record seventh time.
Novak Djokovic found plenty of uses for his racket during a soggy final which spilled into a second day on Monday. The world number one slammed it to the ground, sent debris flying everywhere after smashing it into his courtside bench and even whacked his head repeatedly with it.
But it simply could not conjure the strokes that would have allowed the Serb to become the first man in 43 years to win four grand slams in a row and instead Djokovic, with a sore head and tortured soul, fired a double fault that prompted Nadal to sink to his knees following a 6-4 6-3 2-6 7-5 victory.
The high-stakes showdown had started at 1517 local time on Sunday under menacing grey skies, was contested mainly through driving rain, and ended almost 23 hours later in a sudden burst of sunshine with a triumphant Nadal curled into a foetal position in the most famous arena in claycourt tennis.
On a court that has become a private stage for his jaw-dropping skills, Nadal eclipsed the record he shared with Bjorn Borg and showed the man who had defeated him in the last three grand slam finals that this was his stomping ground.
But unlike Borg, who quit the sport at 26, the same age as Nadal is now, the insatiable Spaniard still hungers to extend his astonishing Roland Garros run which now stands at 52-1, with a 7-0 record in the finals.
"He's definitely best player in history on this surface, and results are showing that he's one of the best-ever players that played this game," Djokovic told reporters after his 27-match winning streak at the slams was ended by Nadal in the three hours 50 minute duel.
Nadal, though, was not feeling so invincible when he woke up on Monday morning with a 6-4 6-3 2-6 1-2 lead.
As far as he was concerned, the thought of joining Australian Jack Crawford as the only man to have lost four successive slam finals, was the stuff of nightmares.
"I had lost three grand slam finals in a row to him. If I had lost a fourth final, this would have been very difficult for me," said Nadal, who had reached the Paris showpiece without dropping a set. "I was very nervous all night. So in my mind, this was the final I had to win."
He need not have worried as after only 50 minutes of action on Monday, he was once again cradling the Musketeers' Cup and running his fingers down the list of champions on the metal plate at the base of the trophy, knowing that as of June 11 2012, his name will appear on it more than anybody else's.
EXCEPTIONAL ERA
Nadal might have rained down on Djokovic's parade - denying him the chance of doing something no man has done since Australian great Rod Laver in 1969, but at least Djokovic had the consolation of knowing that he is an intrinsic part of an exceptional era in men's tennis.
If there were any doubt about how this golden trio of Nadal, Djokovic and Roger Federer measure up to generations gone by, it seems that every time they step on a grand slam stage, there is a fresh deluge of eye-watering statistics.
They have now won 28 of the last 29 grand slams - it would have been 29-of-29 if Federer had not blown a two-sets-to-one lead against Juan Martin del Potro in the 2009 U.S. Open final.
All three players have been in a position to win four slams in row. Federer in 2006 and 2007, Nadal in 2011 and Djokovic this weekend. From 1969 to 2006, only Pete Sampras came close to pulling off the feat in the men's game in 1994.
The trio have also dominated the top ranking since Federer first climbed to the summit in February 2004.
"The sport is experiencing some really good times now. We're attracting a lot of attention because we have these two great players, and ... myself. We really have some charismatic players, a lot of personalities. This is good for tennis," said the world number one.
A French Open final that had so much riding on it proved tricky and exasperating for both players.
A day earlier tennis fans has seen the best and worst of Djokovic. But at least he had got his temper tantrums under control to fight back from two sets and a break down to win eight successive games as persistent drizzle turned the surface into a muddy mess.
That had left Nadal irritated, Djokovic rejuvenated and the encounter on a knife-edge with the Spaniard leading by two sets to one but a break down in the fourth as the finale headed into third-week finish for the first time here since 1973.
When the players returned on Monday, though, Roland Garros resembled a ghost-town with most of the boutiques in the grounds closed and only a handful of people milling around the alleyways.
It was not long before Nadal started to haunt Djokovic in a half-full Philippe Chatrier Court.
The Serb was left whacking his head with his racket within minutes of the restart as he went down break point after belting a forehand into the net to end a 21-shot rally.
Seconds later the Serb saw his 2-1 break advantage vanish after a leaping netcord allowed Nadal to blaze an audacious passing shot winner.
Djokovic raised his arm to slam another racket, but thought better of it. He smacked his head again with his racket after coming off second best in yet another 20-stroke plus rally, and complained bitterly to the umpire when the rain showers returned with Nadal just one game away from victory.
But the rain Gods were not willing to play ball with Djokovic on Monday and rapidly cleared away to allow Nadal to claim his moment of glory. (Editing by Toby Davis)
Of some expert narrative
PARIS -- Narratives are fluid, based on feel and perspective, passion and statistics and the momentum of the moment. All of which, when molded by different hands, can turn into some cousin of fact.
In January, Rafael Nadal was no longer the equal of Novak Djokovic -- or so we thought -- after the grueling 5-hour, 53-minute Australian Open final. Yet after a physically and mentally draining French Open run, Nadal resurrected this truth: He had never gone anywhere in the first place.
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Torsten Blackwood/Getty ImagesWhen Novak Djokovic won the Aussie Open final, we were left wondering whether Rafael Nadal would challenge him again.
"Don't forget that I've played the last five Grand Slam finals in a row. That's not victory. That's not a title, but that's fantastic results," Nadal said. "I played very bad in Montreal, Cincinnati. Yes, I played a great U.S. Open and I played probably bad in Shanghai and at the end of the season, but in the Davis Cup final I played great.
"You have to find your moments," he said. "With Novak, I say the same to me. It is not possible to be perfect every time, to be 100 percent every tournament. I'm going to keep having chances to win. I produced a lot of chances to win last year, but I lost almost every one."
For more than nine months, Nadal had not suffered a tennis problem as much as he had a Djokovic problem. Djokovic had not only taken Nadal's No. 1 ranking, but he took the Spaniard's air of invincibility on clay by beating him in the finals of the Madrid and Rome 1000 Masters events in 2011. Djokovic had beaten Nadal in seven consecutive finals, three of which were Grand Slams.
"After the U.S. Open, I said I knew what I had to do to win. Now the question is: 'Am I capable of doing that?'" Nadal said. "In Australia, I was not in very good shape, mentally speaking. I could have won, but for mental reasons I had lost. I was not in the best mental status. Now, I'm here. I made it. I did everything I could to win this match."
Since losing the fifth set at the Aussie, Nadal has beaten Djokovic three straight times. Nadal has won seven of eight sets against Djokovic and overcome all of the mental and emotional hurdles that had handcuffed him.
For both men, the Australian Open final created narratives. Djokovic had become indomitable, too tough and too technically skilled for Nadal to combat. Yet the margins were never so great as to say Nadal was not competitive. But after Monday's win, we are reminded that Nadal is the greatest clay-court player of all time -- 52-1 lifetime at Roland Garros -- but he should also be in the conversation of the greatest all-court player as well with Rod Laver, Roger Federer and Bjorn Borg. Nadal has now played in five consecutive Grand Slam finals and has 11 total Slam wins. Federer played in a remarkable 10 straight from the 2005 Wimbledon to the 2007 U.S. Open and has 16 to his name.
Here in Paris, Nadal fought Djokovic into submission. It was the top-ranked Serb who we usually see impose his will on opponents and melt their resolve. But it was Djokovic who looked baffled. He was being pushed farther back and left to right by Nadal. After play resumed following the rainout, Djokovic ripped a forehand into the net, giving Nadal the key break point that turned the match.
In frustrated response, Djokovic batted himself three times in the head with his racket. The margins were thinning even more as a Nadal forehand clipped the tape and fell short. Djokovic flipped a helpless return back that Nadal finished with a backhand crosscourt winner. In three service games as the end neared, Nadal lost three points total on his serve. The match ended when Djokovic, helplessly, double-faulted.
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Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty ImagesRafael Nadal showcased not only his clay-court prowess but his mental fortitude.
"In my opinion, the conditions were much more favorable for Novak than for me," Nadal said. "At the same time, I'm playing against the best in the world. He played, in my opinion, fantastic [during those] eight games in a row. He didn't have any mistakes. He returned fantastically well. That's true that I lost meters behind the baseline. I wasn't able to push him back like I did at the beginning of the match. He was able to push me back all the time. I felt like I was in a completely negative position almost every time on that period of the match."
The narrative, both immutable yet obviously fluid, said that Nadal lacked the necessary belief to take down Djokovic when the air thinned. That was, obviously, not the case here. But one thing we know, this story of twists and turns and momentum shifts is far from over. Because both men know the other is capable of controlling this rivalry at any given moment.
"Seriously, if I say something wrong about Novak it's probably going to be a big mistake because don't forget that he won in Australia," Nadal said. "He won in Miami, played the semifinals in Indian Wells, losing 7-6 in the third. He played the final in Monte Carlo, the final in Rome and the final here."
Wimbledon is now two weeks away, and Nadal is as formidable as before -- but with the results to fortify the belief. He has played Djokovic 33 times and won 19. The margins between the two men are miniscule. Nadal may have cost himself a major with that missed backhand in Melbourne. Djokovic may have lost a sixth because it rained or because he double-faulted three times to lose games. The point is that the narratives may be fluid, but the greatness of Nadal is not.
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