Viva Roger Federer.... and play Tennis, not Badminton

The moment Roger Federer lifted the Coupe des Mousquetaires as the new French Open Men Single Champion on the 7th of June 2009, I was beaming with joy in my seat, 10,000 kilometres away, in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

And millions of Federer or Fed-ex fans around the globe also cherished that moment of glory.

Hail to Roger Federer, you have just won your 14th Grand Slam titles and your very 1st French Open title.

Another title, your 15th, will come soon, perhaps at the Wimbledon in 2 weeks time.

Go home Rafael Nadal, Go home to Mallorca.

And Thank You Very Much Robin Soderling, Thanks for making Federer dreams a true reality.

Thank You Soderling for sending home Nadal early in the 4th round!!!

With that 6-1, 7-6 and 6-4 win over Soderling in 1 hour and 55 minutes, Federer has finally equalled the great Pete Sampras record of winning 14 Grand Slam Titles..!!!



Federer joins Fred Perry, Don Budge, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver and Andre Agassi as the only men to have won all four Grand Slam titles.

"It was probably my greatest victory, I was under big pressure," said Federer. "I did it and it's phenomenal. It was great to be on the podium as a winner for a change." Federer said at the Cup presentation.

To me Federer is the greatest male Tennis player of all time with due respect to Pete Sampras, Ivan Lendl, Bjorn Borg, Rod Laver and co.



He beat Sampras – the 7 time Wimbledon champion in the 4th round of the 2001 Wimbledon Open.

Federer won the Wimbledon 5 consecutive times in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.







Federer won the US Open 5 consecutive times in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Federer won the Australian Open 3 times in 2004, 2006 and 2007.

And now Federer is the 2009 conqueror of the French Open.

He almost completed the Grand Slam – winning the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in the same year in 2004, 2006 and 2007 (3 times!!!)

However on those 3 occasions, The French Open title eluded him..

And no thanks to Nadal too..





But now Federer is the best in the world.

During the recently concluded French Open, what puzzled me was the length of time taken for the 2 men singles semifinals match to finish.

The 1st semifinal won by Robin Soderling, dismantling Fernando Gonzales took exactly 3 hours and 28 minutes.

The 2nd semifinal won by Federer against Juan Martin Del Potro also took exactly 3 hours 28 minutes.

So you lottery freaks out there, no harm in investing a dime for a big win – Buy this number – 3280 or 0328!!! Who knows!!

And if you have to pick between these 3 racquet games – Tennis, Badminton and Squash - then pick Tennis as your choice.

First and foremost, Federer received 1.06 million Euro as Men Singles Champion.

Soderling pocketed 530,000 Euro as runners-up and finalist.

If you enter the French Open in the Men or Women single and you lost in the 1st round – you will still take home 15,000 Euro!!!

For the 2009 edition of the Wimbledon, It was announced that the prize money has been increased.

Men and Ladies Singles champion will each receive 850,000 pound sterlings!!! (more than 5 million Ringgit Malaysia)!!!

1st round losers in the Men and Ladies Singles will still get 10,750 pound sterlings!!!

But the 2009 All England Badminton reportedly only offered a total of USD 200,000 prize money!!!

Poor Lee Chong Wei, Lin Dan, Taufik Hidayat, Peter Gade, Chen Jin, Tina Rasmussen, Julia Wong, Wong Mwe Choo, Koo Kien Kiat & Tan Boon Heong, Lee Young Dae, Park Sung Hwan and co..

Also in Badminton, the players need to judge for themselves wether the shuttle is out of court or not, during play !! They have no luxury enjoyed by Tennis players where 6 to 7 persons (the line judges) will tell them wether the ball has gone out or in.

And in badminton, you have to pick up the shuttles yourself, around the court.

In tennis, there is always 10 ball boys to help you!!

Still, badminton shuttle cocks can travel up to 200 km per hour, just like Tennis balls.

Plus, Professional tennis players get more media coverage than Professional Badminton Players!!

So, Morale of the story – Play Tennis… and Viva Roger Federer!!!