John Isner dan Juan Martin Del Potro, 2 pemain tenis bersaiz Gergasi / Giant

Juan Martin Del Potro, tinggi 6 kaki 6 inci, juara Tenis Terbuka Amerika Syarikat 2009



John Isner, tinggi 6 kaki 9 inci, pemain tenis ranking ke 18 dunia.


John Isner dan Juan Martin Del Potro adalah dua pemain tennis dunia yang mempunyai ketinggian luar biasa sehingga mereka digelar Giant.

John Isner dari Amerika Syarikat manakala Del Potro dari Argentina.

Isner belum pernah menang tenis Grand Slam.

Manakala Potro memenanginya sekali selaku juara tenis Terbuka Amerika Syarikat 2009, menewaskan Juara Grand Slam 17 kali, Roger Federer di final dan kalahkan Rafael Nadal di separuh akhir.

John Isner berketinggian 6 kaki 9 inci atau 2.06 meter.

Isner lahir pada 26 April 1985 dan pernah muncul pemain no. 18 dunia dalam ranking tenis dunia pada Julai 2010.

Del Potro pula lahir pada 22 September 1988 dan berketinggian 6 kaki 6 inci atau 1.98 meter.

Del Potro mula menjadi pemain professional pada 2005 dan pernah menjadi pemain no.4 dunia pada Januari 2010.

John Isner pula pernah melakukan permainan tenis paling panjang dalam sejarah dunia pada pusingan pertama kejohanan tenis Wimbledon 2010.

Isner menewaskan pemain Perancis, Nicolas Mahut dalam perlawanan yang memakan masa 11 jam, 5 minit.



Perlawanan itu diadakan selama 3 hari kerana cuaca gelap dan akhirnya Isner menang perlawanan epik itu 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7–9), 7–6(7–3), 70–68 dengan jumlah keseluruhan 183 permainan/games.

Perlawanan itu bermula jam 6:13 pm waktu British pada Selasa June 22, 2010 (ketika bolasepak Piala Dunia rancak berlangsung di Afrika Selatan).

Dan hanya berakhir jam 4.48 petang pada Khamis, June 24, 2010 jam, set terakhir saja memakan masa 8 jam 11 minit.

Perlawanan yang dikenali “The endless match'” itu meyaksikan kedua dua pemain, Isner dan Mahut melakukan 100 aces.

Hebat sungguh hebat.

Congratulations to Novak Djokovic, new Wimbledon tennis champion of 2011

Congatulations to Novak Djokovic, the new Wimbledon men's singles champion in the 2011 edition.

Djokovic, the 2011 Australian Open champion dethroned Rafael Nadal the 2011 French Open Champion and defending Wimbledon champion in the 2011 Wimbledon tennis final played today 3rd July 2011.

Djokovic won 6-4, 6-1, 1-6 and 6-3, thus stamping his supremacy as the best tennis player in the world, after long being dominated by Nadal and Roger Federer.

With this win, Djokovic is a 3 times Grand Slam winner (2 Australian Open titles and 1 Wimbledon title) and Nadal is still the 10 times Grand Slam Winner (6 French Open titles, 2 Wimbledon titles and 1 title each in the Australian Open and US Open).

To make it sweeter, this is Djokovic 5th straight win over Nadal this year. 2011 is Djokovic year because his devastating form saw him dismantling his opponents 50 times with only one loss.

Djokovic who grew up in war torn Serbia, won this year's 2011 Australian Open for the 2nd time and reached the 2011 French Open semifinal but was beaten by Roger Federer the 16 time Grand Slam champion.

Today Djokovic nicknamed Joker won his first ever Wimbledon title and promise to win many other tournaments including the year ending 2011 US Open.

All the best Djokovic, Good Bye Nadal.

WIMBLEDON 2011: The return of the Williams sisters

Venus Williams, Champion of Wimbledon in 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008


Serena Williams Champion of Wimbledon in 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010

All eyes will be on the mercurial Williams sisters, Serena and Venus when the grass-court Wimbledon Grand Slam 2011 tournament begins Monday, 20 June 2011.

These 2 sisters have an astonishing 20 Grand Slam singles titles between them.

They faced each other 8 times in Grand Slam women singles finals, including 4 times in the Wimbledon finals with Serena winning 6 times and Venus winning 2 times.

Serena and Venus have won the Wimbledon titles a record 9 times in the past 11 years with Venus winning 5 times and Serena winning 4 times.

That unprecedented achievement made Wimbledon looks like their second home, their own backyard playground as well as favourite hunting ground for more success in the women tennis world.

For Serena, 29, the younger of the Williams sisters, it will be her first Grand Slam tournament this year 2011 and only the second event—since she took home a second consecutive title from the All England Club in July 2010.

Her nearly yearlong absence resulted from a series of health issues, including two foot operations and blood clots in her lungs, that she said left her depressed and “on my deathbed.”

The long absence also dropped her world ranking from world no.1 to world no 26 as of today.

Serena holds 27 Grand Slam titles, which include 13 Grand Slam singles titles, 12 in the women doubles, all the time partnering sister Venus and 2 in the mixed doubles.

She completed the career Grand Slam or better known as Serena Slam in 2002 and January 2003 when she won the 2002 French Open, Wimbledon and US Open Title as well as the 2003 Australian Open title, each time she beat her sister, Venus in the finals..!!! What an achievement!!

All in all, in singles, Serena won the Australian Open 5 times, the Wimbledon 4 times, the US Open 3 times and the French Open, 1 time, the sole victoy came in 2002.

Venus, 31 and curently world number 33, meanwhile, was sidelined by a hip injury from January 2011 until June 2011.

She has 21 Grand Slam titles which consist of 7 in singles, 12 in women's doubles, partering younger sister Serena and 2 in mixed doubles.

Her 7 Grand Slam singles titles include 5 Wimbledon titles and 2 US Open titles. Venus has never won the French Open and Australian Open.

So, can we see a repeat of the Serena vs Venus in the 2011 Wimbledon final?

Other interesting facts at the 2011 Wimbledon.


Can 6 time Wimbledon champions Roger Federer make a real run at a seventh Wimbledon title?


Can 2 times Wimbledon champions and 6 times French Open champions, Rafael Nadal extend his recent excellence to 5 titles in a span of 6 Grand Slam tournaments?



Can Novak Djokovic recover from the end of his 43-match winning streak in 2011 to win a major title other than the 2 Australian Open titles in 2008 and 2011?


Can Britain's Andy Murray finally—and mercifully—put an end to the locals’ 75-year wait for a British male champion at the All England Club?



Can world No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki win her first Grand Slam title?



Could China’s Li Na win her second Grand Slam singles titles in a row after her surprise 2011 French Open title?



Will the Russian beauty Maria Sharapova end her 3 1/2 -year major drought to win a 4th Grand Slam title? Sharapova won the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open.

My guess is as good as your guess. Thanks for reading and Cheers!!

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!!!