so the grass is just for cows huh...

a few decades after the 1966 wimbledon championships, some spanish tennis players claimed that the grass is for cows--on a no win-situation but now. being a good tennis fan (and a bad tennis player) the match between rafa and federer during 2008 wimbledon finals was an epic, i should say it is the best tennis match in my life by far. the clay-grass divide has ended!!!

this year's wimbledon was so memorable. with the chinese cinderella , zheng jie beating ivanovich in two sets and came close to beating serena, jankovic beaten by a thai, tanasugarn, sharapova beaten by a fellow eva, williams beaten by the older williams, and here's safin coming back from the dead,...etc etc...and to top it all, the men's final was indeed the best way to end the championships!

i have heard of borg and mcenroe and jimmy connors from my dad, but i wasn't of tennis age and interest at that time. satellite tv was not available at that time, too. all i remember was us kids running to our neighbor's house and watch wonder woman and six million dollar man outside the window. and if we run a bit faster we would be lucky to take the front floor seat in my neighbor's house. and when we did own a tv set, i remember someone would climb up the roof of our house to keep the antenna from changing direction. ha ha. funny to think now. anyway, i have digressed, so going back to the grass...

that the grass is just for cows, it is also for RAFA! now it is an addition to rafa's arena, clay being first. where he gave the number one tennis player in the world a dismantling upset of 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 during the french open few weeks prior. and here now, during the wimbledon finals.

my hubby and i and a few tennis friends got invited to watch wimbledon at our "neighbor's" house...oppps just kidding, not neighbor, at another friend's house where we watched the finals on a giant tv. thanks to manu and champa for the overflow of desserts and nice wine.

it was like watching a soap opera but the difference here is that there were two protagonist and no antagonist. oh yeah, the antagonist was the umpire who warned rafa of the 20-second time limit before serving. man, it's the finals! why warn now for just a few more sec? it was such a compelling match...we all felt that the second best, the number two in the world rafa would win but we wanted federer to win one more time. this is his territory. this is where he is invincible! but the drama kept on rolling. he lost the first two sets and he was in serious trouble. and there was a rain delay... must have helped him, though. he managed to pull off the third and fourth set. but the number one in the world of tennis faltered on the final set. he broke serve and stayed there. 6-4, 6-4, 6-7,6-7,9-7... oh my. this is definitely not the end of him. he was still strong though less offensive on that match. but still he managed to put rafa on the edge. and i was on the edge of my seat, too.

i love both guys. i have so much respect for them. fed is so classy arriving in his private jet. but the most talked-about cardigan for me was mediocre. no big deal. (i can sleep on my mum's cardigan) it's that white leather bag that disturbed me. but then he is swiss[made]. what can you say? the swiss are known to be makers of the best things in life. rafa, on the left hand, suited well with his pirate look. simple and down-to-earth and that's really what he is. even if rafa grabs his bum before every serve, i learned to get used to it. that is just one of his strange ways. but both have quality in the game, good character, win or loss, on and off court.
federer was magnificent in his defeat and the crowd's applause was deafening, i was sad to see roger's fading aura but my heart is for him. as simple and respectful as nadal is, he paid tribute to federer and calls him still the #1. this is what true sportsmen are made of... bravo guys!!! but i guess they both have to thank SAFIN, too, for getting novak early on in the championships. novak is also one hell of a gun, capable of firing till the end.

well, they say that the most constant thing on earth is change. yes. i do agree. but there are times i don't embrace change with open arms. just like changing xp to vista...it took me a while to accept but now i would never ever even think of going back to xp...see the change? but in rafa and roger's case...gut feeling...they'll meet again and be there for a long time...along with cocky novak...

so...i guess the spanish were right. THE GRASS IS JUST FOR COWS. i could see a BULL grazing on it now! bravo to RAFA!!! i so like you, too!!!

*pix taken from the net

*2nd to the last pix, rafa with secret gf

*all through the championships, kookie was content on haggling her bone.