The GRASS that I crave for

It was pouring outside and Vijay Amritraj and Alan Wilkings were taking questions from the viewers. One of the concerned voices asked "With so much of rain around, do you think the organizers would be able to complete the Championships on time? ". Vijay with a serious face said "Ya, they definitely would want to get it over by Christmas !! "..For a moment even Alan could'nt get the humor and then after a split second, they all burst out laughing...

During the finals when Rafa and Fedex were pounding winners Wilkings said " Must be strange for Nadal to see someone else on the other side of the court. He used to seeing Sodderling there regularly" !! (In reference to the Nadal Sodderling match that went on amazingly for 5 days )..

Its incidents like these that make the Championships so special.

The Championships finally come to an end..What a tradition..what history...Infact it brings back
childhood memories..Initially in the late 80's when cable television hadnt made inroads we were dependent on Doordarshan. They too realized the importance of the Championships and used to telecast all the matches starting from the quarter finals LIVE ! (For the other grand slams it was the semis)...I can still remember clearly, take a water break in one of the post lunch sessions at Bosco, then heading for the cooler and discussing who is gonna win..."Becker will trash Edberg".."said one...No chance, watch out for Stich this time"...said the other. We would return back to the class with the bets firmly placed...Just fantastic.

We also organized our mini tennis tournaments that used to run in parallel with Wimbledon. The only difference is that we used to play with our TT Rackets and the 'ping-pong' ball, but with the rules of Lawn Tennis. Each of us would assume to be one of the players (There was a lot of competition for boom boom becker). We had bottles filled with water and a small towel for the break between games !.......

And yes, how can i not mention the way tennis was played in school...It was with a soft tennis ball, but the serve was with the hand. It all started of as 'SQUASH' against the traditional walls @Bosco. (Playing against the Chruch wall till we were driven away). Suddenly someone got this fascinating idea that we could actually play singles/doubles matches as well. I cant describe how it was...all i can say is that it was amazing and it was tense...(Ive played some amazing 5 setters and the best part is that they are so fresh in my mind)

I guess I can keep writing about Wimbledon...
Its the only 'GRASS' that I crave for... Cant wait for Wimbledon 08 .......