Tale of a Magician, a Machine and a Djoker

It has been a while since you have last heard from me. Lots has been happening in the world we care about, the world of sports, but nothing excited me more than the third grand slam of the year. The greens of Wimbledon. A truly amazing event.

The failure of the top seeds in the women' s draw, the magical run of the short Chinese, the re - emergence of the enigmatic Safin, the disaster of the American's in the men 's section, Djokovic stunner, and of course, arguably the greatest end to the Championships ever, the finals' of the singles event in both the men 's and women 's. Yeah, we tend to forget that the women 's final was one of the highest quality, ever offered on the last Saturday of any slam. Unfair maybe, but I will spend my energy, time, and my office's internet facility on the other final. The men 's final. Actually on second thoughts, I think I will give that a pass as well. A lot has been written about it, and anything I add here will only add to the cliche's that are already flooding the space. Instead I will re direct my energy, and yeah the office's internet facillity, to write on probably the most intense battle for the top seat in World Tennis.

The three characters being the magician, the machine and the djoker. Djoker is not a name to insult a special talent like Novak, but I guess, it describes him best. He likes to speak his mind, and have fun while out there on the court. Sure does not mind making statements, that would make him likeable among the press. This mad race between Federer and Nadal, and the new entrant, Djokovic is more intriguing because of the contrasting personalities, styles and the whole history. Nadal blocking Federer's claim to be the greatest player of all time, Federer well, stopped Nadal twice before eventually falling, in the way of Nadal's dream to be more than just the king of clay. And well Djokovic. The brat. Just to make things interesting. It has the most perfect setting. Federer and Nadal, who dont seem tired of singing praises of each other, and then there is Novak, who doesnt hesitate in saying something that might be politically incorrect. Federer who makes the game look so easy, Nadal who runs around like a rabbit (thank you Safin), and Djokovic - well he is fun to watch too.

And the emergence of each character was perfect too. Federer, the prodigious kid on the block, took lots of time to come to terms with his huge potential. Before it started raining Slam's in his house, and buffaloes in his backyard.

Nadal, the prodigious young talent, expected to take over the world of tennis, but was too young at 17 to do anything significant, with time, turned into the King of Clay, but faced agonising failure before eventually tasting the sweetness of succes in the grass he cared about.

And Djokovic, coming from a country invisible on the tennis map, again took time to come to terms with what he was capable of, tasted failure in his first grand slam final, yes in the hands of one of the other two character's, before putting his country in the tennis map of champions.

All three of them faced agonising failure before the mad success that has followed. Something never heard of before. Nadal and Federer faced each other in 6 slam finals, a record. Federer reached - I lost count - consecutive semi finals, and Djokovic, before the Wimbledon blemish, had 5 consecutive semi's or better finish to a slam. While Nadal merrily continued his streak on clay, and became much more of a threat on the faster courts, and finally displaced the King of Grass, to keep his thrown warm for a while.

Besides the contrasting styles on court and attitudes off court, there is one more reason that makes this mad race, a lot more interesting. It is how each one of them, stand in other's path to the finish. That is what truely separates this from anything ever seen in the past. Such isolation of greatness. Nadal in Federer's path of winning all the slam's and claim to be the greatest ever, if he can't already, Federer in Nadal's path to become the world No. 1, shocking that a player as good as Nadal was never the best player in the world(just shows what a great player the magician is himself), and Djokovic, the ambitious young man, who believes the world is out there for him to rule. And he has done a lot to make sure he meets his dream. He is the only man to beat Federer and Nadal in the same tournament, back to back that too. And that speaks loads of his ability.

It is this which makes the battle of these three so intriguing. Having achieved considerable success, none has found it enough to be content with. And they have each other to overcome in their quest for ultimate content in life. This greed for success, and strive for perfection, initial failure, some success, yet lack of contentment - this is what makes all of us identify with this mad race. The greatest script that could ever be written. The leads being ordinary humans with extra ordinary skills. Let the show continue. Enjoy it as long as it lasts. Dont ever try to answer the question who is the greatest. Because the day you answer that, the greatest rivalries ever witnessed on that rectangle would have ended!

Enjoy the show!!