The Return of the King ...

He's due to arrive in Chile on the 1st February, and on the basis of the utter snore-fest we witnessed today in the final of the Australian Open, the 5th February can't come a day too soon.

Characterless tedium ad nauseum. And ugly hair.

And so the Prince of Darkness now has 6 Slams (I mistakenly typed 666 Slams the first time of offering. I think I was right. :D ) But as was pointed out by Vernon today, four of his Slams have been won at the Australian Open. Yes, FOUR of his six Slams have been won at the same tournament. What is this guy? Some kind of s.l.o.w. hardcourt expert?? I mean ... where is the value in that?? What kind of so-called champion is this bloke when over half of his Grand Slam tally is won at the same tournament?? So let me see ... what's that phrase? Oh I know ...

"Take away his Australian Open titles and he's only left with 2 slams."

I know! He's pathetic.

And what do you think the erstwhile Peter Bodo might have to say about this? Something along the lines of ...

"One thing you never hear Djokovic speak about is how lucky he is to have a game that works so well on slow hardcourts, or how much it has helped him that the ATP Masters Series tour features six events (Indian Wells, Miami, Toronto/Montreal, Cincinnati, Shanghai and Paris), at which Djokovic has collected 10 of his 13 Masters shields." 

"The success of the hardcourt events is one of the great business stories of the Open era, given that back at the dawn of the new age (1968), three of the four Grand Slam events were contested on grass. As well, the Australian Open was held in such low regard that many players skipped it. The Australian Open ultimately was saved and rehabilitated by a visionary move to change the surface it was played on to hardcourt and an ultimate move in location to Melbourne Park, and the Antipodean circuit, once more of a bloody long boat trip than athletic spectacle and in danger of becoming irrelevant in the new Open era, flourished along with it." 

"I don't want to belittle Djokovic's accomplishments in pointing all this out, I just want to add a little perspective to what seems to me his (and his team's) fairly narrow scope. There is no higher law saying there must be six Masters in a tennis season. The main beneficiary of this situation has been Novak. And there's no law saying that the blue hardcourts on which those tournaments are contested is the only legitimate kind of surface, never mind the idea that it's the only surface on which tennis can or ought to hold tournaments. And the main beneficiary of that underlying sentiment has also been Novak."

Haha ... did I get you going??

Excuse my little joke, but it's point was to highlight the ridiculousness of so much that has been said about Rafa. Of course you don't put down, discount or excuse any tennis players achievements, particularly when it comes to Grand Slams. A Slam win is a Slam win, regardless of what surface and how many times a player has won there. They all count and a grass court or hardcourt specialist has no greater value or worth than a clay court one.

So will Rafa's absence herald the dawning of a new era in comment when he returns?? I'd like to think his lengthy time away and the imbalance his non participation at major events truly shows the tennis world what has been missing. But I doubt it very much.

But let's ask ourselves if we really care? Well, personally I would like more respect put Rafa's way in terms of tennis reporting and commentary, but I seriously doubt it. However, above everything else we just want to see the bottle placement, the tucking of hair, the twanging of pants, the bouncing at the net, the Rafarun and the knee lifting "Vamos".

We want to see Rafa playing tennis.  And considering that bore-fest of today (that was one thing I wasn't joking about) ...  I.cannot.wait.

picture source : via @RafaelNadalFC