All of us know....

The spirit of Mumbai we say is reliable, how much of that do we believe I cannot say.
Every time the door bangs loudly I get scared thinking of the horror that the city saw.Is this the spirit of Mumbai or a friend waking up at four sweating telling me that she misses her family is that the undaunted spirit of the city. All of us think, we know, that Mumbai is a city that will rise from the ashes like it always has, but today what i think is that is this to our advantage or theirs. Is this what they want, all of us to come out on the streets like nothing happened so that they can kill all of us.
Or maybe they want us to get scared and sit at home, thinking that somewhere near my house one of them must be on the prowl. All of us think we know how their minds work. Didn't this incident just prove all of us wrong. Sometimes its not about what all of us think but about what all of us should think. Confusing as it might sound its just about maintaining your sanity throughout such a situation. No i am not preaching and yes it would not be wrong for once if we do not light candles on our windowsills and wear white black coloured t-shirts to college and showed to the rest of the world around us like we cared. Instead do something worthwhile donate blood try to keep you and others around you safe. It would help if all of us did not show that we know... and make that extra effort to bring change...

The white ants....

The White Ants…
A song by Fuzon, a Pakistani band says
Are ruk jaa re bande...
Are tham jaa re bande...
Ke kudrat hans padegi ho…
It means Stop! Take a look around you and you will be surprised to see even God is laughing at your plight.
That is what terrorism is doing to us. It is gnawing into our society slowly, the result eventually being a ghastly one. It’s not what the government or what your neighbour thinks it is about what you think, how you can change the scenario.
According to a recent survey by the Reader’s digest magazine most of the countries expressed a serious concern towards growing terrorism in the world.
It is not an alien topic to us, and our country has a lost a lot because of this rising problem. Terrorism has been a problem in India since independence and the condition hasn’t changed ever since.
How safe are we? Is the government doing anything? When will these terrorists be caught? All these questions always loom over our heads. The question actually is,
What is the reason for the growing rate of terrorism?
One of the main reasons according to a poll conducted is jihad or religion. Well that is not quite the truth. According to the Holy Koran jihad is a process of cleaning the impurities first within you and then around you. Terrorists’ are humans too but we have all started looking at them from a negative point of view. Yes, they have always desired destruction but have we ever thought about why?
It will not be right to call them saints either.
The Godhra riots, the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai in 2006 and the serial blasts in the first class compartments in local trains in Mumbai do not leave us with a strong feeling of security.
Every time you see the media coverage of these calamities you wonder about the very existence of the feeling of humanity.
Every time I clamber into a local train I’m suspiciously looking at the bags around me wondering if any of them has a bomb. Funny as it may sound but I’m sure my sense of insecurity has something to do with the serial bomb blasts.
Terrorism does not affect a nation economically or politically but emotionally as well.
Have you ever wondered how many mothers lost their sons, how many wives lost their husbands, how many children lost their parents in these terrorist activities. The number is unbelievable. Terrorism has to be stopped at its inception.
Our government system does not do too much to stop these terrorists too, not doing too much to gain our trust.
Let’s make a promise to ourselves today. Let’s fight terrorism in our own small way. Let’s pay a little more attention to the activities around us.
Let us save humanity. I am sure if each one tries eventually we will have a safe and secure world to live in and we will leave our future generation with a sense of security.

Atheism Misinterpreted

Recently I read a blog post which said that believers are stupid and a counter post stating everyone should have a voice but in a rational way. Well I don't understand how difficult it is to let the believers believe and the atheists not believe.
After being a believer till my 8th grade I know the psyche of a believer and now that I am an atheist I know one feels. Atheists are just practical people who like to assert their practicality. Like a friend of mine says "there are people of two types in the world those who like chocolate and those who like vanilla" Even though it may sound like a juvenile example it is actually extremely true. Interfering in other people's beliefs is not a thing that a staunch atheist may do.
I personally like reading, talking , discussing about religion per se. Although I am not very comfortable talking about God. That space to me is totally non-existent and I would like to keep it that way.
I like to read up on religion so I can strengthen my belief in my beliefs and yes it is a never ending task...

COMMONWEALTH GAMES PUNE

BEING A PUNERI THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES NOT ONLY INTEREST ME BUT I WILL TRY AND KEEP ALL OF YOU UPDATED ON THE LATEST HAPPENINGS..
LETS START WITH THE PREPERATION THAT PCMC HAS PUT IN FOR THE CWYG
TO BEGIN WITH THE PCMC HAS AN OFFICIAL WEBSITE WHICH ALL OF YOU MUST SEE...
http://cygpune2008.net/press-media.html
http://cygpune2008.net/images/cyg-balewadi.jpg
The preparation is on full swing for the Commonwealth Youth Games which has to begin from 12 October 2008 in Pune, Maharashtra. This is the third Commonwealth Youth Games. The Youth Baton Relay ceremony will be done in New Delhi and will be flagged off from the North Campus of the Delhi University on 1st of August 2008 and will reach Pune on the inaugural of day of the event on 12th of October.Besides roads, public transport is also improving in the city.

Final touches were being given to a massive sports apparatus that has come up on a sprawling 153- acre campus, Shiv Chhatrapati City, the
venue of the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) beginning from October 12.

The week-long sporting extravaganza will be declared open by President Pratibha Patil, who will arrive in the city on October 10 on a four-day visit.

Around 2,000 athletes and officials will participate in the Games being held in Asia for the first time. All 71 nations and territories of the Commonwealth will be participating, Suresh Kalmadi, city MP and Chairman of the CYG Organising Committee, told reporters.

Sportspersons will vie for glory in nine disciplines - badminton, boxing, swimming, shooting, tennis, table tennis, wrestling, weightlifting and athletics.

The venue, around 20 km from the city, has been named after Chhatrapati Shivaji with a huge statue of the Maratha warrior mounted on a horse erected in the Games Village.

Considered a forerunner for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, the Youth Games in Pune will showcase India's readiness to host world-class international sports events, Kalmadi said.

The Central Government has sanctioned funds to the tune of Rs 500 crore for various works in the city which would have a permanent infrastructure to hold prestigious global sports competitions, he added.
PUNE AS WE ALL KNOW IS THE ESSENCE OF MAHARASHTRA AND IF NOTHING INTERESTING HAPPENS AT THE CYG I AM SURE AT LEAST THE CULTURAL SHOW PUT UP BY THE 10,000 PUNERI COLLEGE GOING STUDENTS WILL BE A HIT...
>>>MORE ON CYG

Faith!?..

Faith

“Please Aai please let me buy one of those balloons. I will not burst them I promise Aai please buy them for me”. Rati asked me for balloons everyday and like any other day I said, “No Rati not today, Aai does not have time now”.

I had a really tiring day today, Shyamji did not pay me as usual and so many clients did not respect my feelings. That is how I felt everyday though. I left Rati playing with her friends and I heard someone call me, “Padma make it quick Bhanuraj must be really angry. He wanted to see you urgently.

An hour or so later I left my kothi with a bruise. Everyday I left with a bruise, not all bruises are physical though.

It was always difficult for me to face Rati. I always felt like she understood a little of my secret. No one in the kothi had ever told her anything and she too had been rather unobservant.

Days passed and Rati always looked at me with admiration, I knew she still respected me but did not know for how long. When the abuse of the clients crossed all boundaries and became almost unbearable we decided to approach an NGO. There were instances when Sheena told me Shyamji had tied her to the bed and continuously raped her.

All of us had faced abuse at some point of our lives, but now we were standing up against it.

He was a well built man with very black curly hair, good teeth and an unpuzzled smile almost like he had expected to see us. “Vishwas”, he introduced himself. I knew he looked vaguely familiar but did not bother asking him if we had met before this. “I am your volunteer and I will be there with all of you through this”, he said loudly.

His enthusiasm was infectious and his smile vivacious. One could not help but fall in love with him.

Every time he walked into my kothi I offered him water. He always told me he liked this gesture of mine. We grew to be really good friends and shared a very plutonic relationship. I never thought he judged me nor did he disrespect me. Every evening Vishwas and I went for a walk on the beach. I treasured all those moments with him. He was like the friend the confidante I always wanted. He sat patiently listening to my experiences, supported me through court hearings.

Rati liked Vishwas. “Vishwas Kaka” she would say, and even if he was busy he would leave all his work and come to her. They adored each other.

And I adored both of them. “Vishwas Kaka please buy me those balloons”, said Rati. Vishwas never said no. “Rati which balloons do you want tell your Kaka, he will buy them for you.

The judiciary never took us seriously the respondent asked us questions like, “so Sheena how many men on average did you do in one night.

The judges laughed and the city laughed with them, but we still fought.

I could never forget that night, what I wore, what he wore.

“You’re beautiful…” The kiss that I had been imagining since the moment I saw him was far more in reality than it had ever been in my mind. “I want you…” None of us stopped ourselves after that. “I love you Vishwas”.

He did not reply, but I let it go. I loved him and now he knew it.

Three years, our case was still on a hearing in the court. He became more and more a part of my struggle as the years passed by. I could bear anything after all I had Vishwas on my side.

The court had summoned us saying an important notice was to be served. Sitting there on the benches of the courtroom I wondered what it was that the judge wanted to tell us.

The judge walked in. “I want all of you to take an urgent HIV test and defendant I want the reports by the 22^nd October. The court is adjourned.”

I will not say it wasn’t a shock but it was just a test and I knew what the reports would be. After all I hadn’t been an “active prostitute” since the past three years.

He stood in front of me, staring.

I don’t think he wanted to say anything. He owed me an explanation though and I wasn’t going to leave him without one. My throat was dry, I was paralysed with anguish. I tried in vain to cry out, the report in my hand.

“Padma I know what it is that you want to ask me.” I also know that when I tell you why I did what I did you might not believe me, but it is the truth. Padma I was a regular client of yours. I loved you for what you were.”

But you, had other clients that paid you more that I did.” His voice was shaky and his lower lip quivered. I was shocked not by what he was saying, but by what he felt. I felt for myself. He continued, “I wanted you to die with me Padma, we were meant to be together.”

“What are you saying Vishwas I would have been with you even if you hadn’t done that I loved you, I loved you with all I had.”

I asked him to leave. As he went forward, he began to smile. A smile that I had fallen in love with. Rati walked into the kothi soon after he left. Her lips were tightly and bravely set. Her eyes glowed with anger, there were tears in them. The respect that I saw in them for the past 12 years of our life had vanished

All I could here in the distance was, “buy me those balloons Aai, I promise I will take care of them.” “No Rati not now.”

A Story of Balls!!!

Long Long ago there lived a tennis player....
He was called the king of the grass courts...won 7 straight Wimbledon titles....and was seeded world number one.
Along came a young lad with long hair and a flair and a passion for the game. He loved the game so much that he dedicated almost his entire youth to it..
The two had many battles in which world number 1 would win all the grass court matches and the young boy would win all the clay court one's.
So much so the young boy became world seeded number 2. The king of grass was petrified and started loosing a lot of games, the young boy defeated him at the clay court time and again and broke his winning streak at the grass court(Wimbledon) too.
And now finally, the young lad has his hard work paid off. He is world no 1 now...
As you all must have guessed this is the story of Rafael Nadal and Roger Fedderer. I think it is a slap on the face of roger lovers that he lost to world seeded 80 and I personally think he should retire now as he is a fossil and just sit in the stands and admire the game of tennis that Rafael plays.....
This one's for you Rafa
I LOVE YOU!!!

The business of cricket

The business of cricket
July 31st 2008

The performance of the Indian cricket team in Test series played abroad continues to make its fans reach out for antacids. To the average cricket fan, it is incomprehensible how a team that can play so well at home can flounder so badly when it steps foot on foreign soil. Many reasons have been quoted for our debacles -- bad batting techniques inculcated from years of playing on dead surfaces, lack of mental grit and determination, lack of bowling depth, etc.

However, we often tend to take a narrow view of the problem when trying to analyze it. It is often the most convenient explanation. However, I would like to present a case that cricket like all other world sports today, is a business, and in India, it is not being run and managed as one. This is the biggest problem that faces the sport in India today. Once I have laid out the similarities of sports and successful businesses, I will juxtapose this view with the Indian cricket scene and articulate what all this means to ardent and frustrated fans like me.

In the last ten years, sports has turned out to be one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Many sports and franchises have recognized this and successfully tapped into this opportunity. The key driver behind this phenomenon is the captive audience that the sport presents to media companies who are looking to broaden their coverage to give them increased advertising revenue potential.

Like any other business, in order to successfully tap into a business opportunity, a few fundamental things need to be in place:

• An emphasis on putting out an attractive product for your consumers. In case of sports, this is achieved by creating intense competition in the sport and development of successful franchises that capture the imagination of sports fans.

• Careful planning around the grass root development of sports with a 10 to 20 year vision in mind that can facilitate the spawning of talent. After all, it is the Jordans, the Woods, the Tendulkars and the Schumachers that make everyone want to be associated with their sport.

• Constantly think about the growth of the revenue base. In most sports today, the revenues from gate collections of the events are only one component of the overall pie. Increasingly the larger revenues come from the media rights and the sponsorship opportunities for the large brands. Hence, it is important to think ahead and work towards creating compelling value propositions for these constituents to want to spend more to be associated with your sport. And that boils down to the attractiveness of the sport to the fans and viewers of your sport.

• Finally, you need to have a management team that understands all these priorities, has the experience in running large businesses and have a proven track record of being accountable to their stakeholders.

However, unlike some of the other industries, the business of sports has some unique characteristics. For one, the management team is not accountable solely to shareholders, but to the fans and viewers of the sport. It is similar to the entertainment and arts industry where the main product is the song, album, film or artist and the industry primary objective is to whet the appetite of the patrons of the art form. Thus the emphasis should always be on serving the fans and viewers and the sponsorships/media rights will follow.

In order to get evidence of this phenomenon, one just needs to take a look at the NFL in the US, the rapid emergence of Golf as a global sport and the continued dominance of Soccer as a most popular sport in the world. In a smaller sense, the emergence of Australian cricket can also be attributed to this thinking. Yes, it is true that the fans are what make the sport, but with the proliferation of various media like TV and the Internet, fans, sponsors and media companies have choices and they will abandon your sport if you do not put out a competitive and high quality product in the market. An example of a sport that went south in recent years is US baseball (the national past time of the country). You are competing with other sports for the attention of fans and viewers, but also with other forms of entertainment.

Now let's look at the game of cricket in general and Indian cricket in particular and assess how it stacks up as a successful business. Firstly, let's understand that the administrators of the sport at a global and individual franchise (read country) level have no choice but to take this view. The reason for this is that they are competing with other sports for attention and they have to remain competitive. Having understood this, it is a reasonable observation that the sport has progressed tremendously in the last ten years or so in terms of the packaging, the level of competition and the brand of cricket that is being played.

The ICC has done a fair job of negotiating huge media and sponsorship contracts for some of the major events (the player contract crisis being the only aberration). Some of the boards like the Australian Cricket Board have made concerted efforts to capitalize on this trend. They are doing this by creating a solid infrastructure to produce a world-class and exciting product, which will attract fans and sponsors. There are other innovations like Super Max cricket looming on the horizon to make the sport more appealing for broader TV audiences. There are still a number of challenges that need to be addressed to make cricket a global sport -- the waning popularity of Test cricket, the limited number of countries that play serious cricket and the need for a more meaningful and relevant cricket schedule are some of them.

Indian cricket is administered by the BCCI, which is a quasi government organization that is run by bureaucrats and administrators. India has the largest cricket fan base around the world. Thus, one of the vital ingredients for the business of cricket is in place. The Indian team's performance has been fairly decent in recent years too. However, Indian cricket is a badly managed business venture. Here are some indicators that point to this fact:

• No emphasis on investing in the infrastructure of the sport, which includes stadiums, training facilities, school and university level infrastructure, technology, cricket academies etc.

• No investment in grooming talent which is illustrated by the state of the national tournaments. How many of us can recall the finalists of last year's Ranji Trophy? The current system is geared to churn out players who will not succeed in international playing conditions.

• A fatalistic and individualistic attitude amongst our players and administrators that prevents them from pondering over our deficiencies on the field and constantly seek improvement.

• Financial incentives for players are lopsided and not linked to performance. The gap between the cricketers playing at a domestic level and the international level is too huge to make it possible for talent to sustain itself.

• Our dismal overseas Test record has been attributed to our players' inability to cope with alien conditions. Yet, there is no attempt made to introduce some of the modern techniques, technologies, amenities and playing conditions at the domestic level so that we can churn out new cricketers who are tuned in to international playing conditions.

• A non-professional management that is elected through a private election process and consists of bureaucrats who are neither professional business managers not seasoned cricketers. They are accountable to no one -- neither the media nor the fans nor any governing body.

In spite of all these indicators, the Indian board is the richest in the world. However, this is an outcome of the craze associated with the sport. This has resulted in the board landing fat media rights and sponsorship contracts without even breaking a sweat. This windfall brings along the kind of arrogance and myopic view that we have to come to associate our board with. This accounts for the Mr. Lele, who admonishes reporters for asking him why the Indian team does not have access to the latest software technology to improve their game or Mr. Dalmiya who does not even bother to go or send a representative to meet our team who is trying to get their interests protected on the contract issue while playing a tough series in England.

At the end of the day, our board does not give two hoots about putting out the best product out there for public consumption. All their actions and decisions point to this conclusion. Like a totalitarian state or a monopoly, they believe that no matter what they put out there the money will keep flowing in. So why bother?

This kind of disregard and apathy is similar to the one displayed by the Indian Hockey Federation in the eighties when Indian hockey was challenged by a new brand of the sport introduced by the Europeans. We staunchly resisted all the changes -- labeled them as upstarts and reveled in our past glory. The result -- the demise of Indian hockey. At least, the IHF can argue that they did not have the financial resources at the time to catch up with the Europeans. But the BCCI has no such excuse. They have all the money in the world. The question really is what are they doing with this wealth. What makes it even more puzzling is that it is the Indian fan and viewer base that has enabled the ICC to negotiate these lucrative media and sponsorship deals. Countries like Australia and South Africa who see the potential of the sport have already made efforts to capitalize on this financial windfall and they are using it as a platform to grow it even further. And ironically, the Indian board is content with maintaining status quo. Any self-respecting business manager will tell you that maintaining status quo is the beginning of the end of your business.

This abject mismanagement will catch up with the sport in the worst possible manner. We will continue to have flashes of brilliance at an international level but fail to succeed at the highest level. Fans will eventually be disillusioned, the media rights will lose the premium that it now commands and the sponsors will desert the sport. We will go on to bask in the glory of our past achievements. Our administrators will find someone to blame -- the media or the non-Asian countries that are "jealous" of our "success" or the fickle fans that have "unreasonable expectations". New playing formats like the Super Max will be introduced. New technological advancements will come along. The game will be geared completely towards television. And we would have been a sorry story of a nation who had a great opportunity but did not capitalize on its initial success to go on and create a dynasty. The world of business is littered with the carcasses of companies who had this fate handed to them because of a lack of foresight and vision.

What does this mean to us fans? All that we ask for is that our sport be managed effectively, that we have our board share its strategic vision and for them to put out a team that performs consistently at the highest levels of the sport. We cannot go on being oblivious of the changes that are happening within the sport at a global level. We cannot continue to give the board a pass for their lack of vision. We are the principal stakeholders that are contributing to the coffers of the board. We cannot continue to believe that this is the simple sport that it was till the eighties. We have to stop this obsession of worshipping and criticizing individual cricketers. It is a sport that is trying to compete with other sports for air time and eyeballs. It is a sport that will morph itself into more radical formats geared to serve its true masters – fans and viewers. It will be a battle between teams from countries that can compete at various levels – skills, technology and physical abilities.

So is there a silver lining? It is not all gloom and doom for India. India currently has the financial resources to beat the living daylights out of all the countries in this race. India contributes to more than 60 per cent of the revenues of the sport. The largest sponsors of the sport in the world are Indian corporations. We always produced great cricketing talent. We can take all these assets at our disposal and turn the sport on its head. But this opportunity is not going to translate itself into supremacy in the sport unless some fundamental changes happen.

• A complete change in the way the sport is managed. We need someone who can crack the whip and take over as the Commissioner of the sport. It is a title borrowed from some of the US sports. Ideally this person should be somebody like a Seshan or a Khairnar (these names are meant to illustrate the kind of personalities needed and not as candidates for the job), who has no vested interests and have a track record of single mindedly pursuing a goal. Surround this person with successful and professional business managers from various industries. This will instill a new sense of accountability.

• The new management needs to lay out a three, five and ten-year strategic plan and clearly articulate its goals and objectives over these periods. Unlike other plans published in India, these plans should have mechanisms in place to be reviewed annually.

• This plan needs to cover among other things, the proposed upgrade to the entire infrastructure associated with the sport. This plan needs to put various mechanisms in place to cultivate and nurture talent at a grass root level.

• The blooding in of the new management should breed a new culture of accountability from the selectors and our players. A performance based recognition and incentive system should be introduced and ruthlessly implemented.

• We should stop whining that the non-Asians are taking over the sport and contribute meaningfully to the development of the sport at a global level. We need to take a lead in this effort.

• This new-look Board of Control for Cricket in India should have an open communications policy in place and be mandated to have transparency with the media. This transparency is one of many hallmarks of professional sports in the United States and is one of the checks and balances in place to keep the management and administrators honest.

I am not a disillusioned Indian cricket fan (not yet). I am optimistic about the potential but skeptical about the momentum that is necessary to institute these wide-spread changes. So how do we achieve this? We, the fans of cricket, should rally against the current management of the sport in India. It's amazing what a lot of pressure from the masses can achieve? We need to get the media, former and current players and some of the captains of the Indian industry on our side. I am convinced that once we make some inroads into the morass that we call the BCCI, there will be enough seasoned and qualified candidates to take over the reins of the business of cricket.

Maybe, all this is wishful thinking. But one thing is certain -- over the next ten years or so, cricket will go through a major revolution, and whether we will continue to be as passionate about this sport as fans is squarely in the hands of those who manage the business of Indian cricket.

God bless Indian cricket.

Wimbeldon Final Pictures

I started with a sports article because I aspire, one day to become a sports journalist...

Rafael Nadal poses with the Challenge Cup.

Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Bjorn Borg must be tiring of this. Last summer, the Swede watched from the front row of Centre Court's royal box as Roger Federer matched his modern record of five successive Wimbledon titles with a five-set victory over Rafael Nadal. A year on, Borg was once again on hand to witness the same combatants slug out another epic encounter. The result was different, but for the former champion the outcome was the same as the two best players on the planet rewrote tennis history once again.

With his 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7 victory in what must surely rank as one of the most dramatic and compelling finals of all time, Nadal became the first man since Borg to win both Wimbledon and the French Open in the same year, a landmark that has stood since 1980. Yet that barely tells the story of an extraordinary, rain-interrupted match that saw Federer, the defending champion, relinquish his grip on the Challenge Cup only after a titanic struggle that stretched over four hours and 48 minutes.

An hour and a half into what would prove to be the longest men's final in history, Federer was all but down and out, trailing by two sets despite having at one stage led 4-1 in the second. But the defending champion rallied magnificently following a third-set rain delay, clawing his way back into the match before saving two championship points in a fourth-set tiebreak that rekindled memories of the genre-defining Borg-McEnroe shoot-out of 1980.

It set the scene for an unforgettable denouement in which the two players matched each other shot for shot until, finally - with the gloaming descending, and after a second rain delay - Nadal broke to go 8-7 ahead. At 40-30, the 22-year-old Spaniard held a third championship point, but could only watch in dismay as Federer conjured one final gesture of defiance in the form of an imperious cross-court backhand return. Undaunted, however, Nadal delivered a stinging serve to reach match point for a fourth time, and this time there was to be no reprieve for Federer, Nadal falling to the dew-laden turf as the realization dawned that he was the new champion.

"It's impossible to explain what I felt in that moment," said Nadal, who made a tearful ascent to the VIP box to celebrate with his family before making his way over to the royal box where he was congratulated by members of the Spanish royal family. "I'm very, very happy. It is a dream to play on this court, my favourite tournament, but I never imagined this."

Nadal also spared a thought for Federer, whose defeat brought to an end a 65-match winning streak on grass. "I must congratulate Roger," he added. "He's still the No1, he's still the best, and he's won five times here. But now I have one, and that's very important to me."

Appropriately, the tenor of a match laden with historical import – victory for Federer would have seen him equal William Renshaw's record of six consecutive titles – was reminiscent, in the first threes sets at least, of the 1981 final. Like Borg, who had the same landmark in his sights when he faced John McEnroe that year, Federer found his best form elusive, repeatedly squandering break points and amassing a host of unforced errors.

"I tried everything," said Federer. "But Rafa's a deserving champion, he's the worst opponent on the best court. It's a pity I couldn't win it, but I'll be back next year."