The shake of the head said it all

Yesterday, I saw a display of tennis of the highest quality.

Roger Federer (henceforth known as The Great Man) played against James Blake in the final tournament of the year at the Shanghai Masters. And never have I seen demolition in a final match...until yesterday.

The score said most of it (6-0, 6-3, 6-4), but Blake's body language said a lot more. There was a sense of disbelief on his face after every shot from The Great Man. He even applauded a few of the passing shots The Great Man made.

Such was the mastery and the grace of The Great Man that it looked like he was playing against me! It was as if he was playing against an opponent who is an amatuer and who is not yet ready to play tennis at the highest level. And this is the American #1 he was playing against!

I don't think there are enough superlatives in the English language to describe The Great Man and his performance. The only thing that needs to be said is that Roger is King! Truely The Great Man!

And by dominating the Masters tournament, he ensured that he will beat Jimmy Conner's long standing record of 159 straight weeks as World Number 1. It takes something special to be World Number One in today's competitive Tennis environment. To break a 30 year old record, that too while looking as if he is not even breaking a sweat, is way beyond special.

Now the only thing that The Great Man needs to do is win the French Open (along with all the Major titles that we have come to expect him to win) and he will have the Grand Slam.

I don't think even when Sampras (andother Great Man and Champion) was playing, anybody talked about him winning the Grand Slam as much as we EXPECT The Great Man to do it.

That is the level of domination he has achieved.

What an extraordinary era I am fortunate enough to be living in. To see these legends like Roger Federer, Tiger Woods and Michael Schumaker dominate their already intensely competitive sports is one heck of a treat.

I thank you guys!