strawberries and cream

debilitated from the din and chaos of trying to find my missing scrapbook, i sought refuge in the entertainment portals of the web only to get deluded by the banality of the exercise. as i was occupied surfing, i missed the conclusion of the rain-soaked US Open. i didn't mind a david duval win, i wouldn't deny that to a former world number one but an unknown (at least to me) lucas glover lifted the trophy. tiger came close but unable to close the gap. i couldn't wait for the british version in turnberry in barely a month's time. just the thought of being in the same time zone as the tournament is an enormous relief. fingers crossed for my sked's to be in synched.

this fortnight however belongs to wimbledon. per usual, i'm skipping the fixed stare of southwest london. there are tons of other tv channels but i can't escape from the free papers or an 90 year old lady discussing with me serena's form. tennis is an english invention. so basically, wimbledon is the traditional home and the sport's biggest tournament. expect the highly-patriotic brits to go mental with murray now ranked number three but who withered in the clay of roland garros.

with regards to good looks, federer was listed along with roddick and safin as tennis hotties in the london paper. i know beauty is in the eye of the beholder but isn't that a bit too glory-hunting in all intents and purposes? if a fan wants to latch on to some sports or movie icon, it's the money in the bank personalities; the harrison fords, the tom cruises, the lebron jameses, the alex rodriguezes and yes that guy from the swiss alps tennis academy. but really, is federer at par with roddick and safin based on close-up smiles?

now, aside from martina hingis (who was born in the former czechoslovakia), name other swiss big name tennis player past and present? marc rossett? and other than nadal, name other spanish tennis players past and present. sure, carlos moya, tommy robredo, sergei bruguera, emilio sanchez, juan carlos ferrero, fernando vardasco, albert costa, alex corretja, arantxa sanchez vicario, conchita martinez. so switzerland, a country known primarily for its skiers has produced the gentleman champion of all champions who chose a ridiculous costume for this year's campaign? the swiss guy's game and fortitude are above and beyond all others in his era. whereas sampras had to contend with the rock star personality of agassi, and the grit and determinations of chang and courier. those were only his countrymen. todd martin, the guy he beat in the '94 Aussie Open was not even in the frame. edberg, becker, ivanisevic, kuerten, muster, rafter. thank goodness for one rafael nadal in preventing a few final's walkover the last few years. it's deflating that the player from majorca is injured but we all know that nadal is more than capable of beating space man, even in wimbledon.

and for the locals including all writers and even my loving chef, individual sports only becomes boring when the athlete (sampras, woods, schumacher) is not from the united kingdom. but when it's jenson button, who cares if its 95% car, 5% driver.