Showing posts with label Tennis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tennis. Show all posts

Friday, 19 August 2011

GMAT Update: Week 7: Very Unproductive!


So Novak Djokovic created history and became the only player to win five Masters Tournaments in a single season by winning in Montreal. I have absolutely no expectations from him now for this week’s tournament at Cincinnati. Hope he saves himself for the US Open that starts in a fortnight.

Liverpool drew with Sunderland. I am bummed – and that’s putting it mildly. The first half was so brilliant, and the second half so awful. It’s only been one game though, 37 more to go!

As far as the GMAT is concerned, i haven’t been able to do much this week. My mind has unfortunately been occupied by other stressful issues, and I’m sorry to say that I’ve therefore neglected the GMAT. I’ve finished part 1 of the book, which contains general strategies as well as an introduction to Data Sufficiency problems, and I’ve begun part 2, the advanced portion of the book. I’m finding it harder and harder as I progress, which makes sense as I’m now in the advanced bit. There are just so many numbers being thrown about that I find myself taking a deep breath, going back and reading the explanations again.

I should be done with this by the end of next week at the very latest; I’m spending a three-day weekend in Cologne with one of my high school friends. I’m so looking forward to it. But that obviously means I won’t have time to work on the GMAT. I’m considering packing the book though; perhaps I could read through at the airport?  

Rather short update this week unfortunately!

Saturday, 2 July 2011

Being a Novak Djokovic fan is finally paying off.

As a rabid tennis fan, there’s no tournament more exclusive than Wimbledon. Maybe because it’s the oldest grand slam, maybe because it’s on grass, or maybe because traditionally all players wear white, Wimbledon just oozes class. Not only that, but the crowd are probably the most well behaved out of all tennis spectators. One can only compare them to the ones at Roland Garros, for example, with the unruly crowd, some half drunk, booing certain players for challenging a line call. *shudders*

Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic of Serbia poses with the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on January 31, 2011 in Melbourne, Australia.

Being a Djokovic fan since he burst into the scene in 2007, I’ve been more inclined towards hard courts, perhaps because that’s his favorite surface. Plus, he never used to be very good on grass – he’s reached a couple of finals in smaller tournaments, but never had much success in Wimbledon. His style of play never suited the grass courts. Until this year, of course.

Six months into the season, and he’s lost just one match. Yes, he’s won a whopping 47 matches out of 48, his only loss of the year coming in the semifinals of Roland Garros by none other than Roger Federer. Eight tournaments entered, seven won. We all thought this incredible run would end when the grass season began, but that was far from the truth – he’s now in the finals of Wimbledon, and by doing so, has successfully snatched the World #1 ranking from Rafael Nadal. Does it get any better than this?

Yes it would – if he were to win on Sunday. He would then officially have his first major title as the World #1. A first ever Wimbledon title. Additionally, he would be one of only five or six people to have won their first grass court tournament in Wimbledon. But who stands in his way? Yep, you guessed it. Nadal hasn’t lost in Wimbledon since 2007. And one can’t help but feel that Djokovic has already reached an emotional high after just making the final.

Except for last year, Wimbledon finals since 2006 have all gone to five sets. But how do you pick between these two? I would say Nadal’s the favorite, but it’s too close to call. All I know is, no matter who wins, it’s going to be a thriller. No matter who wins, I’m not going to have any nails left. No matter who wins, this is a Wimbledon I’ll never forget.

Being a Djokovic fan is finally paying off.