When 2 becomes greater than 1

Sounds customary, what’s so great about that. Well lets view this outside the statistical world, but that may not be so easy, after all basic math is so deeply in us. Come on….2 > 1 but Number 1 > Number 2. On another train of thought why do we have countdowns, why do we honor the bronze medal first , Silver second and Gold finally in a prize ceremony? Why does the loser in any final get the prize before the winner. It’s a way of showing respect for the opponent who fought hard but was not good enough and stimulate an inspiration to be the last man standing to receive the Gold or winners crown next time they are as close.

Mount Federer Conquered.
Let me come to the point now, by the way Who cares --who lost? We all do when champion Roger Federer loses, more so when he loses to the challenger Raphael Nadal. The words champion and challenger have never been more synonymous with any other two sportsmen as distinctively as RF and RN respectively. It Is a true statistic that Federer and Nadal are the only world No.1 and No.2 pair to contest back-to-back the French and Wimbledon finals for three years in a row (2006-08), thus becoming the only pair, to face each other in six Grand Slam Finals. Typically the challenger has a crack at the champion a few times before conquering and nailing the vulnerable areas to make him the challenger next time. Nadal has done that always in French open while this year he did that in Wimbledon too, much to the heart break of many RF fans. Perhaps deservedly so, spare a thought for all the below mentioned samples and you will know why I am saying that at times a number 2 tag is not so bad after all.

Number 2, not bad at all.
· Stuart McGill on having been born in the same country and era as Shane Warne.
· Ralf Schumacher for being Michael Schumacher’s brother.
· How much Ganguly, Tendulkar and entire India is hurt even today for that loss in 2003 World Cup Final to Australia.
· Nadal who has always held the plate in Wimbledon until 2008 when he held the cup.
· Likewise Federer on how much he wants to hold that elusive cup in French open.
· Have you ever finished as a Runner up.
· Second rank holder in any class, school, entrance exam;
· Any IT services vendor who lost a multi-million deal as second best.
· How Michael Phelps was in 2004 Olympics in comparison to Ian Thorpe.
The list is endless about those who were almost there but not there.

Federer and Nadal are the only No.1 and 2 pair who have won at least 11 consecutive Grand Slam singles tournaments between them, starting from the 2005 French Open through the 2007 US Open. In this period, Federer has won 3 consecutive titles at both Wimbledon and the US Open and 2 consecutive titles at the Australian Open, while Nadal has won 3 consecutive French Open titles. Federer has also won 5 consecutive Wimbledon Singles Finals (2003-2007) with this year being his first loss. Federer played the longest singles final in Wimbledon history against Rafael Nadal on July 6th, 2008 against

Regardless of all the above, for the time being, future of Tennis looks bright as the new champion south paw heads north and undoubtedly the deserving champion of nearly the last 5 years isn’t going away as he appears to have hit the lowest low now by losing Olympic quarters to James Blake and can only bounce back stronger in US Open. History will be made on August 18th 2008 and it will be Federer who is number 2 and it will take a monumental effort for Nadal to stay atop Mount Federer as long as the latter did. In the meantime though its time for celebration for all Tennis fans as we can get ready for an epic few years in the upcoming battle for supremacy b/w Nadal and Federer. The level playing field is set now by either Federer on a downhill slide versus Nadal on a uphill launch, only time will tell.

Madhu Rao (Madhusudhana.Rao@gmail.com)