Nole has conquered the Clay Courts!

"Djokovic ends Nadal’s 37 winning streak on the clay court while he continues his own with 32 win."

I should have Blog about this man the moment he wins the Serbia Open title last two weeks ago. Novak Djokovic easily claimed the title, his second, of the tournament right in front of his home crowd. The event was played on the clay court.  It was his first victory on that kind of a playing surface this year.  Given that, I couldn’t hard tell that it was huge victory for him. Why? Well, that title of him has less bearing and recognition because only few top ranked players has participated on the event.  No sights of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal there.

But the story was different when the three top seeded players clashed off at the Madrid Masters last week.

While Roger Federer seems to be still struggling to win a title this year, Rafael Nadal who play best on a the clay court surface had won the Monte Carlo Masters title last month. He continued his winning streak on the clay court at the Madrid Masters BUT NOT until he had a face-off match with Novak Djokovic on the Finals of the Madrid Masters. Djokovic has defeated Nadal right in front of his home crowd.

Yep, Djokovic ends Nadal’s 37 winning streak on the clay court while he continues his own with 32 win. (Djokovic never lost in a match this year). A lot of tennis fanatics thought that it was Nadal who will end Nole’s streak but that didn’t happen. Nole came out a little stronger than Nadal. And again, Nole’s confidence and composure pushed him through to victory.

Now, I can really tell, that win has a huge bearing. Beating the “King of Clay” on the clay court would definitely be a defining moment for Nole. He just proved that he can rally and win even on that kind of playing surface. And that, he is very determined to be on Top.

As for me, I never had a doubt that he can beat Nadal on the clay court. It was just the surface that has changed, NOT the confidence, the morale, the composure, the playing attitude and the strong determination to win. Nole have it all that is why he always delivered an impressive play and win everytime on his match.

As of this moment, Nole is just a few points away to replace Nadal on the top spot. Had Nole win the Rome Masters title this week and Nadal didn’t make it to the semis, then that’s it. But of course, we all know that Nadal will definitely push it hard to make it into the Final. We’ll never know as of this moment. And Roger? Well, I wish him luck. That seems to be the only way for him to win the title. LUCK.

Congratulations NOLE.! You’ll get there in time!

All the Best!

Is Nole ready to conquer the Clay Court?

Nole poses his 2011 Sony Ericson Champion trophy in Miami

I’m having a great day!

I thought having a glimpsed on my crush was the best shot of the day. I was wrong. It turned out to be just a “cherry on top” event as I learned about Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal on the Finals of Sony Open in Miami. Now that’s the very good news I wanted to hear early in the morning.

Djokovic beat Nadal on a straight set, 4;6, 6;3, 7;6 (7-4) in a game that has lasted for about 3 and a half hours. (You can check the blow-by blow details of that great match here: ESPN Tennis)

His service and ability to return the serve into opponent’s side, I think, were the vital things that helped him to claim the title. The last time I watched the game between these two players was on the Finals of the US Open last year. That time, Nole was having a hard time hitting back the ball to Nadal’s serve. Now, I noticed Nole has a rapid reaction on how to manage the ball and return it to opponent’s side. And I don’t know how quickly he learned to improve his service in just months, but it was really impressive. It leveled his game with Nadal, if not surpassed.

And this video is a complete reversal of what I’ve witnessed during the Finals of US Open. This time it was Nadal who struggled to the service of Nole.

This is Novak’s 2nd time to win the title since he first earned it way back year 2007.

The victory gave him a total of 24-0 winning streak this year. He’s definitely up to set a new record for being undefeated for the longest time this year. Despite that impressive achievement, Nole remained humble uttering “I know I had the best start of the season, no question about it, it’s the best four months of my life,” he said “But it’s only the start of the season. It’s a bit early to talk about getting that top spot. It’s still quite a big difference. Rafa is definitely the best player in the world now.” he added.

Nole is right. Nadal’s points in the ranking are quite big in difference. To make it in to the top, it warrants him to claim the title of the remaining tournaments this year including the 3 Grandslams. Ambitious? Not really. But it is always possible.

There’s no doubt that Nole can rally in the hard court. But the thing is, in the next few months ahead, Nole will be required to play into the clay court. And when we say clay court, of course,  there’s only one name that will rise above among tennis professionals, and that would be Nadal.

And Nole, for the record, never grabbed any title on a clay court (I think). The closest success for him in this kind of court was back in 2009 where he played in the Finals of French Open with Rafel Nadal which he lost then eventually.

But again, like I said, things have changed. The Djokovic that we knew before has evolved and improved dramatically. For a long time, I’ve never seen him this confident and well composed. If these things will have it with him playing in the clay courts ahead, I believe he will definitely conquer!.

Congratulations again to you Nole!

Will it be Nadal to cut-off the momentum of Djokovic?

Djokovic and Nadal to clash off in the Sony Ericson Open.

So my prediction has ended up being negative.!

It was Rafael Nadal whom will face Novak Djokovic in the finals of Sony Ericson Open in Miami. I pinned hope that it was Roger Federer but he was easily defeated by Nadal in a 2 set win 6:3, 6:2.

Nadal now has a chance to grab the title for the first time. But of course, he knows he need not to be relaxed and comfortable for he will face again a well composed Djokovic in the final of the tournament.

Djokovic is currently making his record on the history of tennis for having a 25-0 consecutive winning streak this year.

Is it Nadal who will break the winning momentum of Djokovic? Or will Djokovic utilize this streak to gain much confidence and overwhelmed Nadal in their match.?

We’ll never know for certain until their game called off.

And I don’t want to make any prediction again. But obviously you know who I am rooting for.

The Unstoppable Nole

Novak Djokovic: 2011 Indian Wells Champion

Unstoppable. This would be the perfect word that can be suited for Novak Djokovic on how he display his greatness in tennis. Recently, he defeated one of his strong contender ever and world’s current number 1 in ranking, Rafael Nadal, on a Final match held at Indian Wells. The victory has placed Nole in the second spot on the ranking for the second time and putting Roger Federer back to number 3.

As of this time, Novak has never been defeated in any single’s match on any tournament since the year has started. He is currently holding an impressive 20 consecutive winning streak and still counting as the 2011 Sony Ericson Open in Miami begun last week.

Novak on Federer: Well, I have said it before that if there’s a man who really knows how to vanquish Federer on the hard court, it would only be Nole. He just proved it again as the two top seeded players had their faced-off match on the semi-finals of the said tournament. Federer lose the match with Nole for the fourth consecutive time. Really not surprising at all. I was actually expecting another smooth win for Novak. And he just did. He delivered another excellent performance on the court.

Novak on Nadal: Being the world’s number 1 in tennis, Rafael Nadal would be the guy to beat not only for Nole but for every professional tennis player in the world. But for sure, it was Nole who athirst the most to play with Nadal. I mean, Nole has proved many times before that he can beat the men under his name on the ranking and even a man on his top. It was only Rafael Nadal whom he mostly desired to defeat for a long time. Way back then, Nadal had upset Djokovic in a number of matches including the Finals of the US Open.

Then came the day Nole have been waiting for. Backed with a fresh win from Federer which gave Nole a chance to redeem the 2nd place in the ranking, the two (Nole and Nadal) clashed off again in the Finals of the Indian Wells. It was a tough fight I must say. Barely predictable what would be the outcome of the game. Both players showed the best of what they have. But in the end, it was Nole who claimed the victory.

The win of Nole over Rafael Nadal gave tennis enthusiasts a clear mindset that Nole might be the one to conquer the tennis world this year. He is perfectly portraying a guy who really anxiously wanted to be on TOP. He is focused, confident, composed and determined. Things that are vital to be the number 1 tennis player in the world.

Last year, it was very clear that Nadal ruled the tennis world where he won most of the tennis tournament including the important Grandslams (Nadal grabbed 3 out of 4 Grandslam tournament last year, ecxept Australian Open, which magnified his lead on the world rankings). This year, well, it’s pretty hard to tell that his reigning in tennis will push through. We’re only about to enter the second quarter of the year. There’s still a bunch of important tennis tournaments ahead. But what’s very clear to me, is that, that 1st quarter of this year was dominated by Novak Djokovic. One thing to say, he has the winning momentum at this point in time. Though the points that Nole need to capture in order to replace Nadal on the top spot is something sizable in amount, I believe he can do it. I know he will.

Anyway, I am thrilled about the fact that Novak Djokovic has maintain his composure and confidence. I just hope it will continue for the rest of his game this year.

All the best.

A Make or Break for Roger Federer

While I was being euphoric following the victory of Novak Djokovic, he’s my idol of course, my real concern goes directly to his opponent in the finals at the recently held Dubai Tournament, no less than Roger Federer.

In an impressively play coming from Djokovic, he easily defeated Federer on a straight set 6:3,6:3 to win the title. It was definitely a major setback for Federer for not winning at least a single set.

The two top seeded tennis player had a couple of faced off match prior to their last game. They both played with one another at the semis of US Open and Australian Open respectively, to which only Djokovic has successfully advanced to the finals. And so backed with these two win over Federer, Nole’s confidence was in utmost and he obviously delivered a terrific play at their last bout.

Tagged as the ‘king of hard court’, the three consecutive loss to Djokovic at his comfort zone must have been hurt Federer, and perhaps to his minions of supporters who pinned hope to him to redeem the number 1 spot in the ranking.

The disappointing loss of Federer might be caused by two contributing factors.

First. The reason could be with Nole. With his 2 win experienced over Roger, he’s the very person who knew how to execute a play that will put Roger in a struggling condition on a hard court and apparently for the same reason, it also increased Nole’s confidence on the game. In addition, Nole raised his play tremendously. His hard hitting serve were just extraordinary. The backhand and forehand were perfectly worked out for him.

So with Nole’s composure, unparalleled confidence and the game’s momentum in his favor, Federer might have just been overwhelmed. Or we can say that, Djokovic was just too hot for Federer to handle. Hence, the loss.

Second. It might have been the fact that Federer’s performance on the court is slowly declining. For his fans and those who witnessed how he played during his grandslam victorious years, his last game was nothing but a disappointment. It is as if he was not the Federer they used to applaud for the past years. The errors committed were left and right. His volleying wasn’t that effective also. And he looked quite indecisive on how to manage the ball. Though he’s trying to strike a hit back to Nole, the control over the ball, the strength, endurance and the power weren’t that enough to compensate an impressive performance and tactics showed by Nole. To say, Federer was completely swallowed by Djokovic.

Most certainly, the mere combination of these two contributing factors might led Federer to a painful defeat. Oh, well.

For a player who holds a record of 14 grandslam win in an open era and are considered to be one of the greatest tennis player of all time, losing on a three consecutive streak on the same man, quite made an impact in his career. It could have marked the beginning of his decline in the tennis world. Or who knows Federer might utilize this situation to inspire himself on the challenges ahead and in turn, redeem himself and reclaim the title of being #1.

But note that if this poor performance of Federer push through to his succeeding tournament this year, much better for him to send off his retirement while he’s still at the peak of his career, really. Nobody wants “The King” to be dropped way down from the ranking. That’s pretty hard to digest especially for the people who patronize him over the years.

So it is really a make or break for Federer in the games ahead. It will dictate his fate on tennis. A careful decision must be considered when everything seems going at the wrong direction.

For Djokovic, well, this is the time of his life. The momentum is with him. He shall remain his composure and confidence. There’s no way to go but up.

Paulino Alcantara and the brief history of Football in the Philippines

Paulino Alcantara

Have you heard about Paulino Alcantara?

I guess not.

Well, days ago, while I was browsing on some blogs, news articles and commentaries on the web related to the recent win of the Philippines to Mongolia in a football match, quite some few Football hardcore fanatics mentioned the name of  Paulino Alcantara. To my curiosity, I searched his name on the web which accidentally routed me into a piece of history about a great man I never knew had exist before and the evolution of Football here in the country.

Just so you know, Paulino Alcantara was a Spanish-Filipino Manager and Football player who once led the Philippines during its victorious years in International Football. He also played for FC Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain wherein he had set an impressive record of 357 goals in 357 matches. Genuinely amazing man we had then.

For the Filipinos at that time, Paulino was a true Filipino pride in the field of International Football. He might have been as popular as Manny Paquiao of boxing, to say the least, at his time. Unfortunately, with the sudden unpopularity of Football in the country during the late 30’s that continued into a decades, his name had also been long forgotten in the minds of the people. Completely gone.

Anyway, as you all know, we actually have a very brief history of Football here in the Philippines mainly due to its unpopularity.

Many Filipinos might be surprised to know that we are holding the record for being the oldest Football team in Asia. But sadly, also for the record, we haven’t achieved any success in International Football competition like AFC Cup and FIFA World Cup up to this date. Although, it was quite an achievement to have once beaten the currently reigning Asian Champion, Japan, during 1917 but that was way long ago.

After World War II, we seemed to have no record of any sports event related to Football. While some sports were starting to emerged and captured the interest of the Filipino, Football as well as our National Football Team seemed to both perished.

The long period of unpopularity of Football in the country could partly be blamed to the Americans who introduced and engaged the Filipinos in Basketball, the most popular sports in the country. The basketball overshadowed the sport of Football and even making hard for it to rise up and start with because Filipinos made basketball as their favorite past time. Being the dominant sport, basketball made football completely unnoticed by the Filipinos for the longest time.

Well, not until the rise again of the Philippine National Football Team in the the early 21st century. Though, they are still likely be ignored by the Filipinos, their effort and  passion to revive the sport of Football in the country were something stupendous.  Hoping to win and cut some attention from the people, they were bravely and painstakingly competing in International Football Cup without even a glimpse of support from the masses.

Then came the moment they’re all waiting for.  Fourth quarter of last year when they made it through the semi-finals of the AFF Suzuki Cup. The game drawn much attention from the Filipino people. Though, eventually loss to Indonesia, it was still a victory for the Philippine Football Team for getting back the the lost attention, interest and recognition of Football in the country.

Over the last 5 months, the Philippine Azkals (as they are widely known) had given much attention by our Government officials, the media and by the public, the Filipinos in general. They even received a showering of support from International Community. The very thing they did not barely experience these past years and surely for decades now.

Clearly, The Philippine Football Team has already made a resounding comeback. With a group of a more competent players and the overwhelming support from the people which gives them courage and confidence, there’s no doubt our Team will surely go places and conquer the World Football Arena in no time. We just have to have a continuing faith and believe.

And as the Filipinos become aware, passionate and slowly learning the language of the world, they’re starting to know about a man who once gave glory to the country and eventually starting to realize that we actually have a bright future in this sport as it was proven by that man. And definitely not for a long time now, for sure, Paulino Alcantara’s name will be recognized and glorified again by the Filipinos.

Filipino Drama: way behind from Korean drama

It has been almost a decade now since the Asian drama (particularly the Korean drama) started to bloom in the Philippine television and up until now still captivates millions of viewers in the country.

The emergence of Asian dramas in the Philippines actually begun in the early 2000. Different networks here in the country were started to introduce some Asian drama series to their viewers. Probably they were experimenting if it would be ‘click’ to most of the Filipinos. Consequently, it does. Though hardly leaved a mark to the viewers, a series, when ended was followed by another. Then, there goes the surge.

The surging of Asian drama in the country became even more pronounced when a group of 4 fine handsome young men from Taiwan dominated not only the Philippine television but the hearts of the Filipinos in 2003. The ‘F4′ via their series ‘Meteor Garden’ brought the Filipino viewers into a different kind of dimension in terms of television series. It was a hit at that time when still the Filipino melo-dramas were predominantly showing in the television.

Filipinos, mostly teens and young adults were fascinated by the exciting story and characters of the series. For them, it was a breath of fresh air. It tickled their senses. And, It would be safe to assume that Filipinos at that time might be fed up with the same heavy Filipino drama presented to them by the networks. Certainly, that Asian drama series has created a big impact on the Philippine television as well as on the contemporary culture of the country. The kind of culture we are subconsciously practicing up until now, patronizing Asian drama series.

After the successful entry of Taiwanese drama in the Philippine television, the GMA network became the pioneer in televising Korean drama series in the country by introducing “Miss Bright Girl’, then shortly after that, it was followed by ‘Full House’. The latter series caught much attention from the Filipino audiences. It was even topped the ratings on the primetime television beating its Filipino drama competitor.

Then, it was in the middle of that decade when the same network unfolded another Korean drama series. Dae Jang Geum was a huge hit in Korea. Believing that it would likely be the same case here in the country, the network proceeds to telecast it. This particular drama is quite so different to any other Asian series in terms of setting (epic story of a woman who became the first and only lady doctor of a king and was set during colonial period). The network must be uncertain at that time if Filipinos might actually like it. After all, who would have care then for a history based drama series originated from other country? Filipinos were not used to it. But then again, surprisingly it became a hit with its story as a mere selling point to the viewers.

Since then, Korean drama series never failed to avail a spot on Philippine television, and it still does until now. Numerous Korean series were shown in the country e.g. Jumong, Full House, Endless Love, Princess Hours to name a few and they were successfully embraced by Filipino viewers. It’s probably unstoppable now.

I myself was hooked by the surging of Korean drama in the country. I would not be ashamed to disclose that I have a collection of their drama. And I have probably watched a handful of Korean drama series varying from different genres (action, romance, comedy, history-based). What I like about their drama is that every other series has a different, unique and exciting story. And silly it may sound, but it leaves a certain unexplained happiness and inspiration. As for me, these qualities could barely seen on Filipino drama, unfortunately.

Of course, these bunch of high quality, brilliant and uniquely formed Korean drama stories should be credited to their creative and cerebral writers. I couldn’t understand why our writers which I genuinely believe are more creative and imaginative, couldn’t come up with a story that would equate or better surpassed the quality of stories made by the Korean writers.

What could be possibly lacking? Why are we so behind in creating a quality and highly anticipated television drama? To whom we should put this discontent.

For what I have been noticed, most of the Filipino drama series nowadays has been derived completely from the Korean drama. There, you had Kim Sam Soon played by Regine Velasquez, Johnny of Endless Love which was portrayed by Dingdong Dantes, and the revival of My Girl which starred Kim and Gerard. All of these brought injustices to their Korean counterparts. I had never wasted a minute to rather watch these recycled Korean dramas simply because I am rooting after the story and not on the artists.

Another would be, the trending of Filipino drama these days are focusing more on fantasy rather than on reality based. This kind of drama could only be a child-friendly show. Nothing else. It doesn’t cover the rest of the viewers like those who are indulge in reality of life. Though it teaches valuable lesson to children, I believe there are other ways -in a form of a more realistic drama- which would probably a learnsome to the viewers as a whole.

Furthermore, I am not certain if it is only me who notices that we have the same lead actors and actresses acting in every other drama in our television. You could rarely seen a new face or a new talent that has starred in a major role. In our country, If you haven’t achieved the parameter of a stardom, you don’t have the right to get a major role in a drama series. I believe that we have more effective, young, fresh and good looking talents here than in Korea. The television networks should have given them a chance, at least.

So while Korean writers are serving us different kind of brilliant stories, the Filipino writers are trying to recycle past television series and bringing up the same old love stories we are used to.

However, it is never too late for the Filipino scriptwriters to work outside their comfort zone. They should not limit themselves in doing on what has been only satisfying to the viewers. I know they can do better. Try searching and experimenting new stories that may be suited to the interest of the Filipino audience. Try to be innovative and at the same time, realistic. On the other hand, the television networks should be the prime catalyst to generate a change in the trend of drama series in the country. It all depends on them. They should take a risk to show us a different kind of drama and introduces us to new, competitive and effective talents. And finally, the viewers should never stop demanding for a new story. Never.

The Filipino viewers deserve nothing but only the best.

Novak Djokovic: 2011 Australian Open Champion

Novak Djokovic: 2011 Australian Open Champion

He did it again!

Novak Djokovic, for the second time, win another grandslam title on the same event where he grabbed his first grandslam three years ago, the Australian Open.

It was Andy Murray whom he faced on the finals of Australian Open after he successfully defeated one of the most highly favored, former world #1 and defending champion, Roger Federer in the semis. This was not the first time Novak actually defeated Federer in a match. He painstakingly vanquished Federer on US Open semis last year giving him the opportunity to play on the Finals with Nadal which unfortunately he lost then.

Packed with a tremendous amount of speed, power and strenght, Novak Djokovic won in a straight set 6:4,6:2,6:3, over Andy Murray whom on that night seemed to be not on his best shaped. Murray struggled most on the part when Djokovic hitting the ball with his terrific serve and powerful forehand, not to mention Andy committed numerous amount of errors on the net which led Novak to victory.

With the way Djokovic played on the championship last night, (oozing with confidence and very composed) you could easily tell that he really wanted the title. It was a fantastic play delivered by Djokovic. He just proved that he could be “the man to beat” on any grandslam tournament.

Currently 3rd on the ranking, Novak’s ultimate dream to be the number 1 Tennis player in the world is way far from impossible. It is actually a few steps away.

Well done Djokovic. Grab the remaining grandslam title this year (which I undoubtedly believe that YOU CAN). Believe in yourself and hold on to your dream. The best of luck.

Congratulations.!

How did I spent my Christmas?

Christmas day is supposed to be fun and exciting, right? Well, that doesn’t seem to happened to me. It’s just like any ordinary day of my life except the moment when a lot of people intruded our compound to receive monetary gifts from my parents.

It really doesn’t feel like Christmas at all. The ambiance, the mood and the weather didn’t collide to create a festive feeling for me and perhaps to most of the people.

Prior to the Christmas day, we were planning to head on to Tagaytay to breath a cool fresh of air and escape the surging of people into our house. However, for some reason, it didn’t push through. My sister seemed to be tired of giving ‘aguinaldos’ to a bunch of people, kids and adults. She went directly to her room and slept for hours. I don’t know why, but I got magnetified by her power sleep. So I also took a nap for almost the whole afternoon of Christmas day. I woke up late in the afternoon.

Then came my ‘inaanaks’. From my memory, there were 11 of them, but only 7 came and received a monetary gift from me, which I am luckily thankful because my money wasn’t that enough for all of them.

Anyway, the ambiance of Christmas still doesn’t hit me when the night started. I went outside the house but silence preoccupied the sorrounding until I saw a friend, or to say my ‘drinking buddy’ wandering along the road. I offered him a drink which I knew he won’t refused to. And then I spent the whole night drinking with my two friends. The only thing I could do that night to feel the festive mood of Christmas was to play Christmas songs while I’m wearing a Santa Cap on my head.

In a bit, yeah I felt like Christmas. I was happy being with my friends. But there’s this always one thing that’s missing every Christmas season. I often denied that ‘Samahan ng Malalamig ang Pasko’ or SMP ever exist and that there was no such thing or some sort. I was wrong. In someways it does exist. I felt it. I’m feeling it. Maybe the boring afternoons and cold nights I had on Christmas day reserved for my special someone. Someone whom in return will give love back at me and would make my Christmas a meaningful and memorable one.

the best way to feel you are still alive

 

Try standing in an open field, preferably in a rice or wheat field where wind blows directly into your body, spread your arms wide open, look up into the sky for a moment, then close it. feel the wind, the nature, the world. You’ll end up smiling as you profoundly realize you still exist, you are ALIVE. 🙂