Wimbledon: Rafa Gets an "A" in Astrophysics

I remember last year's Wimbledon Men's Championship very well.  I was living in Hong Kong where tennis is well-loved. Especially the Wimbledon, being a former colony and all.  However, following it in Asia means that the live telecast is shown late at night.  In the case of the 2007 championship match it went on till the early hours of the next day.  I went to work on the same morning feeling perhaps like Rafa Nadal, a bit beleaguered with only a couple of hours of sleep.  But even as this young Spaniard lost the match, I have become a fan.

With my summer classes in full throttle, I only follow the Wimbledon through ESPN news at the gym.  But Greek deponent verbs did not stop me from setting my alarm to 6:00am this morning to watch the Men's Finals. I did not even hit the snooze button and the rain delay gave me time to make coffee and toast.

I prop myself in front of the TV thinking that at least in some way I am part of this history, in HDTV. Cheering on Nadal was very rewarding, he was going for EVERY point.  Federer, of course, is relaxed and formidable. It was really tough not to applaud the guy at many points in the match.

Rafa Nadal emerged as the champion.  More than four hours of high calibre tennis, two titans of the game, only one victorious.  I nearly lost heart on the fifth set, but good thing Nadal didn't.  The stats and plays of this match demonstrates his exceptional performance.  But what really make me root for him is how much he has improved and worked on his game compared to even just last year's match.

I once had a teacher in college (subject was Astrophysics, if you must know; extra points for "when" that was) who gave grades not according to your test scores but according to how you improved for the semester, i.e. the slope of the curve of your test scores. If Rafa Nadal is in my class (yes, he would have been born then, okay!) he would have gotten an "A."

While I am certain that Rafa Nadal will put an "A" in Astrophysics in his to-do-list along side with the US Open championship, right now I am sure he is just delirious about his Wimbledon win. So here's one to you, Rafa ... "Felicitaciones!"