Presentamos  The Structural Geology of Rocks and Regions de Davis

Les recomendamos este excelente libro de geologia estructural

que tiene conceptos basicos y modernos de geologia  y una amplia

descripcion de todos los procesos geomecanicos de la corteza terrestre,

que lo disfruten  DESCARGAR  PARTE I & DESCARGAR PARTE II

911GEO!

Boris Nikolajevitj Jeltsin föddes den 1 februari 1931 i det dåvarande sovjetiska länet Sverdlovsk, bortgången den 23 april 2007 i Moskva. Boris Jeltsin var Rysslands första demokratiskt valde president president. En post som han hade från den 10 juli 1991 till den 31 december 1999.Innan han efterträdes av Vladimir Putin.

Här nedan kommer en samling på minnesvärda ögonblick under hans presidenttid.Har lite svårt att placera alla klipp utom det sista. Ryssland spelar final i Davis Cup på hemmaplan. I samma arena som Eurovision Song Contest hölls i år 2009. Fast det hör inte tillhör historien. Stefan Edberg möter ryssen Alexander Volkov. Matchen är inne i femte setet efter att ryssen hämtat upp underläget med 0-2. Egentligen var han på väg att vinna över Edberg, då kliver Boris in på banan vilket orsakar att matchen får brytas några minuter. Avbrottet gjorde så att Edberg kunde samla ihop sig och vinna det avgörande setet och match ett av fem.

So is Boss. It’s been confirmed (via the AP) that Juan Carlos Ferrero, not Tommy Robredo, will be the alternate for the Spanish squad for the Davis Cup final against the Czech Republic.

Albert Costa, the captain, says that Boss’ experience will be ‘very important for the team’. Plus, you know, his hotness (he didn’t say, but it’ll be important for me).

I’m both delighted and think that this could prove a far better choice than Robredo – what do you guys think?

(And thank you to AmyLu for the heads-up.)

Just in case anyone’s forgotten about the forthcoming Davis Cup final, to be held in Barcelona starting December 4th; the probable team lineups have been leaked, if not officially confirmed.

According to the Davis Cup official website, the Czech Republic team captain Jaroslav Navratil will be sticking with the same lineup that got him this far; Tomas Berdych, Radek Stepanek, Jan Hajek and Lukas Dlouhy. Not that he particularly had much choice, you’d think.

Choice is not particularly a problem for Albert Costa, Spain’s Davis Cup captain. According to marca.com, Costa is going with Nadal, Verdasco, Lopez and Ferrer (with the option of swapping in Robredo if the hamstring injury Ferru sustained recently in Valencia proves lingering).

Sad that Boss isn’t included, but it’s not surprising.

Fernando Verdasco plaatste zich afgelopen week in Parijs voor het eerst in zijn carrière voor de Masters Cup. Begin december speelt de 25-jarige Madrileen ook nog de Davis Cup-finale met Spanje tegen Tsjechië. Het was de eindstrijd van de landencompetitie in 2008 die de grote doorbraak van Verdasco inluidde. Tijd voor een interview met de man die op de Australian Open volgens John McEnroe ’een van de beste wedstrijden aller tijden’ speelde. 

Verdasco mikt in december opnieuw op Davis Cup-winst

Met zijn gebruinde, Zuid-Europese looks was Fernando Verdasco al langer een favoriet onder menig vrouwelijk tennisfan. Maar sinds eind vorig jaar valt Hot Sauce niet alleen meer op vanwege zijn uiterlijk en zijn relaties met bekendheden (Verdasco ging onder meer enkele maanden uit met Ana Ivanovic). Van een getalenteerde underachiever groeide Verdasco eerst uit tot held van zijn land, om vervolgens de harten van het mondiale tennispubliek te stelen met een schitterend toernooi op de Australian Open.

Onmogelijke opgave
Het leek een onmogelijke opgave. Spanje moest zonder de geblesseerde kopman Rafael Nadal afreizen naar Argentinië voor de Davis Cup-finale van 2008. Juan Martin del Potro en David Nalbandian waren de absolute sterren bij de Zuid-Amerikanen. Verdasco, Feliciano Lopez en de in een vormcrisis verkerende David Ferrer moesten de kar trekken voor de Spanjaarden, omdat ook Tommy Robredo ontbrak vanweg een blessure.

“Argentinië was favoriet, veruit favoriet”, weet ook Verdasco, destijds de nummer 17 van de wereld. “Dat maakte de uitdaging voor ons echter alleen maar groter om daar te winnen. Ook zonder Rafa hadden we een groot vertrouwen in ons team.”

Omdat de Argentijnen hadden gekozen voor een snelle indoorbaan in plaats van het gebruikelijke gravel – in de veronderstelling dat Nadal zou spelen voor Spanje – werd Verdasco gepasseerd voor de eerste enkelpartijen op vrijdag. De servicevolleyspecialist Feliciano Lopez kreeg de voorkeur, samen met de hoogst geklasseerde Spanjaard Ferrer.

Monden snoeren
Nadat Lopez met een verrassende overwinning op Del Potro op dag één de stand gelijk had getrokken, werd hij gekoppeld aan Verdasco in het dubbelspel, tegen Nalbandian en Agustin Calleri. “Ik speelde niet goed”, herinnert Verdasco. “Het moeilijkste moment kwam aan het einde van de eerste set. Op 5-5 begonnen de mensen te roepen dat ik bang was. We kwamen achter en vervolgens werd mijn servicegame gebroken. Ik liet me intimideren door de acties van het publiek en daardoor verloren we de set. Ik had nog nooit meegemaakt dat zoveel duizenden fans constant zaten te schreeuwen, ook tussen mijn eerste en tweede service. Het leek wel alsof we in een voetbalstadion waren. Na de eerste set werd ik wakker en besefte ik dat het tijd werd om al die monden maar eens te gaan snoeren.”

Verdasco eindigt 2009 voor het eerst in de top-10

Verdasco en Lopez wonnen het dubbelspel in vier sets, waardoor de Spanjaarden met 2-1 voorkwamen in de ontmoeting. In de vierde wedstrijd werd Verdasco de held van de bezoekers, door met een zege op Jose Acasuso, die de geblesseerde Del Potro verving, de finale te beslissen. Net als in het dubbelspel moest de linkshander zich terugknokken van een achterstand.

Acasuco nam een 2-1 voorsprong in sets, maar Verdasco trok alsnog de partij naar zich toe. De Argentijn kwam fysiek tekort aan het einde. “Op het moment dat ik de wedstrijd had beslist wist ik wel dat we de Davis Cup hadden gewonnen, maar je realiseert je niet wat voor reacties het teweeg brengt in Spanje. Die overwinning had een grote impact op m’n leven, omdat je later constant wordt herkend en er mensen op je afkomen om je te feliciteren met die prestatie. Het vertrouwen dat ik kreeg na die wedstrijden was ook enorm. Mentaal heeft heel die ervaring me een stuk sterker gemaakt. Die hele situatie met het publiek en natuurlijk de enorme druk die het spelen van een Davis Cup-finale met zich meebrengt.”

Geen wedstrijdspeler
Mentaliteit. Het is een sleutelwoord voor wie de speler Fernando Verdasco beschrijft. Jarenlang schommelde de man met de vlammende forehand rond de top-30 van de wereldranglijst en iedereen kon zien dat het talent daar was om verder door te groeien. Verdasco was daarentegen nooit een echte wedstrijdspeler, iemand die zijn beste tennis kon laten zien op de momenten dat het er om ging en een goed tactisch strijdplan had. De ervaringen uit de Davis Cup hebben hem daarin gesterkt, maar wat verder van grote invloed is geweest op zijn ontwikkeling zijn de trainingssessies met het Adidas Player Development Program (waar o.a. de Nederlandse coach Sven Groeneveld toe behoort).

Verdasco vertoefde in december in Las Vegas, waar hij werd afgebeuld door de voormalig fitnesscoach van Andre Agassi, Gil Reyes. “Zijn trainingen zijn zo gruwelijk. Ik heb nog nooit in mijn leven zo hard fysiek getraind. Natuurlijk maakte me dat sterker dan ooit.”

Sensatie
In de vorm van zijn leven verscheen hij de volgende maand op de Australian Open, waar hij met zijn verbeterde fysiek en het vertrouwen uit de Davis Cup-finale uitgroeide tot de sensatie van het toernooi. Nadat hij in de vierde ronde al Andy Murray, de voor velen grootste kanshebber op de titel, uit het toernooi had geslagen in vijf sets, trof Verdasco in de halve finales Nadal. Het leverde de mooiste partij van het tennisjaar en de langste wedstrijd uit de geschiedenis van de Australian Open op.

“Het niveau dat ik toen haalde over vijf uur en 15 minuten, dat heb ik uiteraard nog nooit eerder meegemaakt”, zegt Verdasco, die maar liefst 95 winners sloeg tegen zijn razendsnelle landgenoot. “Die wedstrijd was echt ongelofelijk. We speelden allebei zó goed en het zat zó dicht bij elkaar. Drie sets waren een tiebreak. That’s unbelievable, no?”, zegt hij met zijn typische Spaanse accent. Nadal won uiteindelijk slechts één punt meer dan Verdasco.

“Ik was natuurlijk zo verdrietig dat ik die wedstrijd verloor, zeker omdat ik eindigde met een dubbele fout, maar aan de andere kant was ik blij dat ik zo lang op dat niveau kon tennissen. Dat gaf me ook weer veel vertrouwen. Daar komt nog eens bij dat na afloop iedereen erover sprak dat onze wedstrijd een van de beste partijen aller tijden was. John McEnroe kwam me dat zelfs persoonlijk vertellen. Dat maakt me alleen maar trots op mezelf en motiveert me om in de toekomst nog meer van dit soort wedstrijden te spelen. En dan de volgende keer hopelijk te winnen”, lacht Verdasco.

Dit interview verscheen eerder in Tennis Magazine.

Foto’s © Niels de Water

The 2009 Davis Cup Final sees Spain take on the Czech Republic in Barcelona between 4-6 December 2009. Spain have beaten Serbia, Germany and Israel on their way to the final but are by no means out and out favourites for the title despite it being hosted on home territory.  The Spanish team hasn’t been announced yet but will no doubt feature the likes of David Ferrer and Rafael Nadal. The finals take place at The Palau Sant Jordi with play commencing at 4pm on the 4th and 5th and 12pm on the 6th.

NEWSLETTER 10/09 by Mike Dunk

SUMMER LEAGUE

Another league has been completed and congratulations to all the section winners and in particular to Bedfordview whose men and ladies sides won Bundes League.

There were a similar number of teams participating in the league this year, but a growing concern was sadly very much in evidence. That is the number of teams forfeiting matches. There were more this year than we have experienced in the past and this is a concern to your Executive. What is really a worrying aspect of these withdrawals is the number of A and B sides that are the culprits.

It is a situation that we, as an Executive, will have to address so as to ensure that there is not a repetition of this in the future. We can understand the odd withdrawal of a team, but not when it becomes the “norm” as it was in some cases this year. Mixed League and the Night League have just started so let us hope that we have a “full house” of completed fixtures.

SENIOR INTER PROVINCIAL

Last week saw this event taking place in Pretoria and although we did not go there with any major aspirations of winning the event, we must CONGRATULATE our team in finishing third overall which was very pleasing.

Our team was:

MEN: Andrew Anderson, Werner Knuppe, Paul Anderson and Hylton Nyakabaw.

LADIES; Veronique Luksich, Tracy Plant, Ele de Villiers and Jabu Khubeka.

On the first day we lost to Gauteng North B but bounced back to register wins over Gauteng East and then a very good Boland side which saw us qualify for the semi finals. There we came up against the “power house” that was Western Province, but in the play off for third and fourth place, we gained revenge over Gauteng North.

What was pleasing to see was the number of former Tour players playing for their Province. When I called Western Province a “power house”, that was no understatement. They had former Tour players in Ruan Roelofse, Lucinda Gibbs and Jackie Booth amongst their ranks so it was no real surprise to see that they won the event fairly comfortably. In the final they beat Gauteng North 6-3.

Other players who have or are still playing on the Futures Tour were Heinrich Heyl and BJ van Rensburg.

Our team did us PROUD and a special mention must be made of Andrew Anderson who went through the week unbeaten at number 1 and amongst that company, that was indeed an incredible feat.

We feel that in view of the importance of this event, SA Tennis should look to schedule it at a more suitable time. Our top players at the moment, as is the case with most of the other Provinces, are coaches who find it difficult to take a week off work to play, even though they were very keen to participate.

During the recent Davis Cup we spoke to representatives of both SA Tennis and the other Provinces and the mood from the Provinces was in line with our own thinking. That is, this event is the pinnacle that the local players aspire to and therefore everyone should be able to play. We appreciate that coaches have to coach to generate income and any lessons not given have to be “made up” at some other time as a general rule. Therefore if they take time out to represent their Province they are not earning their living like a salaried person in an office.

We feel that Inter Provincial should be held over a time span where there are Public Holidays, and April would be the most ideal time to host the event. The weather wherever the event is played would be good at that time of year. It is our intention to raise this with SA Tennis and we will be making a recommendation that in future they should give serious consideration to holding the event in April.

Each and every Province should be in a position whereby they can field their strongest team. That is only fair to the Provinces, the players and the event itself.

PRINCE GAUTENG OPEN

We are pleased to announce that Prince will sponsor the above tournament which will take place over the weekends of 14 and 15, 21 and 22 and 28 and 29 November at Ellis Park. A separate notice has been sent out to clubs, Associations and other interested parties enclosing an entry form but in case you have not received this, please contact Wendy or Mickey at the office (0114025615) for one to be sent to you. This is the premier tournament on our senior calendar and we are hoping for a strong entry. Prize money will be R5000 for the event and the Prince Ball will be used. Have a look at the honours board next time you are at Ellis Park and see the star studded names that have won this event in the past, and then you will see why we regard it as the Premier tournament in the country.

DAVIS CUP

What a disappointment. Our chance to regain our position in the World Group was squandered and we now have to wait another year in the hope that we will be able to challenge once again. The irony of the loss to India was even more evident when the draw for the Davis Cup 2010 was done. India’s name, which is where we would have been, was drawn to play Russia in the first round. Had that been South Africa, then we would have had the honour of a home tie. What a pity.

Thank you to all those who did buy tickets through us and came to support South Africa, but this was obviously not our time.

We must say a big “thank you” to the Johannesburg City Council for doing a huge amount of painting to our buildings and generally attending to the tidying up of the entrance to the Grounds. We received may compliments on how good the buildings are now looking and the general up keep of the Grounds. There were many hours spent in negotiations with the Council to seek their assistance and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude for their assistance in ensuring that Ellis Park looked the part for the event. We know that the ITF representatives were impressed with the facilities all round so it remains for us to see that our team not only has another opportunity of challenging for the World Group, but this time earns the right to take on the might of the rest of the major tennis playing nations in the world on our home soil.

JUNIORS

Yet another record was set at recent Junior National Championships. A total of just over 840 entries were received which increased the number of players for the third year in a row. We have tried to get the results of the tournament form SA Tennis but so far our efforts have been in vain so we are unable at this stage to let you know how our juniors faired.

A PLEA

I had a case recently when seeing a member of one of our clubs I was asked if this News Letter was still being done, as they had not seen one for some time. Can I please ask all club representatives who receive this News Letter to ensure that it is forwarded to all club members or at least put on your club notice board? It is imperative that we as an Executive communicate with the clubs and we, in turn, ask you to forward this communication to your members. Thank you.

YOUR COMMENTS AND NEWS

Remember that at out Annual General Meeting, we were asked to incorporate news from the clubs in this news letter. This is your opportunity to boast, brag or even yell it from the roof tops as to what has happened at your club that you feel would be of interest to others. Again I ask if anyone has a snippet of news and they feel they would like it “broadcast”, then drop me a line at mike@3w.co.za and I will be more than happy to do so. Just remember the editor’s decision is final!

This cracked me up in the Net Post, which appeared not very long before or possibly slightly after JCF lost 63 60 to Stepanek:

Nine years ago, when Barcelona last played host to the Davis Cup final, the Spanish team were preceeded on to court by a flag-bearer whose impact on the sport was something we have come to marvel at. An unabashed 14-year-old Rafael Nadal strode out that first day followed by the Spanish captain Javier Duarte, Juan Carlos Ferrero – who may be a team-mate of Nadal’s in this year’s final – Albert Costa, now the captain, Alex Corretja, Nadal’s hero, and Joan Balcells, the doubles specialist.

Spain were to defeat Australia in a final laced with emotion on court and off, in which Duarte and John Newcombe, the visiting captain, would lock horns ferociously; when Ferrero, whose match-winning backhand down the line against Lleyton Hewitt remains a vivid memory, was carried shoulder-high to greet his namesake, King Juan Carlos, in the front row of the crowd and when the Net Post was harangued in one press conference by Duarte as ‘the man who keeps asking the ridiculous questions”. Some things don’t change. (Duarte, back after a long absence as coach to Tommy Robredo, exchanged a worryingly knowing glance with the NP on the steps of the hotel in Shanghai yesterday).

Once again, the final will be played on dead red clay which suits Nadal, the four-times Roland Garros champion down to the ground. Fernando Verdasco could be a singles pick but is more likely to figure with Feliciano Lopez in the doubles, which leaves the choice of the fourth member of the team – who may just need to win the conclusive rubber of the tie – as the most compelling.

Ferrero, approaching his 30th birthday, wants desperately to play, as he did in both the quarter- and semi-finals. Remarkably his clay court form earlier this year – a victory in Casablanca aside – was decidedly patchy. He played better on grass, reaching the semi-finals of the AEGON Championships at Queen’s and the quarters of Wimbledon, where he was beaten on both occasions by Andy Murray. Ferrero recovered to reach the clay-court final in Umag, Croatia, in July and his hard-court season culminated with a fourth-round loss at the US Open to Juan Martin del Potro, the eventual champion.

Back inside the world’s top 20, and with such a distinctive past record, Ferrero presents a compelling case for inclusion. None of David Ferrer, Nicolas Almagro or Robredo can match his experience or gravitas and that may be the spark that Spain requires. We can be sure captain Costa will be keeping a weather eye on the opening round of the Shanghai Masters today, when, of all people, Ferrero meets Radek Stepanek, who will be the Czech No 1 for the final. The pair have not met for three years; the last time, at Wimbledon in 2006, the Czech prevailed 11-9 in the fifth set of their third-round match. [...]

All will be delighted to be returning to Barcelona on the centenary of the founding of the Spanish Tennis Federation in the city. The cities of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, and Malaga had put forward their proposals to host the final but neither had enough seating – the ITF prefers a stadium that can hold at least 2,000 seated patrons – nor requisite space for all the communications paraphenalia required. That left Valencia and Barcelona. The ITF chose the latter. It will be like one big homecoming.

What do you guys think? Boss for D Cup? Is it genius? Madness?

I’m taking the stance that if he plays, I’ll be about 50% less disgruntled when Spain win.

So it’s been announced that the Davis Cup final – Spain vs. Czech Republic – will be held at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona.

*Photo may not be entirely relevant or recent.

Apparently there’s been some infighting over where the tie there should be held, with Lopez and Verdasco lobbying for Madrid, Ferru and Boss going for Valencia, and Nadal and Robredo hoping for Barcelona – Verdasco having gone so far as to say he supported any of the potential sites except Barcelona, and Nadal characterising his statements as inappropriate.

Anyway, this being the Armada and not, oh, just to pluck an example out of the air, Argentina, they’ll probably be jumping all over each other in Barcelona notwithstanding. Still, it’s always nice to see them having a bit of a bitchfight.

NB: the information regarding the infighting comes from ontd_tennis on LJ. I was too lazy to source it properly. It’s amateur hour on New Balls, Please! (It’s always amateur hour on New Balls, Please).

Somdev guides India to the World Group after 11 years

India’s brilliant young Davis cup team reached the World group after 11 years where they will play Russia next year. It was a fantastic achievement considering India played with a young team this year that lacks experience playing in the Davis Cup. Somdev, Yuki and Rohan Bopanna are youngsters who haven’t played too much for India.

Leander and Mahesh have carried India’s hopes for so long and it’s heartening to see these youngsters coming through. Somdev reaching the second round of the US Open was a brilliant achievement and Yuki winning the Australian open juniors was special too. Rohan Bopanna has been playing pretty decent tennis too over the past year. This augurs well for India for the years to come. Somdev, Bopanna and Yuki helped India to a convincing 4-1 victory over South Africa away from home which is always special.

Playing for your country is special and these youngsters have done us proud. Yuki is just 17 years old and is number 1 junior player in the world. I hope that he matures into a very good player for India in the future. Given a chance to debut in the final dead rubber of the Davis cup tie against the SA he managed to beat Izak Van Der Merve to make the score line 4-1 in India’s favor. But the toast of the tournament for India was Somdev, who won both his singles tie to hand victory to India.

After his brilliant run in the Chennai open last year Somdev has been a revelation and continues to move up the rankings. I hope that this starts a golden run for India in tennis and we see a top 10 player during our lifetime. I wish all success to the Indian Davis cup team and hope that we defeat Russia in the World Group tie next year.

Rafa has been confirmed for the Davis Cup final! And Beijing, for that matter, obviously. Rafa playing FOR his country, IN his country, on clay, in the final of an event he couldn’t play last year… um, good luck Steps, you’re gonna need it.

The 2010 Zonal Group 1 draws have been announced. South Africa has a bye in the first round.

According to the schedule it looks like the tie’s against Finland, Italy and Latvia will be played here at home. Whilst those against Austria, Belarus, Poland, Romania and Slovak Republic will be away.

The choice of ground for the tie’s against Netherlands and Ukraine are still to be decided.

Schedules, schedules, and more schedules.

Mom has released her official sked for 2010, and its not too surprising. All the slams, all four mandatory tournaments, plus “tune-up” tournaments, specifically before the slams. As has been noted, Serena’s schedule…. plus Indian Wells. So I guess that means that Serena is secretly a mother. You heard it first. Anyway, its great seeing Kim back, and if it means we get to see Jada running around on court after a trophy ceremony, I’m all game.

Serena’s schedule? Well she’s pulled out of Tokyo with apparent knee and toe problems. Poor baby. She’s also doing Tampax ads wihch are going to depict her fighting Mother Nature. Yes, its been noted that no matter what you stick up your woohoo, Mother Nature pretty well wins anyway. And I thought Mother Nature controlled like… the weather? And not JJ losing at Wimbledon? Hmm. Its even more hilarious, I think anyway, since her USO semi was so delayed by the weather and she got asked if that made her angry, and she was all “do you ever get mad at the weather?”. And of course, not only does she want to stick balls down your throat, she wants to stick something up you too. Figure that one out. Yeah, that’s gonna be some damn good times.

Last but not least, the 2010 Davis Cup matchups are out (more on those as details become available) and the two most intriguing and insane are Switzerland/Spain and Serbia/USA. Fed/Rafa? I’d start counting on it, I think. Nole has confirmed he will be playing for Serbia, which is of course going to be on (slow) clay, which Americans just love to death. I’ll probably do more on that in posts in December, looking ahead to 2010, cause that seems like light years away right now.

Admist all the hulla balloo happening in my life about exciting weekends and cricket I have just not mentioned the fact that after a gap of 11 years Indian Davis Cup team has made it back to the World Group.

This is something that we should really be cheering about and I cannot miss this out at any cost. For Indian Tennis fan’s and I am one its really heartening to see something beyond Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes. The new kid on the block was promising since last two years but is not starting to produce the actual results. The last 2-3 months I have been following him closely and mark my words…. He, Somdev Devvarman will achieve more than what Leander achieved in the singles game.

I am not saying he will win an Olympics medal but he surely will better his singles ranking. Paes himself also feels so. This Davis Cup encounter was India’s chance to enter the World Group but first up Leander Paes’ injury ruled him out. After being 2-0 up the doubles were up for grabs however disaster struck and Mahesh Bhupathi got injured and couldn’t complete the match. India were 2-1 down in South Africa and suddenly in the reverse singles Somdev found himself at the deepest end of our worst fears again coming true… 2 sets to love down and a break of serve down in the third set India were set to relive their ghosts and fail to qualify for the world stage.

Here is where champions are made, epics are written and the beauty of fightback is really experienced. How the match ended at 3-6, 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-2,6-4 I can only read in the news papers. I don’t know if they were telecasting the matches. But I can only imagine the excitement the adrenalin rush the heroics of Somdev.

Somdev kept saying “I m not losing today, I m not losing today.” He was most gracious in saying and I quote “ I am happy at the way I fought back and won the match. I want to thank the entire team for the way they got behind me and never lost faith in me, I could not have won this match without their vociferous support.”

For years now I haven’t seen any Davis Cup Match but when Leander was at his peak and the few Davis cup matches I have seen its an unbelievable atmosphere especially for the home team where the crowd supports like crazy the team mates rally and shout encouraging shouts… the crowd boos the opposition and makes life almost difficult… !!!! Admist all this Somdev showed the world the Man that he is… the fighter that he is… !!! Having read his feats in the news paper warmed my heart no end…. I feel sad I did not watch this match…. Regardless India is back in the world Group !!!!!! Yuki Bhambri won the last match to make this a 4-1 thumping of South Africa in their own country.

The world now beckons our young tennis guns… !!!

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On a passing note India reclaimed no.1 spot in ICC World ODI rankings with South Africa losing their match against Sri – Lanka. However that notwithstanding they have been dealt a severe blow with Yuvraj injuring himself and he has been ruled out for 6 weeks. After Zaheer, Sehwag and now even Yuvraj out… India face an uphill task… !!!

But as they say… champion teams conquer their ghosts… their worst fears… !!!

Team India definitely needs to take a leaf out of Somdev’s book…

“We are not gonna lose this time, we are not gonna lose this time…”

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Lastly folks… I have to be a lil more disciplined with my work and will be slow in replying to comments and visiting your blogs. Please to excuse… as I said… back to the (work) world. Now you have a break from me…. for a while… !!!!! Miss me ok…

Wilson is proud to be the Official Ball of Davis Cup

For full results from Davis Cup semifinals action and World Group Playoff, please click here

Thanks to Reg Caldecott and Glen Sullivan for the photos.