What a match I have been watching it on tivo, in fact a much better than average championship match, it had it all, 5 sets, tie breaks, breaking each other....fantastic baseline play.

In addition I’d like to say it appears to me that tennis champions by and large are a great deal more classy than most other champions in other sports.

Maybe that’s just my take, Federer was asked to speak, naturally in front of the crowd after receiving the second place dish and could not finish because he broke down, Nadal then gave a very gracious and subdued speech after being presented his trophy, not wanting to show up his rival who was still in tears.

Well done Rafa, great match, great heart and a gentleman to boot.....

__________________

"The captain has turned off the `No Dubbing' sign. You are free to speak any language you choose."

It was a fantastic match! I tried to stay up and watch it, but it got too late and I had an early start today. I went to bed after the first three sets. Well done Rafa!!

There's now a big debate taking place in the Australian papers today about the merits of equal prizemoney for men and women, given that the men play best of 5 sets, and their final went to 5 sets ... and the women play best of 3 sets, and the women's final lasted 59 mins. It certainly does seem like Rafa had to work a lot harder and longer to get the same pay as the women. I wonder if the pendulum ahs swung too far?

The equal prizemoney issue is what turned me away from the game in the end, even with Roger smashing Roddick round all the time i could just about stomach it in 2004 or so but given our huge squeeze on the global sports industry and the fact we tightened the screw a little more with the NFL Europe being more successful than ever and the Iraqi Soccer team being more important than Kelly Holmes enough was enough.

It also shows in the game imo, the Europeans and Soviets have a distinct edge over Americans now, and that's because we, along with Aussies like Hewitt are used to working for a living, not being given money for our gender or race. Europeans thrive on that and while Roger and Rafa have huge talent this sort of thing goes a long way to helping. (More government funding and thus more acadamies and more TV revenue and what not).

Heck the only Americans that can win now are 2 gruesome looking black women "from da hood" who believe in equal pay for non equal work so what surprise is it that the sport is dying. Wtf, the first bill our truly historic President signed (after all the hype and awaiting something magical) was a fucking bill that made it easier for women to sue their employer on grounds of gender based pay discrimination!

__________________
The George W Bush Store:

http://georgewbushstore.com/