RAFAEL NADAL WINS HISTORIC 10th FRENCH OPEN TITLE

An Autograph from Nadal after winning his 8th French Open Title

Throwback to the time Rafael Nadal won his record 10th French Open tennis title at Roland Garros.

I think if one were to read my previous blog posts it’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Rafael Nadal. It was tough to see his poor form over the last two years mainly due to various injuries.

However 2017 began on a positive note for Nadal as he reached the Australian Open Final against his arch rival Roger Federer.

The Federer-Rafa rivalry is considered among the best in the history of tennis. Anyway Federer went on to win the title after a tough 5-set battle.

Move forward to the clay season and Nadal was at his best by sweeping titles in Madrid, Barcelona & Monte Carlo. He was tipped to be the favorite at Roland Garros. Many people questioned his busy clay court schedule & insisted he should take it easy. However Nadal didn’t want to take things for granted & decided to focus on getting enough match practice.

Observers had insisted that his aggressive style of play and taxing demands of the sport would put an early end to his career. However Nadal never lost hope & continued training under the tutelage of his coach & uncle Toni Nadal.

Federer withdrew from the clay court season to concentrate on the grass season and work on his fitness. In later interviews Federer confessed that Nadal was in great form and would have been difficult to beat on clay.

This years French Open witnessed one of Nadal’s most dominant performance in recent years. It was the third time he won a tournament without dropping a set.

In the final, Nadal crushed a strong opponent in the form of Stan Wawrinka, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1, in 2 hours 5 minutes. Wawrinka is a great player & a fighter. However even to my surprise the final was pretty one-sided with the Swiss getting frustrated at not being able to match up to Nadal’s stroke play. Wawrinka probably ran out of gas following a tough 5-set win over Andy Murray in the semis.

As an ardent fan of Nadal, I was taking it round-by-round. Every time he won a match & inched closer to ‘La Decima’ I was silently heaving a sigh of relief. I couldn’t watch the entire final but I was definitely a bundle of nerves & praying for Nadal’s victory.

The win also meant that Nadal’s three year title drought has come to an end. The Spaniard became the first player to win 10 Grand Slam singles titles at the same tournament in the Open Era. By winning his 10th French Open, Nadal broke a tie with Pete Sampras for second place for the most number of Grand Slam
Titles in the Open Era.

Last year was particularly painful for the Spaniard as he had to withdraw after two rounds in Paris thanks to an inflamed tendon in his wrist.

In his post match interview, the ever modest Nadal was quoted as saying, “Back in 2005, I thought in 2017 I’d be fishing on my boat in Majorca. Back then, of course, I couldn’t think even for a second that this would ever happen to me.”

The French Open organizers had pretty much anticipated Nadal’s victory judging by the showreel they presented at the prize ceremonies. The showreel depicted each of Nadal’s 10 victories in Paris, from his first victory as a 18-year-old to victories over familiar opponents like Federer & Djokovic.

Uncle Toni Nadal who has coached the Spaniard since he was a 3-year-old will no longer accompany him. Uncle Toni will delegate more of his time to grooming upcoming talent at the newly set up Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca. Nadal has added former Grand Slam Champion Carlos Moya in his coaching team.

So what does the future of 2017 hold for Nadal? Both Djokovic & Wawrinka have pulled out of tour for rest of the year due to injuries. So the battle for number 1 ranking & US Open title is going to be a straight battle between Nadal & Federer.

For now the ‘King of Clay’ sits firmly in his throne & by the looks of it, his clay court record will be unchallenged for a long time to come. It’s 2017, and the top two seeds in every tournament is Nadal & Federer. (Andy Murray is also sidelined due to injury concerns.) It feels like we back in 2008-09 when the duo were at the peak of their form. Hope these good times never end!

 

EBOLA CRISIS DEEPENS; FIRST PATIENT DIES IN THE U.S.

In a dramatic turn of events Thomas Eric Duncan the first patient to be diagnosed with Ebola outside of Africa died in Dallas, Texas, U.S. Last month the Liberian became the first person in the U.S. to be diagnosed with the deadly disease which has killed almost 4,000 people.

As a cargo driver by profession the Liberian happened to offer a lift to an Ebola-affected family in the capital city of Monrovia where he apparently contracted the virus. Later Duncan travelled to the U.S. where he soon fell sick.

Before travelling to the U.S., Duncan failed to declare he had been in contact with Ebola in the mandatory pre-flight questionnaire. This move has prompted the Obama administration to tighten & expand Ebola screening at 5 major U.S. Airports. The check will extend to travelers coming in from Sierra Leone, Liberia & Guinea; worst-affected by Ebola. Incoming travelers will be screened with high-tech thermometers which don’t touch the skin.

After falling ill Duncan approached a hospital where he was turned away only to be admitted two days later after his condition worsened. Duncan was being treated with an experimental drug in an isolation ward in the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.

Duncan’s body will be cremated according to guidelines laid down by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (C.D.C). Ten other people who came in close contact with Duncan including health care workers & close family members haven’t been quarantined yet. These special cases are staying at their respective homes & are closely being monitored for Ebola symptoms.

Duncan’s death has shifted the spotlight on the hospital’s role in handling the case. Five days after he arrived in Dallas, the Liberian went to the hospital’s emergency room. After an initial treatment he was discharged by the hospital which failed to recognize him as a potential Ebola patient. Three days after his condition worsened Duncan was admitted to the hospital. Lack of care at the right time could have cost the victim his life.

Meanwhile Spain reported its first case of Ebola; a sign that Europe too is not immune from Ebola. A Spanish nurse, Teresa Romero Ramos who treated two Spanish missionaries who flew back from Africa has become the latest victim of the deadly virus. Ebola spreads though bodily contact of fluids of an infected person. The nurse claims to have touched her face with a gloved hand while removing hear protective clothing after treating an Ebola patient.

Like in Duncan’s case the nurse was first told to take an aspirin to treat her fever & reportedly didn’t exhibit Ebola-like symptoms. However just a week later she tested positive for the virus. During this one week Romero went on a short holiday, sat for a civil service exam with 20,000 other people & even used public transportation. Many in Madrid are anxiously waiting to see if they also exhibit any Ebola-like symptoms.

With an increasing number of patients coming in to Europe from West Africa for Ebola treatment the World Health Organisation (WHO) hasn’t ruled out the possibility of an outbreak. More than 50 people who were in close contact with her before she was isolated are being closely monitored now for the virus. Spanish media reports suggest that the nurse had to beg for an Ebola screening test. She was reportedly made to wait in the hospital’s crowded waiting room for hours without any protective gear, thus increasing the exposure of the virus.

Isolation is the first form of defense against the disease which was not followed in both cases. Currently the nurse is being treated with antibodies of Ebola survivors; the only known successful treatment for the virus so far. However Duncan’s family claims he wasn’t administered these antibodies thus denying him a fair treatment.

It is baffling that developed economies like the U.S. & Europe have been so slack in responding to Ebola compared to poor African nations struggling with limited resources. The Spanish hospital did not provide nurses with bio-hazard suits confirming to WHO norms & nurses were given rushed training on treating Ebola patients. Human waste of Ebola patients was transported through the hospital’s same elevator used by unprotected staff.

In Sierra Leone, burial teams responsible for collecting Ebola victim corpses have resumed work after striking over delay in payment of dues. Around 600 workers working in teams of 12 receive an extra $100 per week over their regular pay for doing the hazardous work. Unclaimed bodies increase the risk of the virus spreading. While Britain & the U.S. are sending in troops, aircraft with supplies & medicines the Ebola-hit nations are struggling with shortage of trained medical personnel.

Panicked doctors are fleeing away in Ebola-hit West Africa thus leaving patients to fend for themselves. Most of these nations are so poor that they lack basic infrastructure like clean drinking water, soaps & hand sanitizer. A few healthcare workers haven’t been paid for months but are still treating Ebola patients without surgical or rubber gloves. Some clinics do not have electricity & are plagued with poor internet & mobile phone network.

In one of the Ebola-hit nations thousands of boxes of medical supplies & protective gear are sitting idle due to a dispute between the Government & the shipping company. Bureaucracy & tensions from political rivalries are hampering the disbursement of aid. People on the streets are questioning where the money coming in from donations has disappeared.

Meanwhile a World Bank study has pointed out that the economic costs of Ebola is close to $33 bn over the next two years if the virus spreads to neighbouring countries in West Africa.

African nations have to shake off their bureaucracy first & serve the ailing people first before thinking about their own needs. Only if the virus is contained in West Africa it can be prevented from spreading globally.