Derek Derenalagi

The word hero is one that is brandished about far too often in our society. We apply it to anyone and everyone, and we use it far too lightly.

Our national sports stars are frequently referred to as heroes. Cricketers, footballers, ruby players are all given welcomes fit for a hero when they return from competitions. They are great athletes yes, but are they heroes? In the true sense of the word, no they aren’t.

A true hero is a rare being, described in the dictionary as a “man [or woman] of distinguished courage or ability, admired for their brave deeds and noble qualities”. These are people who we not come across every day.

However, last week I met someone who fits that exact criteria, someone who I am privileged to have met because they are a real life hero.

Fijian-born Derek Derenalagi came over from his homeland at the age of 25 to join the British Army, just as his ancestors who fought in the Second World War had done before him.

An active man and keen rugby player, Derek was also a member of Staines rugby club, having previously played the sport to premier league level in Fiji, and played for the Armed Forces team.

But as so many soldiers from across the country have done, in 2007 a 32-year-old Derek left behind his wife and daughter in the UK for a six month tour of Afghanistan, with his regiment, 2 Mercian.

And as so many other men and women have done before him, Derek did not return as the husband and father that waved his family goodbye at the airport. He was to return without his legs.

Whilst on a routine patrol in Southern Helmand the vehicle carrying Derek and his fellow soldiers hit a landmine, throwing him metres from the car.

On the scene Derek was presumed dead, but after receiving medical attention he was flown immediately to the UK, where he woke up from a coma 8 days later.

His wife Ana was there to greet him. Derek recounts the story of when he regained consciousness he told her he wanted to go to the toilet, and he didn’t understand why he couldn’t because he could still feel what he later found to be phantom pain in his legs and feet.

“She took a picture of me because she couldn’t carry on explaining. There were tears in her eyes. And when I saw the picture I couldn’t speak, I was lost for words.”

Derek had undergone a double above knee amputation on his legs. Something which was inevitably going to change the life of the rugby loving soldier.

However Derek’s story is so inspiring because of the way he acted next. Instead of letting his life be overcome by the devastating injury, which no-one would have blamed him for, losing his legs has been nothing but a positive force in Derek’s life.

A devout Christian, Derek and wife Ana’s faith has enabled them to start again with their life and get as much out of it as possible.

He told me: “I don’t blame anyone because I was doing the job that I loved. I don’t have any bad feeling towards anyone. I am just happy that I am alive today.

“I just thank God that I am alive today and I want to encourage injured soldiers and also those who have been born disabled to push on, there is more to life than to complain.”

Indeed Derek has become an inspiration to others in a similar situation to his. Learning to walk, and run, again on futuristic metal prosthetic legs, Derek is now hoping to compete for Great Britain at the 2012 Paralympics.

Due to his natural athletic prowess from his rugby background, Derek was selected by services charity Help for Heroes to go to train at the Olympic Centre in San Diego, to assess his potential as a future Paralympian.

He is now hoping he will be good enough to represent Team GB in the shotput, discus and javelin come London 2012. And having already broken the British record for shotput I wouldn’t put it past him.

Derek is also an ambassador for Help For Heroes, being one of the first to benefit from the charity when it started.

When I met him he was promoting the St Georges Day rugby game at Twickenham between London Wasps and Bath, the proceeds of which go to Help For Heroes, alongside rugby stars Phil Vickery and Lawrence Dallaglio.

Lawrence put it best himself acknowledging that he, and others from his sport are often called heroes, but stating that the real hero and inspiration to us all was sat next to him in Derek Derenalagi.

If we have learnt nothing from the furore over former England captain John Terry over the last few days it is that are sports stars may be good at what they do on the pitch, but they are no role models for the way young people should live their lives off it. And for that we should look elsewhere.

We all moan about our lives. About not having enough money, enough time, enough opportunities to do the things we want to do.

No-one is perfect but someone who can make the most out of life after having it all but pulled away is pretty close.

As his wife says: “I can vouch that he has never said anything negative about losing his legs. He has just accepted his injury and he has never complained and for him it has just been a positive outlook from that day on till now.”

This is the kind of man who should be held up as a role model to society. And one who we should all be proud to call a hero.

John Terry and the England captaincy

There have been so many sporting scandals in the last 12 months that I’m almost beginning to wonder how the press would cope without them.

From Tiger Woods to Avram Grant and now John Terry, scandalous behaviour is becoming commonplace in the world of sport.

The details of John Terry’s private life have been splashed all over the front and back pages of every newspaper over the last few days, and the hype shows no sign of coming to an end.

This is all much to the delight of newspaper editors up and down the land, because the story is one that sells.

Every journalist worth their salt has commented on it, from sports columnists to lifestyle and fashion columnists, the story of Terry and his alleged affair with Vanessa Perroncel, the former girlfriend of ex Chelsea player Wayne Bridge, transcends all interests.

It may or may not be in the public interest, but it is definitely a story that interests the public, and one that will continue to do so. It was even mentioned on this weeks Question Time.

We all love a good scandal, and we like this one even more because Terry’s role as England captain, (apparently) the most privileged position in sport in this country, gives us the opportunity to get really angry.

Angry, not only because he has abused his role model status by allegedly (I have to keep saying that) betraying his wife and twin daughters, but more so that he betrayed Bridge, a friend and team-mate in the process.

And it is this part of the story that impacts most on his ability to stay as captain of England.

Forget the allegations of cheating, you would be hard pushed to find a member of the national side who has not allegedly done that.

Forget even that he has destroyed his reputation as a role model for young aspiring footballers. He has many other blemishes on his past (not least selling secret guided tours of the Chelsea ground for a reported fee of £10,000) which suggest that we should have all decided against that a long time ago.

What does affect his ability to lead his men to hopeful World Cup glory in the Summer, is the feeling about him in the locker room.

We saw last weekend that the media glare did not affect his skills on the pitch, as he scored the goal that ensured his side victory over Burnley.

But sights of Manchester City players sporting “Team Bridge” t-shirts does suggest that there is little support for him amongst his fellow footballers.

Significantly, no English footballer has come out in support of Terry either. And it is hard to see how anyone could trust or respect him after he has apparently so foolishly gone behind another players back.

So it is absolutely right that following a day locked in talks with Capello that he has indeed been stripped of his captaincy.

Everything was going so well in England’s preparations for the South Africa World Cup. A near perfect record in qualification let us dare to hope that the trophy that we have coveted for so long would soon be returning to home soil.

Apparently Capello, and Chelsea boss Ancellotti, are bewildered by the media interest in Terry, hailing from lands where a tabloid culture is not so firmly established.

However the England manager is right to take into account public feeling on this issue.

For the first time in an age we actually have a realistic shot of world footballing glory. Neither the players or the public are much fans of Terry at the moment, a time when we should all be uniting in national pride.

And for this reason and this reason alone, it is the best decision for everyone that Terry has lost his position

Meanwhile…While professional footballers have proved they are not worthy of being called role models, one female sports star has.This week Barbie manufacturers Mattel launched a doll based on Belgain tennis star Kim Clistjers, along with a mini version of her daughter Jada.

Wearing outfits based on those the pair were sporting at last years US Open, when Clistjers lifted the trophy in her first major after coming out of a spell of retirement, the dolls are a celebration of the player’s remarkable feat.

In a breakway from the kind of dolls that the company usually make, tall, skinny, blond and out of proportion figures that we all know do not exist in the real world, Mattel have given little girls the world over a figure to aspire to.

The US Champ’s run at the tournament was made even more incredible given that in her retirement she had also given birth to daughter Jada, making her only the second mother to win a Grand Slam since Evonne Goolagong in 1980.

Clistjers is exactly the kind of inspirational woman that should be put in a position where girls will look up to her. Mattel have done good this time, but they should probably hold off on the John Terry and Tiger Woods Action Men for now…

Irishman makes history Down Under

Ireland. A country even worse at sport than the UK – which is saying a lot.

With the exception of maybe rugby, the Republic of Ireland’s sporting record, on the international stage at least, is pretty dismal.

It could have been oh so different if the stupid French hadn’t got their hands in the way, and Ireland had made it to the World Cup finals in South Africa. But it wasn’t to be and Ireland’s sporting heroes disappeared off the back pages, somewhere they have grown accustomed to being.

Until now that is.

This week 25-year-old Louk Sorensen made headline news in Ireland and across the world, by becoming the first Irishman to play in the Australian Open and the first to win a Grand Slam singles match, since Matt Doyle achieved both these feats over 15 years ago.

And we thought we had it bad. Come back Tim Henman, all is forgiven.

Sorensen, the world number 284 and son of Irish Davis Cup captain Sean Sorensen, had an unexpected 4-set win over Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun as the first slam of the year got underway on Monday.

We’ll ignore the fact that Sorenson actually lives and was brought up in Stuttgart, Germany, because all of Ireland is celebrating. Just what they need, as it emerged this week that Thierry Henry will not be punished by FIFA for his now infamous handball incident in the World Cup qualifier against Ireland.

Maybe this is going to be the start of an Irish tennis revolution. Forget football and rugby, they’ll all be out playing tennis now.

There must be something in the air in Melbourne as Britain created its own unusual tennis news this week too.

In a UK first (at least as far back as I can remember anyway), there are 3, yes that’s right 3 British players through to the second round Down Under.

We would expect Andy Murray to be there, but the addition of Elena Baltacha and Katie O’Brien in the second round draw is a welcome surprise despite their current world top 100 rankings.

Having failed to make much of a significant impression with their Wimbledon wildcards over the years, it’s encouraging that the girls have made the most of their rightful places in the Australian Open.

With the action in Melbourne taking place in the middle of our night and in the early morning, it’s difficult to follow what’s happening.

Perhaps this is a little bit too much to ask for, but let’s hope that when we wake up tomorrow the British Isles still has all four of its record breaking contestants standing.

So You Think You Can Dance

Last night I had the privilege of being in the live studio audience for the BBC’s new Saturday night dance show, So You Think You Can Dance. I say privilege because it truly was one to witness the amazing talent, dedication, and enthusiasm of all the dancers competing in the show.

I know that dancing is not exactly a sport, but having the chance to get up close and personal to the 12 dancers, I could see that the way they train and mentally prepare for each performance is not that dissimilar to that of a top class athlete.

Like every little girl I tried to dance but fell out of love with it upon discovering I had about as much grace and co-ordination as a herd of elephants. However the performances I witnessed last night made me appreciate it again on a whole new level.

Hosted by Cat Deeley and judged by a panel comprising of ‘Nasty’ Nigel Lythgoe, Arlene Phillips, Louise Redknapp and choreographer Sisco Gomez, So You Think You Can Dance is a departure from the way we have got used to watching dancing on our TV screens.

Over the last few years we have become accustomed to the format of Strictly Come Dancing and its ITV rival Dancing on Ice, where celebrities team up with professionals to learn the arts of dance and ice dance.

While this is great television viewing and some of the celebrities succeed in becoming accomplished dancers, the famous faces often cast a shadow over the art of dancing and we fail to appreciate the professionals for how good they really are.

In So You Think You Can Dance there is no-one to hide behind and the dancing itself takes centre stage.  The top dancers perform a different style of dance every week, with the weakest two eliminated from the competition. This is the search for the nation’s favourite dancer – someone who has dancing in their blood.

And where being eliminated from Strictly or any other celebrity led reality TV show may be upsetting, getting the boot on this show is in a whole other league.

What you don’t really get the sense of sitting at home watching the TV, perhaps eating your dinner or getting ready to go out at the same time, is how much participating means to each competitor.

Waiting in the queue and sitting in the bar before the show got underway, you see this from being side by side with the contestants’ families and supporters. Some have banners and posters, other t-shirts, mascots and even flyers handed out to the public to encourage them to pick up the phone and vote for their brother, sister, son, daughter or friend.

Voting or not voting in this competition could change someone’s life, for better or for worse.

I was lucky enough to go and watch So You Think You Can Dance, thanks to my friend having extra tickets to support her old classmate, Robbie White, who is one of the finalists in the competition.

Technically I was an impartial viewer seeing as I have never met the boy, but being surrounded by Robbie “Drunk Spider’s Can Dance” White’s friends, family and other random fans, I found myself getting caught up in the emotion  of the event and frequently joining in with chants of “Robbie, Robbie, Robbie”.

It was a close fought thing. Contemporary dancer Robbie and his partner Yanet’s hip hop routine did not go down well with the judges, and for a moment it looked like he might be going out. However the public saved him, and everyone around me breathed a sigh of relief as they realized Robbie would live to dance another day.

I thoroughly enjoyed my evening and hope I may have the chance to go back later in the competition. As I say it has made me fall back in love with dancing, even if I myself am not and never will be any good at it.

Athletics’ new British 4×400m world champions

Great Britain got some new Athletics world champions this week – for a race that was ran back in 1997.

The 4×400m relay squad made up of Roger Black, Jamie Baulch, Iwan Thomas and Mark Richardson, originally finished second in their race in Athens but have been promoted to the top spot after Antonio Pettigrew, a member of the gold medal winning American quartet admitted to taking performance enhancing drugs.

Pettigrew confessed to drug taking in 2008 and ever since then the British team have been campaigning for the medals to be redistributed.

But attempts to get the original from the tainted American team failed, and it was looking like the British boys would never get what was rightfully theirs. Happily though, it was announced earlier in the week that the Brits, who also won silver in the Atlanta Olympics, would be having their moment of glory and be presented with some brand new gold medals.

The American team comprising of Pettigrew, Chris Jones, Tyree Washington and Jerome Young, won the race by a tiny margin of 0.18 seconds, which makes the British performance even more exemplary considering all four men were clean.

However Great Britain has also been on the end of disqualification from races, years after they have happened. Any of the 4×100m squads in recent times that included the disgraced Dwain Chambers in the line up, have all been wiped from the record books.

Whatever the result it is good that justice eventually gets done, but is a getting medal 13 years after the conclusion of a race ever really going to make up for not having received it on the night, not having had the opportunity to belt out a rendition of God Save the Queen, and not being able to bask in the applause and adoration of a packed stadium?

Apparently not as Jamie Baulch told the BBC this week, “I have missed out on 13 years of telling people I am a world champion. I missed an opportunity to celebrate in front of 100,000 people…It’s a bit sad that it has happened the way it has”.

It has become a problem in Athletics over the years that when someone puts in an astonishing performance, like Pettigrew did running the second leg in 43.2 seconds, that you are never quite sure whether  or not you will eventually find out that the athlete had had a bit of extra help.

It’s a shame because many spectators only feel like they can half-heartedly support the athletes. More importantly it ruins for the likes of Black, Baulch, Thomas and Richardson what should be one of the greatest moments of their sporting lives.

Unfortunately the problem of drugs in sport will probably never completely go away; it is how we deal with it that is the crucial thing.

To avoid this happening much more in the future it seems that vigorous drug testing programmes are completely necessary. However much some athletes protest to them, they are an annoyance and an evil that must be endured if we are to ensure that sport remains clean and fair, like it is meant to be.

2010 Tennis season gets under way

Christmas is barely over – the trees are still standing, the cards are just beginning to come down, and the last of the turkey is sat in the fridge waiting to be eaten. But for the worlds tennis players the festivities are a thing of the past. The 2010 season is well and truly under way.

Andy Murray http://www.flickr.com/photos/mandj98/2760111528/

It all began last weekend in Abu Dhabi, where Rafael Nadal claimed victory in the 3-day exhibition event, showing that after a disappointing and injury riddled 2009, this year he means business.

Nadal and his main rival Roger Federer have remained in the Middle East to contend the Qatar Open in Doha, a warm up event for the Australian Open which begins on January 18, where they have both recorded impressive results in the early rounds.

However the focus of British tennis this week is in fact in Australia, where our star of the moment Andy Murray has chosen to prepare for the years first Grand Slam tournament by competing in the Hopman Cup, with our star of the future, Laura Robson.

The international team competition is held every year in Perth, and Murray and Robson will be providing the UK’s first entrants in the event since Jeremy Bates and Jo Durie teamed up there back in 1992.

Change in tactics

Murray’s decision to play in the event is a dramatic change from the way he usually prepares for the Australian Open – for the last two years he has played at and won the tournament in Doha.

But Murray has never lived up to his form when arriving in Melbourne, failing to ever make it beyond the fourth round. Perhaps his change in routine reflects a desire to make more of an impact down under, even though it means he will concede his world number 4 ranking to Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro.

It was also announced last week that Murray would not be participating in Great Britain’s forthcoming Davis Cup tie in Lithuania in March, a decision which did not surprise many, so he can concentrate on his ambitions of Grand Slam glory.

There are few who would say this was not a sensible decision – if the team can’t even win with their best player, then while they are drawn against such lowly ranked countries they need to learn to win without him.

Murray will be hoping his decisions, along with his new adidas kit, will help him to make 2010 more successful than 2010 was.

Step up for Robson

For Robson the Hopman Cup has so far proved to be challenging step in her fledgling career, although there is time for her to make more of an impression as the week long tournament continues.

The Murray/Robson pairing have already played teams from Kazakhstan and Germany, winning both their doubles matches and Murray winning both his singles. Unfortunately though Robson has not managed to win either of her singles matches, having come up against much older and more experienced opponents.

Since she shot to fame as a 14-year-old winning junior Wimbledon, there have been nothing but great expectations on her young shoulders. There is nothing wrong with getting excited, but we forget she is still only 15 and has much more learning and improving to do before she is at her peak.

Nevertheless a win against Russia on Friday will ensure Robson and partner Murray a place in Saturday’s final. An experience which will surely prove to be invaluable for someone so young, and with so much potential to reach the top of her game.

As far as Andy Murray is concerned only time will tell whether his decision to spend the whole of January in Australia in the run up to the decade’s first Grand Slam tournament will be a good idea. Whatever happens I’m pretty sure that Nadal and Federer will have something to say about the scot lifting his first major trophy. The task will certainly not be an easy one.

An evening with Andre Agassi

When I saw tickets for ‘An Evening with Andre Agassi’ advertised in my Sunday Times a few weeks ago, the opportunity seemed like too good a one to miss given the furore surrounding his recent autobiography, Open.

Andre with his wife Steffi Graf (C) Sarah Gerke http://www.flickr.com/people/sublimelyhappy/

Despite the title of the event, which sounds more like some sort of talent showcase than a literary talk, I was expecting a small intimate venue, where I would be surrounded by fellow journalists and be almost close enough to touch the great man himself.

However as I arrived at London’s Institute of Education on Wednesday evening, I saw that what I had imagined could not have been further from the truth.

Despite me arriving around half an hour before the 7.00pm kick off time, the lecture theatre-esque Logan Hall was already filling up to its 900 seat capacity. However being alone I was lucky enough to squeeze into one of the few remaining seats near to where Andre would be sitting.

I had also expected the audience to be a certain type of people, most likely those like myself with something to gain from paying the £15 entry fee.

But I soon realised that the clientele was much more varied than that, from sports fans, to bookworms and to those much more fascinated by the man himself.

And as Andre made his way onto the stage that was set for him, (about ten minutes later than scheduled), he was greeted with a rapturous applause and a standing ovation from some of the audience. I was half expecting him to start blowing kisses and bowing to the four corners of the room.

The talk

Introduced by The Sunday Times Sports Editor Alex Butler and interviewed by Chief Sportswriter David Walsh, the discussion about the book soon got under way.

At times Walsh’s carefully crafted questions were lost as Andre went off at tangents about his colourful life, recounting anecdote after anecdote, most of which those who have already read the book, like myself, would have known.

However Walsh’s presence did provide the star with some direction in the proceedings, guiding him to talk predominately about his personal life, beginning with his parents, following on to his marriages to Brooke Shields and Steffi Graf and his rivalry with fellow American Pete Sampras.

His tales of the great champion proved to be some of the most entertaining of the night, as he went as far as impersonating Sampras’ service action, much to the amusement of the packed crowd.

The drug scandal, which has been well documented by the press, was of course also mentioned. Although as Agassi himself pointed out “drugs only make up about one and a half pages of the book and the book is 400 pages”, and so consequently the topic was not given much weight.

The only thing he did say was that he was happy that not all players had come out in support of him, but he criticised those such as Federer and Nadal who had commented on the situation without having actually read the book. Which is something I confess as I did as the news broke, having only have read the book earlier this week.

Another well documented part of the book was that as successful player as he was, Agassi did not actually like tennis, in fact he hated it, something which is enforced throughout the manuscript. And this is the thing that a lot of people, me included, found the most difficult revelation to grasp than the drugs.

Elaborating on this, he said “I did not choose tennis my father chose it for me” he added, “However at the age of 27 I realised that I didn’t hate it any more. I could have quit but I chose to keep going for myself. I took back ownership of my life.”

As advertised the session ended with a question and answer section, where the enthusiastic audience were given the free reign to pose questions to the legend. However as everything had overrun, mainly due to Agassi’s inability to stick to the story in hand, there was not a lot of time for this.

Despite sticking my arm up as far as I could reach, my solitary position in the corner of the room did not catch the eye of the two men on stage and I was not able to ask my question.

Although this is probably a good thing as I’m not sure what my question would have been. Only to say that I’m sure it would have been a great deal more insightful than some of the banal questions that were put forward by some overexcited and starstruck fans.

Review

But anyway…I’m glad I made it to the event as the chance to hear the unedited thoughts of such a big personality is surely a rare one. And not for a moment did I feel that Agassi had been told what to say by his management, he came across as natural and sincere, and very funny, something which I was not expecting.

However if I must make one criticism, which I must I want to be a journalist after all, then I do not feel like I have actually learnt anything from being there that I didn’t know already. Occasionally it felt more like a promotional tool for the book, which was strange seeing as it was released weeks ago and I Imagine most people there had read it.

And I did find it cheesy though when he kept saying “It’s so good to be back in London. You guys have taught me a lot and I cherish the memories.” He certainly knew how to get woops and cheers out of his adoring audience. Things haven’t changed that much then.

One thing is now clear to me, like I assumed when the revelations came out, Agassi’s adoring public have unconditionally forgiven him for his sins.

Finally, for anyone who hasn’t read it, I would actually recommend it. I wouldn’t go as far to say it is extremely well written but it is certainly an entertaining read.

Agassi said himself that he didn’t like people, players such as Federer and Nadal included, that had formed an opinion his because of the extracts of the book that were publicised by the media. And I must confess that it what I did having only read the book earlier this week.

But he is right. The shocking confessions only make up a minority of the book and they do need to be read in context, whatever your opinion may or may not be of them.

Personally I found the passages which put you inside the head of a professional tennis player are far more revealing and interesting to read. But I guess this isn’t what makes a good headline,and I suppose elements of his personal life are more universally interesting.

As Alex Butler summed up, “This isn’t a book just for tennis fans or just for sports fans either.” I suppose he is right. After all Agassi himself is neither.

The Tiger Woods saga

I wrote recently that sports stars should probably only be discussed in terms of their sporting ability rather than their antics “off the pitch”.

Sport has been rife with scandal recently from Andre Agassi’s drug confessions, to Thierry Henry’s handball. And it seems that the higher a star is held in the public esteem the bigger their fall from grace.

Tiger Woods (c) Keith Allison http://www.flickr.com/people/keithallison/

But in our tabloid age of celebrity and gossip, can the oh-so public figure of Tiger Woods, sports’ first billionaire, really expect to shut the door on his private life?

Even though theories have been circulating all week about the reasons behind Woods’ car crash, he  hasn’t actually admitted anything yet, talking only of “transgressions” and “private sins”, though he has already been condemned by the global media.

In a statement published on his website this week he said “I have been dismayed to realize the full extent of what tabloid scrutiny really means”, adding “Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn’t have to mean public confessions”.

Is he really right to think this? Surely he is intelligent to understand the consequences that his actions, whether private or not, have in the public sphere.

Not any old golfer

Most golfers enjoy relative anonymity and if this was any other man on the tour then we, and the press, would most likely not bat an eyelid.

However Tiger Woods is no longer just any golfer, as one of the world’s most successful sports people and richest men he is no longer protected by such obscurity.

If he did just make his career and his money hitting golf balls then it would be a different story, but one like I said that we probably wouldn’t be interested in.

The fact is that the majority of Tiger’s life is lived out in the public glare. Most of his reported $1 billion dollar fortune has been amassed through endorsements of products and sponsorship deals that have enforced his squeaky clean, perfect image.

Some commentators have said that in making a career playing golf, Woods did not invite any of the attention in.

His success did though, and the multi-million pound deals that followed have certainly not meant that he can go through his daily life without media focus being on him.

His alleged affairs, with not one but at least three women, and his suspicious car accident, have undoubtedly been the centre of press interest in the golfer over the last few days. Whether it is in our public interest to know or not, he has invited the cameras into his life and cannot switch them off now.

It seems to me that the decisions that he has made in his life outside of the golf world, both good and bad, have been entirely his own, and he cannot expect his bad ones to not have ramifications on his public persona.

What’s next?

So what now for Tiger? As I said he has not exactly admitted that he has done anything wrong but we have all assumed that the rumours are true, because let’s face it, they normally are.

Rumours circulating that he has paid off one of his so-called mistresses, Rachel Ulichtel a reported some of $1 million, before she was about to give a press conference have  not helped the sports star in his request for privacy.

Personally I think he should probably admit to what, if anything, he has done instead of all his vague revelations on his website.

At least that way a line can be drawn under this whole ordeal and then he can attempt to move forward and repair the damage to his image.

Which I think will probably be relatively easy for him to do. After all he is one of the world’s most loved sporting icons and a true great of the golfing game and no amount of “transgressions” can ever take this away from him.

They certainly don’t seem to have for Andre Agassi.

Veteran’s Tennis

The AEGON Masters tennis tournament is being held all this week at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

The season ending event on the Champions Tour has become a popular tradition amongst fans of the game, or more specifically fans of past legends of the game.

This years’ competition will see 16 former players, amongst them Wimbledon Champions Goran Ivanisevic, Pat Rafter and Stefan Edberg and doubles specialists such as Mark Woodforde and Mansour Bahrami, battle it out to be the best retired player on the court.

There will be British interests too in the shape of Jeremy Bates and Greg Rusedski, who will keep home fans entertained and cheering just like at Wimbledon.

But if you think that these players will just being having a light knock up then think again. This is a serious contest, just as serious for those involved for any that they participated in on the tour.

Rafter told BBC News on Tuesday morning that everyone still had a strong desire to win, despite in some cases having retired from the professional game years ago.

Height of popularity

The event comes only a week after the 02 was the stage for the end of year championships on the main tour, which was held in London for the first time.

The ATP World Tour Finals saw the Russian Nikolay Davydenko lifting the trophy after having defeated Nadal, Federer and US Open Champion Juan Martin Del Potro on the way.

London’s first attempt at being the host of the event, which had previously been in Shanghai, has been declared a resounding success by all involved, with most sessions in the 17,000 seat arena having sold out.

Tennis in this country is more popular than ever before. We have always had Wimbledon but the addition of this new tournament to the UK’s sporting calendar is a welcome event.

And thanks to the likes of Andy Murray, Anne Keothavong and Laura Robson, the game continues to grow in popularity.

Attraction of former players

But why are we so fascinated by watching past masters of the game, especially seeing as there is so many exciting developments happening on the main tour at the moment?

It is a mystery to me. Correct me if I am wrong, but I can’t really think of any other sport in which there is such an attraction to watching “old” players compete, instead of those who are in their peak.

Maybe it’s a British thing. Veteran’s matches at Wimbledon always attract huge crowds, big stars such as John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova being the main draw, and undoubtedly the Albert Hall will prove to be a sell out tennis event once again.

We are undoubtedly witnessing one of the best era’s in the men’s game at the moment but we still pine for what once was. John McEnroe and Boris Becker have regularly been involved in the masters tour with Goran Ivanisevic  and Pat Rafter providing exciting new additions to the tournament this year.

I guess if you remember the players from when they were at their best then the sense of nostalgia is all the greater. I personally don’t remember the days of Becker and McEnroe but that doens’t mean i can’t appreciate watching them play as they are part of the history of the game.

However more and more of the players at this years’ event are names that I recognise and can remember cheering on from the sofa in my youth. Either the players are getting younger or I’m getting older…it’s most likely the latter which means it’s probably time get myself down to the Albert Hall and watch.

Unknown Davydenko steals show from Roger at the 02

Roger Federer has lost his air of invincibility this week. Maybe it’s his adorable twins Charlene and Myla keeping him awake at night, maybe he is suffering from the overlong tennis season that has been much debated, or perhaps his opponents have just stepped up their game.

Roger Federer was not himself at the ATP World Tour Finals (c) Adam Bowie http://www.flickr.com/people/adambowie/

It’s probably a combination of all three that resulted in Roger losing not once but twice at this week’s ATP World Tour Finals, firstly in Thursday night’s encounter with Juan Martin Del Potro (which I was lucky enough to watch live) and then again in Saturday’s semi final against Nikolay Davydenko.

But it’s true that in spite of the amazing year he has had, reclaiming his Wimbledon title and world number one spot and adding the French Open crown to his CV, that the Federer magic has diminished slightly.

There were flashes of his usual brilliance against Del Potro on Thursday, and as he made an earlier than planned exit against Davydenko, but mostly he was making uncharacteristic errors, his negative body language telling tales of an extremely frustrated man.

Federer is still unarguably the greatest player of all time and the greatest player around at the moment, as his ranking testifies. But there are now a whole series of guys lining up behind him, who now really believe they can beat him.

Not Roger’s day

Tim Henman said in his commentary of the match that it would have taken a brave person to predict the final line up today, and he is right. Who would have thought that the last tennis match of the season on the tour would be contested between the 21 year old Del Potro and the little known Russian, Davydenko?

If the crowd at the O2 had had their way it would have been Federer all the way, perhaps the international London crowed would even favour him over our very own Murray, such is the admiration he receives everywhere he goes in the world.

Normally us Brits cheer for the underdog, but Thursday night’s audience may as well have been Swiss for all the impartiality, or rather partiality they showed. Or maybe they just saw that Federer had turned into the underdog.

Anyway Federer was not the star of this week’s show, the two surprise finalists were. US Open winner Argentinean Juan Martin Del Potro was perhaps not such a shock and is certainly one to watch out for in the future.

The Unknown

But what about the victorious Nikolay Davydenko? Are the great British public are going to take this week’s champion, the unknown Russian into their hearts and minds?

Probably not – because we don’t know anything about him and his performances in the tennis world, consistent as they are, have gone virtually unnoticed outside the sphere.

As Andrew Castle shrewdly pointed out on the BBC today the final was not exactly “box office”, meaning that the average tennis spectator, the casual fan, would have perhaps been turned off by the tie.

That’s because, aside from the tennis, the public want the big names, the glamour of Federer, Nadal and Roddick and the home interest of Murray. They want to watch those with big personalities who they can relate to both on and off the court.

Despite his achievements at the O2 this week, Davydenko will probably never be a big star of the tennis world, especially in this country unless he makes an impact at the slams, which he has never threatened to do.

He made an appeal to the crowd for fans in London and they politely clapped but realistically most will probably forget his name by tomorrow, if they have even managed to retain it for this long.

And in reality this is probably the way Davydenko wants it to be. He hasn’t invited the media into his life, and will most likely want it to stay this way. In the little he has been interviewed he has said that he likes being under the radar and getting the job done. Which is exactly what he does.

So life will probably not change for Nikolay Davydenko after yesterday’s win but what about Federer? Questions will undoubtedly be raised about his performance, whether he is past his best and if his heart is still in the game.

The Christmas break will allow Federer to regroup and enjoy spending time with his new family, before being back in action at the Australian Open in January. My guess is that this isn’t the last or the best we have seen from Roger. I’m pretty sure he’ll be back on top before we know it.