The Tennis Mind

It's interesting the matches that people remember. I was having a conversation about tennis with someone I'd only just met last night - something I find fascinating, because people experience and remember the game so differently it's interesting to see what sticks in their minds.

It's not surprising that the Australian Open dominates the collective mind - we are, after all, in Australia, and this is what we are exposed to. But even so, there are a lot of matches under that umbrella, and I was very interested to note that what this guy remembered best was Fernando Gonzalez - specifically, the match where he beat Nadal by powering him off the court with his draconic forehand.

A-ha, think I, so it is shots you remember! But no... the next match we started talking about was Johansson vs Safin in the final of '02. Then we discussed the minutiae of Gael Monfils' game.

I don't actually have a point to this, to tell the truth. I just find it interesting who and what dominates the tennis minds of other people. For me, it's always been Federer with a healthy dose of Safin on the side, a Nadal jus and, more recently, a Gulbis glaze, but that's certainly not everyone's experience. Defining matches - even if we just stick to Australia - for me include matches like the '06 final, where Federer beat Baghdatis, or the semi in '07, where he pulverised Roddick.

So... what dominates your tennis mind?