The Australian Open

The Australian Open happens to be the first grand slam of the year. And I happen to be a hostelite so I have to give it a miss since it is in January. However due to a certain felicitation ceremony which is later today(I'll tell more about it later), I happened to be in Nashik for the weekend. And I don't get Ten Sports here so I decided to see the Australian Open & enjoyed it a lot.
First of all there's Hingis. She's a favourite of mine because when I had just started following Tennis, way back in 1997, she was the only player I knew. Hence the attachment. Another reason was obviously her smart looks. I felt pretty sad when she retired 3 years back, but now when she's staging a comeback, I couldn't afford to miss it. I didn't & wasn't disappointed as she has reached the quarters playing some great tennis along the way. Hell, she might even win it & that has created a great dilemna, whom should I support?
Because after Martina Hingis retired, Daniela Hantuchova became my favourite Tennis player. Even though she wasn't as good as the swiss miss, she was, or rather is, stunningly beautiful & that was good enough to make her my favourite. So I followed her matches for a year or so till 2004.
That's when Maria came. Yes, Maria Sharapova. The whole world stood up & took notice of her when she won Wimbledon that year. But she had already become my favourite a month earlier when she reached the round of 16 at the French Open. And since then she has been not only my favourite tennis player, but also one of my favourite sports players.
Ergo the dilemna. A part of the problem has been solved though, as Maria beat Daniela today, in a match which I've recorded & will see many more times for sure. But Martina's still in so whom should I support? Maybe a final between them would be great. But I don't even know if they're in the same part of the draw. And while I was doing all this, the Indian players were getting thrashed around in Faisalabad by Shahid Afridi. Even they must be wishing to be where I am right now - in front of the TV.