People are strange, as you might have heard. You just do not expect to glean compelling evidence from a virtuous tennis rivalry.
Yet as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal finish their start of 2011, as they move now from their Abu Dhabi exhibition toward Australia and heights beyond, the statistics do yell enough to transcend.
Upon a planet with three billion-plus men, a mere two have hoarded 10 of the last 11 grand slam titles, a staggering 21 of the last 23 and, all told, 25 of the last 30. So I guess it follows that they could surpass tennis to reflect broader human truths.
I suppose that, sure, two icons with unfathomable games could double as prisms for the notion that people are strange.
Now, along the path to how Federer and Nadal unwittingly show that people are strange, ask this: if you were organising a global sport, and you wished to make it appealing, and then you wished to generate vicarious fondness between spectators and participants, could you dare even hope for two ambassadors of such quality?
The accurate answer: no.
These guys have coursed through the recent years with first-rate art and first-rate decency. With each a threat to the other's cherished goals, they have kept the fussiness to very occasional flickers buried in press conferences.
Each has epitomised will, with Federer getting insufficient credit therein; his massive will seems to sweat less than Nadal's. They - especially Nadal - have made considerate gestures toward one another. They have given a highbrow rendition of mutual respect.
In the process, they have managed to stage one of the most sterling sporting occasions ever, the 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7 Wimbledon final of 2008. One of them won that match. The other lost. I do know which did which, but after sitting there all afternoon and evening, it no longer seemed paramount.
In a fine twist, the guy who technically "lost" soon reported a steady outpouring of encouragement from the public across ensuing months, as if all his imperial winning needed a "loss" to sprinkle in some humanising.
So on one side you have Federer, the 29-year-old Swiss from the cross-cultural corner Basle who takes seriously his position as ambassador.
In country after country, he patiently answers questions in three languages, again and again and again. He has that regal carriage that flatters the sport. You get a sense he could be not just a tennis ambassador but an ambassador-ambassador.
As a bonus, he happens to be the most accomplished player ever, with 16 major titles, and he happens to have treated audiences to some of the loveliest sights in life, those of balls leaving his racket and doing things unimaginable.
On the other side you have Nadal, the 24-year-old Spaniard from the sunny and gracious island of Mallorca, who takes seriously his position as a considerate person. His bullheaded approach to the game makes a curious contrast with his gentility once the game has concluded.
As a bonus, he might yet become the most accomplished player ever by adding to his nine major titles, and he happens to have treated audiences to some newfound tier of human effort.
You would think disliking either guy would require unnatural straining, but then, you would underestimate the strangeness of people.
So say you chronicled them often for a newspaper between 2006 and 2009, and that newspaper would publish your little e-mail address, and that e-mail address would send you burrowing into the ever-haunting domain of public opinion.
Thus would you learn that plenty of people out there - not a majority, but plenty - adore either Federer or Nadal with such ferocity that the other is basically the cause all human misery. Their human glitches - and, sure, there have been those - become sweeping faults. The sweeping faults become unquestionable sinister-hood.
Maybe it is the rare intimacy of tennis, but they sound as if you have besmirched their family when they extract from beneath 22 paragraphs of compliments any perceived slight of their man from paragraph 23 - and then hold that up for ire.
My favourite came after that Wimbledon 2008, when given Nadal's possession of both French and Wimbledon titles, I accused the tennis computers of malfeasance with their continued placement of Nadal at No 2. My vast sins, according to a Federer connoisseur, included being "mean-spirited". She proceeded to brand Nadal as all but possessing horns, and excoriated likeable Novak Djokovic while at it.
I replied that labelling somebody the No 2 tennis player out of 6.8 billion did not seem mean to me, whereupon I began mulling the strangeness of people, and to reckon that in other ways I guess I must be strange, too.
cculpepper@thenational.ae
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed dual clutch
Power: 710bhp
Torque: 770Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 2.9 seconds
Top Speed: 340km/h
Price: Dh1,000,885
On sale: now
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Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
RESULTS
5pm: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Racing Festival Purebred Arabian Cup Conditions (PA) Dh 200,000 (Turf) 1,600m
Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries (jockey), Abdallah Al Hammadi (trainer)
5.30pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Cup Conditions (PA) Dh 200,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: Winked, Connor Beasley, Abdallah Al Hammadi
6pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Cup Listed (TB) Dh 380,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: Boerhan, Ryan Curatolo, Nicholas Bachalard
6.30pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Group 3 (PA) Dh 500,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: AF Alwajel, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Jewel Crown Group 1 (PA) Dh 5,000,000 (T) 2,200m
Winner: Messi, Pat Dobbs, Timo Keersmaekers
7.30pm: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Racing Festival Handicap (PA) Dh 150,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Harrab, Ryan Curatolo, Jean de Roualle
8pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 100,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: AF Alareeq, Connor Beasley, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
You Were Never Really Here
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Starring: Joaquim Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov
Four stars
The figures behind the event
1) More than 300 in-house cleaning crew
2) 165 staff assigned to sanitise public areas throughout the show
3) 1,000 social distancing stickers
4) 809 hand sanitiser dispensers placed throughout the venue
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
MIDWAY
Produced: Lionsgate Films, Shanghai Ryui Entertainment, Street Light Entertainment
Directed: Roland Emmerich
Cast: Ed Skrein, Woody Harrelson, Dennis Quaid, Aaron Eckhart, Luke Evans, Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, Darren Criss
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Scoreline
Arsenal 0 Manchester City 3
- Agüero 18'
- Kompany 58'
- Silva 65'
The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
