I haven't quite had the time to sit down and type about recent activities.

I guess I'll write about Justine first, since I know I'll be squealing more about House, NY and ReGenesis next week. After all, there's no more squealing-about-Justine's-amazing-matches and annoying the hell out of people by blabbering about Justine almost 24/7. At least the worst was over. I think I reached the peak of obsession around Form 2/3. LOL. OH, and last year.

So, bear with me what will probably be the last long post about Justine and how awesome she is to me, blah, blah, blah. You guys have gone through it for at least 4 years, now. Why worry? Hee.

Justine retired a World Number 1, the first to do so, and only the 4th Top 5 player to retire. She had 117 weeks at the top of the tour (Counting this week, the last week in which her name will be in the rankings), 41 titles (Which include 7 Grand Slam titles, 2 YECs and an Olympic Gold Medal) and is holding on to 2 titles this year, and still holding on to another 7 from last year.

There are people out there who think that Justine's retirement isn't worth anything. There was this person who commented on an NY Times article saying that, 'Sure, retiring when I'm 25 with about 20mil USD in my pocket's really hard, after a decade.' But I guess what people doesn't realize is how hard it is to stay at the top for such a long time. (Don't even talk about Federer. He's just... ew.) I'm sure it's even harder to retire when you're RIGHT AT THE TOP, with a 1700+ point advantage to boot. Why retire now? Why not stay on for a few Grand Slams, one last ditch at winning Wimbledon for the Grand Slam?

However, when the passion isn't there, it's gone forever. And for someone like Justine, who's been so dedicated to tennis all her life, losing the passion for the game is quite big a deal. It's like running out of gas petrol when you're driving in the middle of nowhere on your way to, say, Singapore, and there's absolutely no one around. I find it ironic, since just the day before her retirement, I had been making a banner, adding her quote,

"I've hung on to tennis. I've done so for the past 20 years. It is something that is in me. It is me."

If that's how she's looking at tennis, I don't doubt that she probably has lost some sleep over considering whether she wanted to continue her career or not.

It is admirable that someone so young, and yet so old can walk away from the trappings of fame and fortune, just for the simple pleasures of life. She certainly has learnt how to live in the past year or so.

I will, though, miss waking up in the middle of the night just to watch her play a match. I will miss seeing her slide on clay. The beauty and the fluidity and focus of her tennis. Hell, she was unique among the top players, and she sat right above all of them. I will miss her nailbiting matches, those days when someone would tell me halfway through a match, "Pfft. She's going to lose," and I could say, "You wait and see," as we watch Justine claw her way back. I will miss that oh-so-awesome backhand (No words can describe its lethal and aesthetic values), and that lethal forehand, which has been developed over the years to become on of her greatest weapons.

She was definitely a first for me. One of the first individuals I actually, properly admired as they are. And she was definitely the first person I saw grow on the tennis court. Not just age. It was her playing style. How she matured over the years, strove to overcome the barriers of her relatively-small physicality. How, as I remembered when I first saw her play, she barely had a forehand (It was this strange, bouncy thing that was just... bizarre). Her serve was more pathetic than it is now.

Over the years, we've seen her change her serve, add more variety to her game. Improve that forehand to the lethal whip we see today. The rackethead speed she produced every single shot was just amazing, putting her whole body behind that one shot. The sublime dropshots (Which are especially wonderful to see on clay) and those overheads.



Now that she's retired, there's no one to fill in the gap she's left. No one as of now who has as beautiful, technical, tactical tennis, or even as much focus she has in every single match. It's not just a big loss to tennis. I think it is also a big loss to sports in general (And I haven't even talked about Annika Sorenstam retiring yet. Damn.). As Billie Jean King had said, Justine was, pound for pound, the best athlete out there.

All I will do now is sit back, take a break from watching tennis, wait until another day comes that another girl would come along to take my breath away with such beautiful, perseverant tennis. I hope, too, that one day, the graduates of Justine's academy can bring back the beauty of tennis.

The beauty of the one-handed backhand.



But that is only hope. And every individual is unique. And Justine would be one in a million.

However, thinking of her spending time, devoting herself to new loves and new life is quite interesting. The simplicity of life, life off the fast lane, life with her family, life with friends. Going back to study and fulfill the promise she made to her mother.

9 years on tour. 7 years I've been a fan. I've enjoyed every minute of it.

All good things must come to and end, people say. Justine's career ended. But I personally think that her life just started.

Thank you, Justine, for being someone I could look up to for inspiration.



(I have this gut feeling that this post has been quite repetitive. Forgive me. It's 2.30am. Coherent thought = Not there)