Rafael Nadal

It was too bad that I missed the French Open men's final last Sunday. I was in a train from London, coming back to Loughborough. When I arrived, the match was over. And so was Federer's ambition to complete a career grand slam, at least for this year. Being humiliated with a 1-6, 3-6, 0-6 loss to a lower seeded player is not exactly an ego booster.

Of course, Nadal got a fourth successive Rolland Garros title, and a huge shot of confidence. I found it amazing for a 22 year old to have a record like that. I admire his achievement. And, just being back from the IIU re-orientation program (when was I first oriented?), I feel a fresh surge of determinination to complete my PhD in 3 year, i.e. by September 2010. In this context, Nadal is an inspiration. Even though Federer has a better overall record, I find him personally non-emulatable (any such word?).

My previous success role model is Tiger Woods. He had completed his career grand slam. My version of a grand slam would be publishing articles in top peer-reviewed journal. Here are my slams' parallel to golf's.

Human Factors - US Open
Ergonomics - British Open
Journal of Emergency Medicine (British Medical Journal) - PGA Championship
Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making - Masters