Mission Accomplished
The last few years, watching & following tennis has been reduced to an excercise in monotony. And if you have been reading my blog for a while, you would know the reason for the same :) Grand slam after grand slam, one could almost pencil in the winner even before the tournament started (except of course, in the case of the French Open). And it was not just us, the average tennis lovers, who had been lulled by this sense of predictability. Someone like Pete Sampras, who still holds the record for the most number of Grand slam titles, wasn't joking when he asked Federer to win the French Open so that he doesn't have to travel to Australia to watch history made, as he has said all along that he will be there on the court-side when his record is broken.
It is not like I don't appreciate Federer's awesome talent. He is talent in its most pristine form, for what else could one explain his achievements without a proper coach. It is just that the invincibility that he brings to the court that made me sick. People usually compare his dominance to Tiger's dominance in golf. Somehow, I don't agree to that as Tiger looks every bit vulnerable even in the majors that he wins. But that has never been the case with Federer (at least until this year) as he decimates all his opponents and that has made this whole history-making achievements a big boring spectacle.
That is exactly the reason why yesterday's final was like a breath of fresh air. Nadal finally was able to do what no man has ever done - win a 3rd set from Federer on grass court! Though both the players as such did not stick to the grass court tradition of serve-and-volley play, it was unparalleled in the sense that both of them matched each other miraculous shot for miraculous shot. It was may be Nadal's ploy, of not letting Federer play his natural serve-and-volley game, that is so much critical to Federer winning on grass. Coming back from 2 sets down in the Wimbledon finals, is not something many players can do and Federer, being Federer, just accomplished that. But then Nadal wasn't giving up either. Though Federer clearly had the edge in the serving department, it was Federer's serve that was broken more times than Nadal's and that to me, was the single most defining reason for his defeat. You can't go 1 out of 13 in break points conversion and hope to win against the most athletic player in the sport.
Every time Federer found himself in a hole (none more so than in the 4th set tie-breaker), he came up with an ace or a passing shot winner. As the game progressed beyond the 4 hour 30 mins mark, I started to think that Nadal would give up soon bcos of the two, Nadal looked the one who was getting tired. The fact that Federer served first in the last set did not help matters either. But Nadal clung on to his serve like his life depended on it and eventually broke Federer & then held serve to close out the match.
The way Nadal reacted after winning the last point said everything that we need to know about how much this win meant to him. Spaniards winning French Opens is like Australia winning the ICC World Cup. But a Spaniard lifting the Wimbledon crown is something this and the last generation have not seen. It was overwhelming to see him reach out to his parents by climbing on top of seats, like a small kid would do. Federer's dad clapping & appreciating Nadal's victory too was a sight to behold. Moments like these are what fans like us live for and watch sports for. It was an incredible feeling to see John McEnroe (of all people) almost in tears in the post-match interview when he thanked both Federer and Nadal for having treated us to probably the greatest and best tennis match in his career.
Experts/ critics/ analysts/ pundits are a much ridiculed species, these days in any field and particularly, in the field of sports & politics. With most of their predictions going wrong time & again, their 'expertnes', if you will, was in question. But this Wimbledon was a comeback of sorts for them, as most of them had picked Nadal to win the whole thing. From McEnroe to Borg to ESPN columnists, every single one of them had said that this Wimbledon was Nadal's to lose.
Though Nadal won this epic contest, I still believe that Federer is the man to beat at all the 3 grand slams. All the talk of passing of the proverbial torch or for that matter, the end of an era, are a bit pre-mature, in my opinion. The outcome of the last grand Slam of the season, the US Open in September, would bring us the answers that we are looking for. Until then, let us just celebrate the sublime spectacle that we were witness to last night.
It is not like I don't appreciate Federer's awesome talent. He is talent in its most pristine form, for what else could one explain his achievements without a proper coach. It is just that the invincibility that he brings to the court that made me sick. People usually compare his dominance to Tiger's dominance in golf. Somehow, I don't agree to that as Tiger looks every bit vulnerable even in the majors that he wins. But that has never been the case with Federer (at least until this year) as he decimates all his opponents and that has made this whole history-making achievements a big boring spectacle.
That is exactly the reason why yesterday's final was like a breath of fresh air. Nadal finally was able to do what no man has ever done - win a 3rd set from Federer on grass court! Though both the players as such did not stick to the grass court tradition of serve-and-volley play, it was unparalleled in the sense that both of them matched each other miraculous shot for miraculous shot. It was may be Nadal's ploy, of not letting Federer play his natural serve-and-volley game, that is so much critical to Federer winning on grass. Coming back from 2 sets down in the Wimbledon finals, is not something many players can do and Federer, being Federer, just accomplished that. But then Nadal wasn't giving up either. Though Federer clearly had the edge in the serving department, it was Federer's serve that was broken more times than Nadal's and that to me, was the single most defining reason for his defeat. You can't go 1 out of 13 in break points conversion and hope to win against the most athletic player in the sport.
Every time Federer found himself in a hole (none more so than in the 4th set tie-breaker), he came up with an ace or a passing shot winner. As the game progressed beyond the 4 hour 30 mins mark, I started to think that Nadal would give up soon bcos of the two, Nadal looked the one who was getting tired. The fact that Federer served first in the last set did not help matters either. But Nadal clung on to his serve like his life depended on it and eventually broke Federer & then held serve to close out the match.
The way Nadal reacted after winning the last point said everything that we need to know about how much this win meant to him. Spaniards winning French Opens is like Australia winning the ICC World Cup. But a Spaniard lifting the Wimbledon crown is something this and the last generation have not seen. It was overwhelming to see him reach out to his parents by climbing on top of seats, like a small kid would do. Federer's dad clapping & appreciating Nadal's victory too was a sight to behold. Moments like these are what fans like us live for and watch sports for. It was an incredible feeling to see John McEnroe (of all people) almost in tears in the post-match interview when he thanked both Federer and Nadal for having treated us to probably the greatest and best tennis match in his career.
Experts/ critics/ analysts/ pundits are a much ridiculed species, these days in any field and particularly, in the field of sports & politics. With most of their predictions going wrong time & again, their 'expertnes', if you will, was in question. But this Wimbledon was a comeback of sorts for them, as most of them had picked Nadal to win the whole thing. From McEnroe to Borg to ESPN columnists, every single one of them had said that this Wimbledon was Nadal's to lose.
Though Nadal won this epic contest, I still believe that Federer is the man to beat at all the 3 grand slams. All the talk of passing of the proverbial torch or for that matter, the end of an era, are a bit pre-mature, in my opinion. The outcome of the last grand Slam of the season, the US Open in September, would bring us the answers that we are looking for. Until then, let us just celebrate the sublime spectacle that we were witness to last night.
posted by Filbert at 4:58 PM
3 Comments:
Filbert,
Federer had written a letter to his fans in his personal website at the end of '07. That by itself has brought expectations to a lower level for this year from his fans. And die hard fans, like me, take his word for it and I am sure '09 will be the year when he takes it all. For this year, he's done well enuf by his standards. Here is the letter I talk about: http://www.rogerfederer.com/en/rogers/news/newsdetail.cfm?uNC=53025126&uPage=18&uNewsID=694
Thanks for the comment and the link, Schumi Fan. Though I had heard about him being affected by mononucleosis before, I did not know the details until I read Federer's letter.
About the next season - let us wait & see. Somehow, I think Federer will not let 2008 pass by without a Grand Slam :) I am not a big fan of Nadal (or for that matter any tennis player who is playing currently), it is just that I am so much against Federer's dominance of the sport.
Filbert,
I wrote this in your Dasavatharam comments section, maybe it skipped your eye, so posting it here:-
Filbert,
Check out my review 'Dosa'vatharam and also a post on Kamal's plagiarism of hollywood movies at: http://greycellfiles.blogspot.com. Maybe you can bring in some readership for these posts as we both seem to be anti-Kamal for the most part.
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