Wimbledon 08 ..07 reloaded

Almost a year ago, I had written a post on the finals of wimbledon(Reference). And it's time to write again, especially because history was scripted by two friendly 'rivals' in the centre court at the very heart of England. The five set epic between Fedrer and Nadal is undoubtedly one of the best that one has seen in the recent years. If you read my last year's write-up, you'll realize that Nadal's win wasn't as dramatic as people say it is. I would once again re-iterate what I had said last year: this doesn't make Federer No.2, it only shows that he is beatable. Being an admirer of Fed, I would have felt bad had he lost to anyone but Nadal.

While Fed is a class act, a mix of grace and power, Rafa is actually the exact opposite. He seems brutish (or so his muscles seem to indicate) but if you look beyond that, his strengths are top spin, depth and accuracy. Quite unlike Fed, Rafa banks on the base line and wins rallies. Any observant fan can easily understand this by comparing the number of Aces fired in by Fed (24 vs 6). That said, Rafa did punch in some powerful forehand smackers that won him his first break point. Quite in contrast to last year, the match began ominously for Fed, the score board reading 2-1 and Nadal notching up his games steadily. Fighting to save the match in the fourth set, Federer played the most amazing tennis I have ever seen to claw back into the game. A couple unforced errors and double faults by Nadal also helped his cause.

While Nadal had clearly been the better among the two on the rain hit day, he definitely wasn't perfect either. Having got ample of opportunities to wrap up the game in the fourth set, it would be fair to say that they were pitiably squandered away by double faults - a rare sign of nervousness from the raquet of Nadal, which otherwise played near perfect tennis. It was the sheer resilience of the FedEx.. that dragged the match into the final set which was an ode to the legacy of these two which will be sung in the ages to come. The duel ended when Fedrer netted a backhand and the FedEx was derailed finally after a long time in this decade. The King of grass was fettered for the first time in 67 matches and six years. The disappointment was writ large on the face of the crowd but it was heartening to see them give a standing ovation to a worthy heir to the crown of Wimbledon.

It is an undeniable fact that Nadal has definitely been the better among the two in the past year - He retained his the clay stronghold and conquered the grass for the first time in his career (Oh yeah, he's the second best in grass!!). Either would have equalled the Borg record, but this was special, the act of conquering the opponent in his turf. The part I liked the best was the courage and humility with which they accepted the reality - Fedrer accepted that he was outclassed today and Rafa acknowledged that he was still at No.2.

Having said this, I would close with the very same words that I had said last year -

Whatever be the result of the match, one thing is pretty evident.. these two are the rulers of modern day tennis be it grass or clay... They have simply discarded the others from either versions of the game.

Wimbledon '07.. clash of titans

"Yeah..." shouted Federer when he won a net point. That's something the media tapes should preserve like a treasure, for one doesn't hear those words coming out of Federer very often. Wimbledon 2007 has been a dull event so far with just a few sparks flying in the Federer-Fererro clash. Federer was definitely the one expected to win the title hands down. He did that but definitely not hands down as people would have imagined it. Things looked ominous when the match started and Federer raced to a 3-0 lead within 11 minutes of the start of the game. Nadal had barely warmed up when Federer was looking threateningly dangerous to breeze away with the first set. But Rafa was not the one to bow down so early... He ploughed his way back into the game by winning the next three games to bring down the early advantage that Federer held. The first set was an absolute treatise to watch and every one who watched the match had their pennies' worth for it. Rafa matched Federer shot by shot, point by point. The tie breaker saw Federer having three set points but Rafa prised out a couple of blitzkreigs to extend the game before losing it 9-7.



Take nothing away from Federer, for he played at his very best to bring out an amazing array of aces (totaled to 24 if I am not wrong) and kept Nadal lurching for points. Nadal is definitely not a great net player but it amazed me to see Federer miss his net volleys too.. Both played excellent base game but were highly error prone when it came to net points. Federer's smooth and stylish backhands were suitably returned by Nadal's curvy forehand top spins and there were many a great rallies played in this fashion. Both played to their strengths and one could see glimpses of an epic match in the making. The king of grass faltered just one time in the 9th game of the second set which was all that Rafa needed to seal the second set 6-4. This was the seventh set that Federer lost in the 53 matches and 5 years of this tournament !

The genius in Federer was matched by the resilience of Rafa and each held serves dragging the third set into yet another tie break. Federer's aces helped him seal the set quite easily at 7-3. Things looked dark for Rafa but the inspired Spaniard took the challenge by its horns and pounded the King of grass in the Fourth set to a whopping 4-0 lead. This was the first time that one has seen Federer run to every corner of the court. Nadal stamped his brilliance by playing to his strengths, his forehand shops and top spins were impeccable and amazingly accurate. Fourth set was quite a contrast to the first three, Federer looked lost and even cursed a couple of times... it was Nadal all the way.. Rafa whoppled the set 6-2 bringing the game to a 5 setter epic.

Federer had not broken Nadal for eternity (save the second game of the match) while the spaniard had comfortably broken him more than thrice. The first three games saw them hold their serves and fight hard to earn every point. Then the world saw why Federer was called the 'King of grass'. He broke Nadal twice in the set while the spaniard failed to do the same when he had his chances. Federer would have had a run for his money if only Rafa had to manage to clinch at least one of the breaks. You cant expect Federer to be too benevolent to give a second chance ;-) he ruthlessly murdered the Nadal challenge in the final set to clinch the tile 6-2. The Swiss exulted with a rare outburst of emotion.. it was quite understandable....


Whatever be the result of the match, one thing is pretty evident.. these two are the rulers of modern day tennis be it grass or clay... They have simply discarded the others from either versions of the game. Federer said after the match that the title could have easily been Rafa's too. He wasnt made to prespire as much in any version of the game ever before. Such was the quality and strength of Nadal. It was a fitting end to the rain-hit wimbledon where two legends fought with valor for the title in the presence of all time greats like Becker and Borg. With the fifth straight wimbledon title safely tucked under his belt, can the King of grass rest easy..?? Well hardly, with the way he was made to run for the title this time he can hardly afford to put away the Spaniard's brilliance. Nadal's performance in this final had thrown in many questions to the tennis world... is this the end of the Federer era...? Well, time will tell....