Hard to digest this, very heart-breaking, in fact very very heart breaking; but you have to give it to the grit, fitness and most importantly, the finesse of this Spaniard. What a match!
I couldn't watch the 2008 French Open final, but I watched the 2008 Wimbledon final with my eyes wide open, and jaw hanging; wondering how the Mr Perfectionist could let this kid go past him. I didn't believe in Nadal being a better player than Federer. After all Federer was grace personified. He didn't have a powerful serve, but still he could produce aces time and again. He didn't have a very powerful fore-hand or a back-hand. But his back-hand passes, fore-hands flirted with the lines. They were so precise. It was not the power, but the finesse and precision that he had in his game, that always awed me. That's why even when Nadal was powering his game ahead with those booming forehands and power-packed shots, I never thought of him being in the same league as that of Federer.
In the 2008 Wimbledon final, though Nadal did play well, it was Federer's tally of unforced errors, and that very low percentage of those all important first-serve-ins helped Nadal's cause in a great way. If you cannot get your first serve in, then automatically you are stripped off of your ability to produce those aces and lose out on the ability to put your opponent on the backfoot, as the second serves are always the plan-b kind of safer serves, i.e. slower serves. Incidently, you end up dropping way too many of your serves. Secondly, when you keep committing those unforced errors, it's a free lunch for the opponent. You end up losing those crucial points which should essentially have been yours. And this was what was turning out to be the bane of Federer in that epic 2008 Wimbledon final. It was Federer sans his ruthlessness and precision in that match.
After that Wimbledon final, I kept thinking of Nadal's game as display of raw power and fitness rather than finesse. Not any more, after today's 2009 Australian Open final. What we saw today, was an exhibition of pure grit and awesome tennis from a 22 year old. He came into an Australian open final for the first time, and with a brutal 5+ hours of tennis played just a day ago. Federer with all his experience, with his form, and with a rest for two days, obviously came in as favourite. But even after these all odds, the way this golden-retriever tormented Federer with his ability of fetching even dead sure winners out of nowhere, and then producing an impeccable pass right under the nose of Federer at the net, was simply astounding to say the least. The whole time I was wishing and hoping and praying for Federer to win, but those extra-ordinary rallies and Nadal's unbelievable winners which would eventually end those rallies, just shocked and awed me to the hilt. They carried a hallmark of champion with a never-say-die attitude. It was not mere power, it was finesse and elegance written all over his shots. The very qualities that took Roger Federer where he stands today, or rather where he used to stand few months back.
This doesn't mean that Federer didn't play well. In fact, there were flashes of the old Federer with the supreme confidence and finesse and elegance during the start of the third set. He looked to be in control of the game, in control of the court during that time. But then again probably Nadal got into his head somehow, and those unforced errors started creeping in again. Getting into the head of a perfectionist champion, with a super impressive record of 13 Grand Slam championships, and then outperforming him in his own game, is something only a champion can do, I am convinced.
I guess, for this reason, this 2009 Australian Open final truly marks the end of an era of one champion, while one other intimidatingly fit, young champion gets ready to shake the scene, and shock-n-awe everybody.
Best wishes to Rafa from a heart-broken Federer fanboy.
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