Rafal Nadal reigns supreme. Fedex -> Fed ex champ.
R Federer vs Rafal Nadal 4-6 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (10-8 ) 7-9
WIMBLEDON 2008
It was sheer power and months of effort and practice which put Rafal on top, Fedex wasn’t able to push the game to the next level, he just seems too tired to push it a step front. The wind, weather played a spoil sport,
Not taking it to the next level
it added the much unwanted Bollywood suspense to the match. The wind was one of the factors which tested these two great players on court. It was a war, a war for honor and pride. Fedex would have been the only person to get six consecutive titles if he had won it. Rafal has his first Wimbledon. Frankly, Roger should have seen it coming, Rafal pushed the limits the last time they met at Wimbledon. Rafal defeated Roger earlier this year, that sent clear loud warning messages to Roger that Rafal was coming and he isn’t taking home last year’s result. Roger just gave up in going to the next level, he had lost form, lost his cool, could see him shouting and not be his usual self. Most of his back hand ended up in the nets most of the times, his lost accuracy and too many unforced errors ended up making most of Fed fans disappointed.
Rafal was charging right from start, he could have possibly went on to a 3-0 set lead from 2-0 if it was not for Fedex’s spark of brilliance and flashes of his supremacy at moments when it mattered most. From 3-0 in the second set he marches to 4-6 sending a shiver down Fedex’s spine and stunning the spectators. No one has seen Roger rattled and in search of his form.
“Nadal really is the only guy that can stay in these rallies with Federer and then turn defence into attack.” – Tim Henman in the BBC commentary box.
Twisted knee
Rafal did send some fright when he twisted his knee in the third set, but he was back bouncing as he always is. The rain gods sent their tears down when the match was 5-4 in favor of Fed. Once the covers were out, I was a bit apprehensive that Roger may have got an advantage with that break. He was losing his cool and he felt lost. The rain must have helped him slightly. It went on to a tie break, if there was anything which Fed could be glad about it should be his aces, the third set belonged to Fed. The champ was not giving up, will we see a twist in the tale? I very much wanted Rafa to win.
You could have very well written off Roger after the second set, but the champ would not go. He just would not. The fourth set went into a tie break once again and it was Roger’s aces which saved him, Fed won the tie break 10-8. He wasn’t leaving, not just yet. Not smooth sailing for Rafal. This was one history in the making.
Flashes of brilliance
The third set was no lesser with entertainment and pressure, it went down to 7-7. With lots of Fed backhand shots kissing the nets, Rafa successfully broke Federer’s serve when it mattered most. It was Rafa serving for the championship, Nadal serving for the championship, an ace would see the trophy in Rafa’s hands. An ace it was not, Roger returns the serve and meets with the same luck, the nets, but this time it was his forehand.
MY 2007 WIMBLEDON POST IS HERE.
WITH THE CUP
Bala
July 7, 2008
The point when fedex must have felt threatened is not when nadal finished him in staright sets on clay…but when nadal won his first title on grass in the Queen’s Masters…most definitely the rate at which nadal improved on grass is more than fedex improved on clay…
he lost the match all by himself…he had more winners than nadal but it was unbelievably high unforced errors that cost fedex HIS TITLE but i dont really see nadal overtaking fedex on garss in the long run…
1 main difference between clay and grass this year is that on clay both played to their best and nadal bettered fedex but here this alarming increase in the number of Unforced errors in fedex’s column meant that the package the world saw from this magician was certainly not his best tennis on grass (the same applies to last year’s final as well but then fedex managed to hold on)…
maybe he cant better Borg by winning 6 on trought may be he wont emulate a Borg by winning at roland garros as well as the all england club in the same year( which with due respects nadal has achieved)…but rest assured Federer is definitely the best player to have played on grass(some may debate with comparisons to Sampras but he had only 4 continous wimbledons but fedex has 5)…realistically federer can only aim to overhaul Sampras’ record of 7 wimbledon titles overall…he needs 3 more years for this and win as many as AUS and US opens as he can to distance himself from Sampras overall number of slams of 14 (fedex currently has 12)…
French open safely belongs to nadal for another 3 years but that was the same being told about about fedex and wimbledon..so who knows…Stopping the nadal juggernaut on grass next year shouldnt really be a big problem for fedex but when the best player on clay can beat the best player on grass- on grass?…why not the other way round maybe a year or two we should get the answer…
being a staunch fan of Roger Federer i would just hope that this man has it in him to motivate and move to the next level…things he needs now to prevent futher damage
– A coach
-focus more on taking his game on grass to next level than worrying about clay next year for fedex regaining the crown on grass should be more important than winning on clay as i quote the world no.1 from his post match conference
“Losing Paris for me was nothing, losing here is a disaster”
this final has just added a human touch to this magician…what he takes from this defeat…what he will offer the world in future…its all left to this one man Roger Federer…
will he become a next Borg by giving up after a unsuccessful 6th attempt at wimbledon…will he become the next Sampras and end up as the AUS,Wimbledon and US champion…or will he become a Roger Federer who will have all the four grandslams and a olympics gold medal to his name?
But for this genius who writes his own scripts…he can have it the way he likes…For what hes achieved in the last 5 years…and for what he will achieve in the next few years…
NO ONE CAN DO FEDERER THAN THIS!
karthik shandilya
July 7, 2008
“I very much wanted Rafa to win.”
this statement from you clearly shows that your match review is very immature and frivolous.i am amazed to see you make so make childish statements which makes me wonder that were you ever a tennis fan or a fan of a single player???
i agree wholeheartedly that rafa was the deserving winner.yes he was.so he won.he made less mistakes so he won.fedex made more errors.his raw power and depth in his shots was too hot to handle.
“Frankly, Roger should have seen it coming, Rafal pushed the limits the last time they met at Wimbledon”
oh god can there be much better example of a silly statement.how do you say that he didn’t expect that he was going to face music??
everyone(at least proper tennis fans)would know fedex have been very rusty right from the start of this year.he is making so many unforced errors.even he would be knowing that he is not playing like he used to play.
“Rafal defeated Roger earlier this year, that sent clear loud warning messages to Roger that Rafal was coming and he isn’t taking home last year’s result. Roger just gave up! His back hand ended up in the nets most of the times.”
oh my god!!!!please stop posting such comments.
roger just gave up??
what a shitty statement.were you dozing while the TV was on or were you awake??
he came back from 2 sets down to take third and fourth sets. Even though he wasn’t playing well.it was enough for him to stay in contest.this shows who is the champion.nadal if is a great player has to do what roger did,what pete did.
after all this i say rafa deserved to be champion so he is,but fedex is a LEGEND
Supreeth Rajan
July 8, 2008
The post and comments about Fed was written with the aspect of him not taking the game to the next level, not in terms of his present form. “Roger just gave up” does not mean he gave up the present match, at that moment he just gave up taking the game to the next level, he was giving his best shot, no doubt, but there are times when great players are tested and this time Fed just didn’t have it to take it to the next level. He just gave up. And I do not see the logic behind being “a tennis fan” or a “player’s fan”. I do have my own player to cheer for, my own team, my own country and so on. At the end of the game, you always appreciate the game had to give you, but then, I prefer to side myself and have my own share of fun. I root for Rafa whenever my brother is around and he starts cheering for Fedex. Its just about having fun for me. Either a “tennis fan” or” a fan of a single player”, does it matter to me as long as I am having my own fun?
prashanthlee1989
July 8, 2008
What a great match! One of the best matches that can deservedly be called one of the most nail-biting, thrilling finals in the history of wimbeldon. Rafa seems to have breached Roger’s stronghold.
If you ask me, it was purely mind games that Roger was playing. If you observe the match that Fedex played against Safin, he was flawless. Not many unforced errors, amazing winners from the Swiss master when everyone thought Safin could pull out a stunner, going by his form.
But that obviously didn’t happen. But what about the finals? Roger had said long back that if he had to look out for someone , it would have been Rafa(even before rafa became a pro). So considering that the usually calm and composed emotionless Fedex wasn’t his usual self for the first 2 sets, one can say that he was playing 2 wars at a time. The pressure for Fedex, after losing 2 consecutive slams, then going for a record 6th wimbeldon, was way too higher than what Rafa was facing. Rafa had his wimbeldon shot the year before, even before that.
So lets face it, only a legend like Fed can come back from 2 sets down to almost come close of winning it. I believe the premature questions of Fedex’s dominance slowly coming to a halt is all spontaneous. Fedex is a legend. There is no doubt about. Sure, the only person who seems capable of stopping that looks like Rafa. But Rafa is at his menacing best in 2008. Roger hasn’t had a good 2008, having lost to many unseeded players. Fedex has been awarded the Laureant sportman of the year for record consecutive 4 years. What more needs to be said of the champ. But if you look at the way he has bounced back, the words that can be said about him can be nothing short of legendary. Fedex will be back, stronger than ever, because victories don’t teach you much, bitter losses do. This was certainly one of Fedex’s.
Pistol Pete , one of the greatest players of out times, lost in wimbeldon 95 and then won 4 consecutive wimbeldons. So lets just wait and watch.
Fedex will be back, stronger and better. What stands between Fedex and him being the greatest player of all time is not Rafa, i feel . Fed can defeat Rafa, but its all in the mind, if you ask me. Rafa looks at his deceiving best against Rafa, but Fed looks like he is faltering only against Rafa.( Fed has even defeated the king of clay at his own turf once).
Dai Balu, you support Fed when I am not there aaa, and you support Safin when its Safin vs Fed, only because of the 2005 aus open semis????
Anyways this is probably the longest reply ever i have given. One last thing what I would like to quote about Roger. What he said of Rafa after the latter’s Wimbeldon success, ” Rafael is a deserving champ”. Humility befitting someone nothing short of a legend.
Supreeth Rajan
July 8, 2008
Yeah, its always been supporting one of these three. Safin, Fed, Rafa. I support Fed only when he isn’t facing Safin or Rafa. But on the whole, I just like to see the tennis these guys play. I just cheer for someone just to have the extra load of fun. Rafa vs Safin would be nice. I would like to know on whom I would choose to cheer for. I just get some plain fun by supporting the less favored. No real logic behind it.
And about Pete, how many would have felt sad and disappointed when he lost in 1996. Which would have otherwise been an unbreakable record, 8 consecutive Wimbledon titles. With the first half of Fedex’s script being something similar to that of Pete, there is nothing wrong for me to expect a similar tale for Fedex. Fed and Rafa are two players are going to break many records, and its going to happen so fast with each of them progressing so fast. (Although, Fed seems to have lost the steam this year, am pretty sure, he would again be on top).
“Fedex will be back, stronger than ever, because victories don’t teach you much, bitter losses do. This was certainly one of Fedex’s.”
@ Prash, Reminds me of the movie “A good year”.