Ah...what a spectacle it was!!! Roger Federer playing against Rafeal Nadal on the center court at the All England Lawn Tennis Club on a very beautiful English Summer is always a mouth watering contest. Rewind one year, Roger Federer, even though had lost French open to Nadal before coming to wimbledon , captured his fourth Wimbledon title pretty comfortably. But this year, two things happened in addition to Roger Federer losing French Open again to Rafeal Nadal. One, Federer was not only beaten but infact slaughtered by Nadal in the French Open final and for the first time making Federer doubt his own abilty to win against Nadal on grass. Two, Roger Federer missed his pre- Wimbledon warm up tournament unlike other years. In addition to these two factors, Nadal's growing confidence is an another thing that Federer had to fight against.
Today's game started as usual, with both the players trading shots. Federer as he does always in Wimbledon, captured the first set. From then on, Nadal shifted to a higher gear and Federer tried pretty hard to catch up. The second set was taken by Nadal pretty comfortably. The third went to a tie- breaker. Roger, as good as he is always in the clutch, took the tie- breaker without any problem. The fourth set is a surprise not only for the spectators who were watching, but also for Federer himself. Nadal, now in his highest gear took the fourth set making the game more interesting. So, for the first time in his five wimbledon tournaments, Federer had been pushed to a fifth set.
This is when we saw the real Federer emerge from the shackles he was bound till now. Though Nadal gave a tough fight, Federer showed the world why he is the best tennis player and why Wimbledon is his home court. And it took just one break of Nadal's serve for Federer to wrap up things on the center court.
"Fifth set at any Grandslam final is not about tennis, it is about heart and courage". At the end, Roger showed he had got more heart and courage, and finally he was the one who emerged successful. On the way, he equalled Bjorn Borg's record of five wimbledon titles. Ironically, Borg was there among the crowd who had witnessed this classic.
It was one of the best tennis matches I have ever seen. It was a match between two great tennis players who gave everything they had got.
And for the people who didn't happen to catch up the game, "you have missed something truly spectacular"
Congrats, Roger!!!
Looking forward for your visit to the Flushing Meadows. Welcome.
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