I admit it, over the past few years, I've watched Federer's rise with the raised eyebrow of cynicism. Many of us have said he's had the advantage of a lack lustre competition.. the proverbial one-eyed king ruling the blind.
In my book, he's always had the finesse, the class, the shots, the timing.. but did he have the temperament, that extra reserve which makes champions truly great.. if he was stretched, would be buckle?! I was not sure.. anyone who took a look at his five set record would wonder. Sometimes, to show how great you are, you need a challenger. For Federer, Nadal was it. In a sense, Nadal is perhaps as perfect a challenger as one can get.. since he probes Federer in those very areas where questions have been raised.. the fitness.. the temperament..
In yesterday's 2007 Wimbledon final, for most part, Nadal was the better player. Except on the crucial points, the tie-breaks, the 15-40s on Federer's serve in the final set. With the 4th set washed away in a barrage of awesome play, with the momentum totally against you, with Hawkeye calls rattling you, rolling over and fading away is just too easy. But the great ones don't, they dig in their heels and produce 4 points of magic.
One might say that the match was Nadal all the way.. if it wasn't for the Federer serve.. but then there was a time when you could say the same thing about the Sampras serve or the Agassi return or the Mcenroe swinger in the ad court. After all, it is his own serve, he worked at it, he developed it, if it won't save him on crucial points, who else would it save?!
I'm not saying I've joined the Federer-can-do-no-wrong brigade. There will be times when he loses, plays bad tennis, looks ordinary.. we have the beginning of an awesome rivalry here and there will be times with Nadal will be on top. But after yesterday's final, Roger Federer has my respect. Not because he won, but because of the way he won it.. he deserves his place amongst the greatest who've played the game, I won't question it now. He has earned it.
Roger Federer, winner of 5 consecutive Wimbledon titles, you da man!!
23 hours ago
2 comments:
^:)^ to Roger :).
And he wasn't lucky as he himslef said. He totally deserved it yesterday. If he din't play well in 4th and came back in 5th doesn't matter...afterall you see 3 out of 5 and he won them :)
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