Post mortem of an unfortunate defeat

Nadal bt Federer 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6

Records were to be made whether the Spaniard won or the Swiss on Roland Garros finale. But as the fate had it, Federal express was derailed by the Spanish bull. Huge accolades are due to the 21 yr old who completed his well deserved hattrick in Paris, paralleling Bjorg's record of 1978. As the game proceeded, it became more and more evident that Fed has long way to go before challenging the clay king. He was only good enough to cost Rafa his first set in the tournament.

But as a hard core fan of the Swiss genius, my heart did bleed to see him crestfallen as he held the runners' up trophy. Thirty million dollars in prize money, 10 Grand Slam titles, at least three languages comfortably mastered, the respect and admiration of peers, fans and media - anyone could die to possess these. But cruel history will remember Fed's name for not mastering clay rather than counting the honors he has achieved. He knows it because he would have seen the names of Sampras, Becker, Edberg, McEnroe and Connors being dug up again and again in the list of champions defeated by clay. Probably the history wouldn't remember how close he got to master it all but as they say, "there's either victory or defeat" and he is defeated for the time being.


He wouldn't want to feature in that list and the disappointment was pretty much evident on his face. I have never seen him like that before. He knows the value of what he failed to achieve. He has few more years to reign the realm of tennis and a big glory awaits him in the history. A dream is left unfinished and it is not a mission impossible, so lets keep the hopes up :)

the match analysis :
Federer was far from his usual attacking and calm attitude. “I am a little sad about the way I played,” said Roger. “I have not accomplished what I had planned. But this was certainly not the last time I played here, I’ll try again next year.” This summarises the error prone (59 bloody unforced errors!) and succumbing to pressure game that Fedex delivered. Nadal on other hand grew stronger with each passing game. Except for the 2nd set, Nadal dominated the match overwhelmingly. Federer failed to convert so many break points in the first set that the initial pressure kept piling up. The Hamburg victory never reflected in his actions and Nadal kept improving; his winners kept flowing regularly. The last set seemed like Fed had already caved in. What impresses me most about Rafa is his attitude afterwards. He could have boasted and exulted but rather he appraised Fed's efforts and improvement. “What Federer has done is something almost nobody has done in history, so what are you going to ask of Federer?” he said. “What he does is exceptional already.”


Now that is a rivalry one can look forward to enjoying in future grand slams.

Why is this not a final defeat for Fedex:
26 yrs. old, he has years ahead to break all the records that ever existed in tennis. Statistics may be misleading for few players but when they are as overwhelming as in Roger's case, one can't ignore them. A snapshot -

• top ranked since Feb 2004
• victory:loss ratio - 30-5(2007), 90-5(2006), 80-4(2005)
• 78.7% winning records in the finals
• 3 Aus Open, 4 Wimbledon, 3 US Open, 0 (damn) French Open titles till date

and many more....
“If I would have won today, I would have not many other goals to chase in my career,” Federer said. “Eventually, if I get it, the sweeter it’s going to taste. So hopefully I’ll give myself more opportunities, over and over again. I know I can do it now, that’s for sure.”

A look at the clay history will tell us that clay produces its own specialists like Guga Kuerten, Courier, Bruguera, Ferrero, Moya and so on. What these professionals had usually lacked till now was consistency. Not only they were confined to clay, they did not keep their streaks long even on clay. Only Brazilian Kuerten could win thrice in recent times. Rest kept coming and vanishing. What Rafa has brought is consistency and competence on other kind of surfaces as well. But given the Roland Garros history, it remains to be seen how long can he continue.

I would say it has only grown more interesting for all the tennis audience all over the world. We have been missing a Sampras-Agassi rivalry and I can only revel in the attitude shown by these two outstanding players. They promise to bring up some wild contests in future. Lets see how long can they keep denying each other the sweet success.

What about the critics :
"When people start talking against one, then its understood that he has achieved something big." And when its Federer, the achievements are nothing less than colossal. So obviously there are going to be critics who would sign him off and say that Nadal has got better of him. No doubt that Rafa has defeated him but a small addition may be needed - "on clay". I give the full credit for Parisian victory to Nadal. He is only 21 and has plenty of action left. I think tennis world has a lot left to see in him. May he give a new dimension to the rivalry in tennis and fill the space of a much needed strong opponent for Fed.
And btw, we shall soon talk about grass and hard courts - ah, what a relief! :-)