"If you can meet triumph and disaster…and treat those impostors the same", Rudyard Kipling
This was a tale straight out of Hollywood, only better for it was not acted, produced or directed: this was a reality tale. The victor had to reach into his deepest mental reserves to cross the finish line. The vanquished (if ever there was a word that did not fit the intended, it has to be this one) gallantly staved off every challenge that ever presented itself along the way…to finally drop dead at the doorstep of victory.
The cauldron that was Center Court lived and died with both of players at every point, for the entire four hours and 48 minutes. The drama, exhilaration and heartbreak that transpired had so many images for a photographers dream.
Bjorn Borg’s nonchalant head turn to the left, a reaction to Federer’s third set breaker victory that said, "Come on Raf...you at least had to see that coming". Another one, when the entire cauldron went berserk at that famed out of court backhand pass at championship point down from Federer, Ana-Maria Nadal (mum) turned her head to the right in utter complete disgust as if to say "that was obscene and utterly downright despicable Rodge". Rafa’s plead to the heavens (Safin-esque), Federer’s outburst of "that e’%%%% point" in the fourth set and asking the chair umpire to ask the crowd to shut up in the middle of the point only added to the entire drama that was just beginning to unfold.
The zenith of this thriller was the fourth set tiebreak; only to be followed by the classic epilogue of the fifth set. Time and again Federer played like an instrumentation system, every time he sensed a threat he called on his first serve and inside out forehand to bail him out of trouble. The system sensed threat and facilitated an automatic shut down.
At 5-2 in the breaker it looked to be over as Nadal had the championship on his racket, with two serves to come. For the first time, Rafael Nadal blinked, he knew he stood at the doorstep of history and he wasn’t quite prepared to believe it enough, to take it.
A little crack that led to a double fault and an unforced at the most inopportune of times. Then, Rafa’s dead run forehand pass set up the championship point at 8-7 in the breaker, and the next point was an automatic candidate for "Another Golden Moment from Wimbledon."
A great first serve and a forehand cross court from Nadal and Federer with a dead run backhand screamer out of court down the line pass...at championship point down. It could have either been one of the toughest or the simplest things to do at that point, to be able to isolate everything else and be indifferent to it, and pull out such a backhand screamer is unimaginable. On the other hand if it were purely instinctual you would not have enough time to think about external influences, you just play the shot and at that point it becomes very simple. The bastard has ice running through his veins.
It was a true testament to Rafa’s mental fortitude that no one even questioned he would be ready to play, even after losing a championship point in the fourth set. I loved his response when asked about how he felt at the changeover after the fourth set: "I am far away from winning it, but this is the closest I have ever been, just continue fighting."
With rain breaks and fading sunlight in the middle of such an epic, no one wanted to come back on Monday. As Federer pressed on in his Phoenix quest, Rafa managed to stay with him all through with rock solid serves and breathtaking athleticism. Even uncle Toni was on his feet midway into the fifth.
Rafa would break Federer at 7-7 in the fifth and hold one more championship point, a game later. Federer would call on his instrumentation system again to stave it off with a brilliant backhand return. That was the last championship point he would stave off for the day.
As Federer’s forehand crashed into the net at 7-8, 30-40, Rafa fell onto the hallowed turf, relieved, rejoiced and expended. The tone and the manner in which the match unfolded reminded so much from the Borg—McEnroe epic.
In the fading twilight it was a true Hollywood fairytale, as Rafa climbed into his family box, Federer sat on his chair in darkness, contemplating what might have been. The changing of guard is an overrated concept; any run of this magnitude has to end sometime...and it did.
I do think Rafa is clearly the world’s top player and to win in Paris and London is an unparalleled achievement, quite phenomenal. Changing of guard essentially means that Federer’s reign has been terminated forever, which is very untrue. It is a run that ended—true, but 9-7 in the fifth, hardly akin to the Roland Garros final. I think it is a tennis game that Federer lost, a heartbreaker yes, but I am going to hold on to my pen a little longer before writing down Federer’s obituary.
With hundreds of cameras flashing in fading twilight and near darkness, the audience of Center Court witnessed the last few verses of this Hollywood epic. Rafael Nadal bit into his first Wimbledon trophy, bathed in camera flashes similar to stars falling out of the sky.
As Rod Laver put it about his legendary game against Ken Rosewall, "It might have been his win, but it was our match." Every Hollywood epic has a victor and a vanquished, except for this one.
PS: A shout out to "Warney" for watching this game with you made it only more special. We did not watch the game; we lived and died with each point, even if rooting for opposite ends.
comments (2) write a comment »
write a new comment
2 months ago
yeah the match was thrilling but not the all time greatest match of Wimbledon. it was one of the best matches in Wimbledon history. but the longest final. i watched the match and it was really a good match.
2 months ago
yeah, am not sure all time best match, holds any value
but certainly I lived and died with every point through the whole match ... i watched it one of my best mates in NY
write a new comment