Tears Had Said It All !

February 1st,2009 will not particulary go down well in Federer's diary. It was an evening filled with sweat, emotions and apprehensions.

I am a fan of both Federer and Nadal but when it comes to a match between them, I root for Rafa. Though I was thrilled when Rafa finally won the Aus' open 2009... well deserved... but it was Roger who stole my attention. Tears flowed through his eyes endlessly and I couldn't help but cry along. He touched everybody's heart.Rafa seems to be the biggest obstacle in Roger's otherwise perfect career. "God, its killing me", is what Roger said in the presentation ceremony. I had seen him cry before but this was for a different reason.


The year 2008 did the maximum damage to the psyche of Federer. One, he lost the French Open 2008 to Rafa in straight sets (6-1, 6-3, 6-0)... so out of form and helpless... if that was not enough, he faced Rafa again in the Wimbledon final 2008, to loose in an epic final (6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7). This hurt him and he knew what was to come. Rafa won the Olympic gold and went on to become the new world No.1.

The only solace which Roger got from 2008 is his US Open 2008 win which pushed him closer to the record to be achieved and surpassed... Pete Sampras' record of 14 grand slam wins... The other consolation for him was the Olympic doubles gold medal which he won for his country...

Sometime earlier (2007), his admirers and critics had said that he will easily surpass Pete's record and he has it in him to win atleast 20 grand slams but it looks like he will have to work hard to achieve it.. Its time for Roger to pull up his socks, leave the recent losses behind, find a coach and probably a sports psychologist, who will help him crack the code named 'Rafael Nadal'.

Image Source: australianopen.com

Perfect Start for 2009….

There could not have been a better start for Rafa … It was as if everything was set for him... the final showdown against one of the greats in Men’s tennis circuit – Roger Federer, the most talked about rivalry, Federer’s quest for the 14th grandslam and a point to be proven. Gone are the days when Rafa was addressed as the King of Clay, he is now the Iron Man.

The Australian Open 2009 final is significant for its own reasons. It marked the arrival of Rafa on the hard court. He managed to win against Verdasco in the gruelling semi-final match that lasted for five hours 14 minutes to come back and claim the Aus’ open title in less than 48 hours. Nadal has spent 9 hours and 37 minutes on court in his final two matches. It is no mean task by any standards. Goran Ivanisevic was the last player to win back to back five set matches to win a Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2001 while Mats Wilander was the last player to accomplish this feat at the Australian open in 1988. Rafa is just a slam short of completing a career grand slam or should I say a golden career grand slam? He now needs to win the US Open title.

Now on his accomplishments…

He is the 2nd youngest player in the Open Era to have won 6 Grand Slam title at the age of 22 years and 7 months (the other player is Bjorn Borg at the age of 22 years 1 month)

He is the 3rd player at the age of 22 to win three of the four Grand Slam titles along with Jimmy Connors and Pete Sampras. Federer had 2 titles at the age of 22.

Nadal has earned 2000 South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings points by winning the Aus' open and an almost assured berth in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals to be held at London’s O2 Arena in November.

Federer now has a win-loss record of 13-5 in Grand Slam finals, having lost to Nadal in 5 finals. Nadal holds a win-loss record of 13-6 against Federer overall.

Nothing to take away from Federer but it is time for him to go back to his drawing board and rethink his strategy. All the best Rafa!

Image Source: Australianopen.com