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
