They are calling yesterday's Wimbledon final between Nadal and Federer the 'Greatest match ever'...and rightly so. We got to see two players who seemed to have perfected the skill of playing tennis! They seem to have tuned not only their bodies but their minds too for a perfect game of tennis. Who wanted the cup more, is debatable....but we can be sure that for both of them, in the moments when the match and the cup tilted in the others favor, it would have been very tough to not feel an ounce of desperation and focus on just giving back a perfect and sensational shot!
Read this about Federer's demeanor in some article, which I thought perfectly described him 'With the casual aplomb of a gentleman pouring a glass of wine...'!
I absolutely loved Federer's calmness during the match. He almost reminded me of Arjun (ya ya, from the Mahabharata...:) who could see the ball and nothing else. It din't matter...if the match was almost going to Nadal..or whether it was just a point in the starting game of a set. He wasn't unnerved EVER. He seemed totally detatched from any emotion whatsoever! I wonder how they do that! I was a bunch of nerves, just watching the match. :-) To me, the way he spoke at the award ceremony was almost an epitome of sportsmanship spirit. He made no bones about the fact that he was disappointed but at the same time, totally accepted that Nadal was just a better player yesterday. And no...he hasn't given up...he finished his little interview with 'I'll be back on this court next year to win' :)
This line about Nadal was so true about the perfection with which he played yesterday 'But then, that's the story of Nadal. He always makes you hit one more shot than you want to'. That was just how the way it was yesterday. You would think the point is gone to Federer and Nadal was just reach out miraculously and hit the ball and even make it land in the right place! Though his serves and aces were nothing compared to Federer's, Nadal was just able to play better yesterday. More of his shots landed where they were supposed to. He made fewer unforced errors...and he really deserved to win yesterday. It was interesting watching an emotional Nadal climbing up to the spectator stand to share the moment with his family and then walking on the roof to acknowledge the members of the royalty! Someone commented 'Leave it to Nadal to take the most difficult route' :D
All in all, it was the best of tennis! :)
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So much analysis has been going on about this match. It has been uniformly labled the best match ever.
Also the drama, it was so dark near the end. If Nadal has not broken at 7-7 and then held on his serve to win 9-7, the day's play would have ended. The match would have resumed the next day. It was pretty much that they could have even played 1 more point if Federer's usually 'brahmastra' (see Mahabharat reference here too!) forehand had not sailed into the net to give Nadal the match. It was almost destiny that the match went on right till the max and nothing more could have been fitted in. One more drop and the pitcher would have overflowed...
Here is another thing 1 article noted and it did bring a tinge of sadness:
The 1980 match [Borg-McEnroe] was the one that lived on most vividly, becoming a staple of television coverage during rain breaks for the last 28 years.
Federer and Nadal will not receive the same treatment. Rain breaks [due to the new retractable cover being installed] on Centre Court at Wimbledon are about to become as much a part of the past as the wooden racket.
ps: I watched the last 2 games of the match again and just noted that Federer missed 4 forehands. :(
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