The Champion and the Challenger

Centre Court - Gentlemen's Singles - Finals

	Roger Federer SUI (1)					4		4		77		710		7
	Rafael Nadal ESP (2)					6		6		65		68		9

There are days and times when you hope contests don't end in victories and defeats. But then, there are defeats which are just as sweet as victories. In the world of tennis, Sunday - the 6th of July, 2008 will be remembered as one such day. The Wimbledon Men's singles title, arguably the most sought-after title in tennis was at stake and the two men who were to battle it out already had a fascinating trail of clashes behind them. Roger Federer - five time Wimbledon champion, the grass court wizard - the man who had been the undisputed Emperor of the tennis empire for the last five years. And against him....Rafael Nadal - his arch-rival and nemesis, Clay King - the only man in the world who had beaten Federer more number of times than he had lost to him. It was a dream title-clash but the way it eventually turned out was beyond anybody's wildest dreams.

A few weeks back, Nadal had unceremoniously dumped Federer in straight sets (and one set going 6-0!) at Roland Garros. The memories of that lop-sided match still lingered in people's minds. But then, this was grass and Federer was coming into the final with an unbeaten 65-match winning streak - something unprecedented in tennis history. He had also managed to defend his Wimbledon title for the last two years by defeating Nadal. Both meanwhile were chasing two different records - both of which curiously belonged to the same man. Bjorn Borg, the legendary tennis champion - winner of 5 straight Wimbledons and 6 French Opens. While Federer was aiming to eclipse Borg with a 6th consecutive Wimbledon title - a feat which no man had performed in 122 years of Wimbledon history, Nadal was striving to become the first man since Borg to hold the Roland Garros and the Wimbledon titles in the same year. Both players had launched a fierce demolition drive en route to the final. Hardly any other player had even threatened them in a single match - it was a cakewalk all the way. But then, Destiny is a cruel judge and when it come to sports even more so. So it was that once again the two were left to battle it out for grass supremacy. As I mentioned before, the two players had a trail of epic clashes behind them. The 2007 Wimbledon final - a breath-taking five setter which the Swiss eventually won, three French Open finals - where Nadal exhibited apparent invincibility, another grueling Monte Carlo Masters match.....it seemed that the two were ideal reagents for great tennis to be conjured.

I have always been a hardcore Federer fan. In Federer, I have always found the spirit of a true sportsman and a deserving champion. Cool in the face of adversity, merciless in his play and modesty amidst a gale of fame - it was considered impossible to rival Federer - until the ascent of Nadal. In contrast to Federer, Nadal was unduly aggressive - his characteristic on-court attire and those bulging biceps punching away his opponents to oblivion - he was a package of youthful exhuberance and devastating fearlessness. Over the years, Nadal matured, imbibed the necessary qualities of a champion and posed a real threat to Federer's five year reign over tennis. Until then Federer had an aura of invincibility around him but Nadal could and did make Federer look human on several occasions. He always seemed to hold a rather inexplicable psychological edge over Federer and was obviously more successful than others in bringing Federer's flaws to public notice.

When Nadal took away the first two sets of the final match, most people must have written off Federer. Federer was highly error-prone on Sunday and so many of his otherwise winning shots were going wayward. Nadal meanwhile was a picture of perfection and his grit and determination was palpable over his face. He swung the second set like a pendulum into his favour after coming down from an early break to break two of Federer's service games. The murmurs of the crowd turned into gasps of astonishment and Federer tried his best to repel Nadal's swift attacks. Infact, the heat of the battle was so tremendous that God had to send down showers twice to cool things down. Back after the first delay, Roger Federer was a different player altogether. The booming serves crawled in, the rocket fore-hands began working and he took the next two sets to tie-breaks. A tie-break, I believe, is a really unfair way of settling things. 7 points - either here or there - and you end up with a decision on who gets the hour-long fiercely fought set. Federer eventually won both. Once again, his mental strength and strong serves at critical junctures ruled over Nadal's equally praiseworthy efforts. The top-seed saved a couple of championship-points and in doing so, marred Nadal's chances of settling it earlier.

So far it had been a treat for any tennis fan. Two champions battling it out since 4 hours and still no obvious indication of which way the match was going. It was the contrasting styles of both players which made the watching experience even more delightful. Federer's silky mastery over Nadal's knock-out winners. Federer's modest ruthlessness versus Nadal's steely resilience. Federer's breezy demeanour versus Nadal's unrelenting ferocity. It must have made life difficult for the poor green balls knocked all across the court to quench the thirst and lust of two maestros. The fifth set was a fitting end to an epic clash - the longest Wimbledon final in tennis history - a match played at such high skill-levels and intensity that the tennis world was scorched by its outputs. Cries of 'Come on, Roger!' and 'Vamos Rafa!' echoed in the huge stadium and the crowd, like all Wimbledon crowds, were responsive and appreciative to the efforts of both players. Ultimately it would only be fair to say that the better man on the day won. Nadal had after all been the more consistent of the two while Federer had only showed patches of brilliance interspersed with some really mediocre play. For years, we had only wondered - who would be the man to stop Roger Federer's merciless reign on grass and it was after Nadal sealed away the last set 9-7 that our questions got answered.

The scenes after the victory were those which would remain etched in my mind for a long, long time. Nadal, squealing in delight and falling down flat on the turf he had finally mastered. Federer, looking dejected but graceful in defeat. Nadal, his eyes flooded with tears, reaching out to his vociferous family members. Federer, for the first time, witnessing another man celebrate at the end of a Wimbledon final. But, the true champion that he is, Federer had only admiration for Nadal at the end of the day and correspondingly Nadal also acknowledged that a single victory, herculean in proportions though it may be, did not mean that Federer was permanently bested. The implications in the tennis world that this result brought were left for the analysts to figure out. But it did make certain things quite obvious. It was a definite and a cruel end to Federer's monopoly in the tennis and now even he would have to perspire and pass through all the scares before winning a title again. He would have to perform exceptionally well and bundle up all the points that he can, to stay at the top at the end of the year. After all, he has much more points to catch up with in the second half of the year compared to Nadal. For Nadal meanwhile it meant a salvation of sorts. People would definitely stop branding him as a mere Clay court genius. The post-match conferences certainly showed Federer's frustrations and disappointments and he knew that he would have to spend some serious hours to find out a way to overcome the Spanish star when he met him next. 'The higher you rise, the harder you fall' and Federer's climb in the last five years had indeed been in league with the greatest of the sport. But the worries seem trivial now....let's salute the new Wimbledon champion and at the same time wish Federer comes back all pumped and pepped up to regain what has been robbed off him. At the end of this Wimbledon we still have a champion and we still have a challenger but the roles have been miraculously reversed in the course of the events in the fortnight. Lets wish the choicest of luck to these two achievers and hope they continue to serve tennis in the same manner as they have done so far.