Truly, the four-hour-twenty-three-minute finals between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal was a match full of drama. It is full of emotions, especially that Roger is chasing to equal Pete Sampras’ record of 14 Grand Slam titles (currently, Roger has 13), and Rafa was wanting to be the first Spanish to win the Australian Open Title on his best ever performance at a hardcourt Grand Slam - yet!
As the clock approaches dawn, the match became increasingly tense, and perhaps, the mental pressure that Nadal has inflicted on the mighty FedEx’s psyche is getting through. With a series of unforced errors from the world No. 2, he gave Nadal his first Australian Open title in a gruelling scoreline of 7-5, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2.
Come awarding ceremony, the great and graceful Swiss could only say “God, it’s killing me.” The MC had to take the microphone from him because Roger was out of words, out of breath, and out of energy even for a wry smile. The true gentleman that he was, when it was his turn to make a Championship speech, Rafa went to his good friend Roger, gave him a tap in the shoulder, and seemed to say: it’s okay. Rafa then publicly announced how sorry he was for Roger, that he knows how it feels like, and that surely, the Swiss will break Sampras’ record as he is the greatest player of all time.
For a Nadal fan like me, I could only take my hats off to this 22-year-old Spaniard, who, despite his career success and age, scrambled for enough English words to console the teary-eyed Federer. Surely, he doesn’t need to say sorry as any match is always like that: there’s a winner and a loser. Unfortunately for Federer, the better man prevailed tonight.
In all fairness to Federer, as he was not able to speak when he was first called to the stand, he managed to summon enough strength to congratulate the winner, as he didn’t want to steal the final words from Rafa. In his speech, he said: that man deserved the final words.
See, despite the sweat and the tears, both lived up to the spirit of true sportsmanship.
Did I mention that that the commentators keep on saying to Rafa: he’s supposed to be tired! He just came from a 5-hour-14-minute semi-final. Roger had two days off!
But the human machine and the bull that Nadal is, physicality was never a problem. It’s surely a weapon. Unfortunately for Roger, his mentally seemed like a ghost that told him: it has always been Rafa who has denied him of another Grand Slam title. Tonight, that mental attitude got in the way and worked for the Bull, the world No 1, the King of Clay, the Olympic Gold Medalist, the young Rafael Nadal! My idol!
Vamos Rafa! again and again and again. Keep harvesting those trophies!
Tags: australian open, Grand Slam, Pete Sampras
