Great Tennis Rivalries
Please everybody,forget for a moment fan rivalries and analyze what we saw. What happened?
Can anybody explain what we really witnessed this afternoon? Tennis buffs pls. elucidate for us.
Insulters pls. abstain. You can do your cheering and ranting on another question.
I’m a dyed in the wool NADAL fan all the way but even I can’t believe that he’s THAT good. Was his game so great today?
I really think there is something wrong with Roger and that we did not see the real Federer,only a hollow shell.
I think Rafa could have beaten the real Fed too but in 4 or 5 closely fought sets or even in 3 straight sets but all closely fought.
That 6-0 left me with an awfully bad taste in the mouth.
What we saw was a Federer who knew he had no chance of beating Nadal on clay. He tried to go for winners (not the ideal strategy on clay), and he made 35 errors out of his 92 points lost. He only won 53 points by the way.
Federer in 2003-2006 won matches by his virtuoso all round game. It’s brilliant and beautiful to watch. Even Nadal fans have to admit that. But his game was never really efficient. He always needed his whole game to win a point. Sampras just needed his serve.
Now Federer has lost the will to compete. Winning is no longer a formality for him, and he just does not want to work like other players. I think he’s bored and no longer motivated, and as I said elsewhere, I expect him to retire when he loses Wimbledon this year.
Notice that I’ve focussed solely on Federer so far. That’s because it does not matter how great Nadal was playing, that alone can’t account for a 1,3,0 scoreline against arguably the greatest player of all time. You’ll be hardpressed to find another tennis great who lost a match that badly. Nadal was always going to win the match, but it’s Federer’s doing to lose it so badly.
Mentally what do you think will happen if Federer meets Nadal again at Wimbledon. Do you really think Federer has the attitude or the belief that he can beat him? I don’t.
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Strokes of Genius: Federer, Nadal, and the Greatest Match Ever Played $1.36 In the 2008 Wimbledon menâs final, Centre Court was a stage set worthy of Shakespearean drama. Five-time champion Roger Federer was on track to take his rightful place as the most dominant player in the history of the game. He just needed to cling to his trajectory. So in the last few moments of daylight, Centre Court witnessed a coronation. Only it wasnât a crowning for the Swiss heir a… |
