Alas, Federer is only a mortal !!! :(

Kudos to Rafa for playing some incredible tennis to beat the odds and vanquish the "King of grass". All right, that's enough praise for the new "champ"... :)
Now I am free to express my disappointment at what happened this Sunday night. To be very frank, I am not a die-hard tennis fan and only keep tabs on the results. However, my gut said that this one was going to be special and boy o' boy what an all-knowing gut have I got !!!

I said in my first post that I like to have an opinion on nearly everything. So, inspite of my limited understanding of the nitty-gritties of tennis, I would try to think out what went wrong for Feddy (and maybe end up justifying some of his mistakes unwittingly :) ). Now, as far as I think, Federer knew this was coming after last year's final and more so after the merciless thrashing he received in the french Open this year. Right in the first set, one could sense the difference in their approach to the game. Once Roger lost the first set, it was evident (atleast till set 4) that Nadal was calling the shots and Federer was the one catching up. Fed's genius was reflected in the way he clung on and managed to level the match inspite on being down.

Fed and Rafa have totally different styles. Federer banks more on his range and guile and Rafa relies on his agility and power. On this particular day, Federer really bungled up on shots he is worshipped for. One of the turning points of the match (Amritraj said so) was the volley Federer missed when he could have gone up 5-4 in the second set. Somehow I believe he panicked and tried a bit too hard. I would not wish to take credit from Nadal for showing unbelievable fighting spirit and conjuring some magical returns when everybody though the the rally was as good as over. Not to forget, his "bodyline" serves which completely rattled Federer. Talking of service, Federer surprised everyone too by serving brilliantly and ending up with 22 aces. I remember one of the commentators saying a few years back that true champions have this quality of producing amazing serves when they are down and that is the mark of a great player.

I would like to point out something interesting that I noticed during the third set. Nadal was on verge of winning the match and he double faulted. It somehow showed how he feared winning. This is not to be blamed on Nadal. This kind of "inner reluctance" of taking the final step When one is on the brink of doing the impossible (which in this case was beating Roger on grass), is often seen in life and more so in sport. Your insides just tell you -- "Ok, this is not happening for real. You can't be doing this", and... you just mess it all up. Federer pounced on this opportunity and took the set.

I can say a lot about the kind of tennis which was on display throughout the 5 hours of play and try to search for magnanimous adjectives to describe the match, but, it's rather pointless. For those who saw the match, they don't require that and those who missed it, would never know...

Well, Feddy, all I can say is you gotta BOUNCE back. Clay is territory enough for Nadal. The grass was yours for the taking and still is !!! Play on...