Spanish bull tames the Swiss cow

That was the Wimbledon 2008 final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. People already started calling the fight as Rafa vs Roger instead of saying it the other way round. The reason being, Rafa's meteoric rise on the green turf. He won the customary Stella Artois championship in tune up to Wimbledon and he lived up to his expectations by knocking out Roger in a fiercely fought 5 setter, with the Spaniard prevailing 6-4,6-4,6-7,6-7,9-7 in the longest final ever played on the Wimbledon lawns.



When Rafa won the first two sets by breaking Roger in each of the sets, few were dismayed and many expected that it would be straight set win for Rafa. It could have well been that had it not been for a late order resurgence from Roger. Many anticipated that it would be a close match but the newspapers would have said, "Rafa stunned Roger at Wimbledon", had he won the last year final. It's no more a surprise victory for Rafa. It is much awaited and much needed shift that is needed at the top to keep the game interesting. It was not Roger who choked this time, it's Rafa who held his nerve all through the match despite the momentum shift to Roger in the fifth set.


Roger was expecting Rafa to falter in the last set, which happened many a time against other players. With the French Open thrashing that Rafa delivered to Roger, under his belt, he left his mind unperturbed leaving the daemons to sit pretty in Roger's head as the match wore on. Rafa was ready to play even for an hour on the same day or ready for an other 5 setter the next day. It was Roger who was getting tired and was praying for some fortune. But the man from Mallorca kept his nerves under wraps and allowed the Swiss master to crumble under pressure. If at any point of time that you felt that Roger was not upto the mark, then you should be digging a hole right where you are sitting. No doubt he made uncharacteristic unforced errors, but the resilience he had shown to come back from two sets to love down and take the final set all the way to the brink, shows why he is such a complete player with an ability to pull a shot that was never seen. When was the last time you've seen Roger two sets to love down and playing a tie break in the third to stay in the match? Roger was a tad slower than his 2007 performance but that hardly mattered. It was Rafa who has grown leaps and bounds as compared to his last year's performance that sealed the deal.



It's not the end of the road for Roger, by any means. His game is still good enough to beat top ten players on the circuit. Upcoming season is the hard court one which is to Roger's liking. Djokovic, Tsonga, Murray are other players to watch for. Many are writing Rafa off on the hard court season atleast this year but I am not. He just has shown everyone that he can not only be a clay court specialist but also a good grass court player. He is the second best grass court player to start things with. Roger's ranking will depend on how deep Rafa can extend his hard court season this year. Should Rafa's knees hold up, it won't be a surprise if these two R's meet in the finals at Flushing Meadows.



Nevertheless, July 6th was a day that I had been waiting for two years and finally the warrior has come in the form of Rafael Nadal. It's a welcome sight for many to see the tables shift at the top of men's tennis world. Game is getting stale and becoming one-dimensional with Roger's artistic play and 4 years of absolute dominance is a little too long for anyone's comfort. Roger Federer has finally shown that he too is mortal. Rafa has shown that he is absolutely brutal. Atleast the tennis will now be played on earth to give other players a sniff of Grandslam victory rather than being played on totally different planet where the Swiss cow and the Spanish bull have owned and grazed on it for quite a while.