Melbourne magic - The Australian Open 2009
It was an epic battle, not on the killing fields of Iraq or Palestine or Sri Lanka, but on the hard surface at Melbourne for the Australian Open crown. Blood was not spilt, but enough sweat and tears. Two worthy opponents, who have ruled the tennis world between themselves for sometime now, were at each other’s throat, trying to outplay, outdo and outsmart each other, to eventually emerge champion. The genial Swiss Federer pitted against the muscular Nadal, was a sight to behold,keeping the spectators on ground and in living rooms across the world, on their seats edge. The match had all the ingredients of a classic, only surpassed by the Wimbledon finals last year. It was to keep tennis statisticians busy with Federer trying to win his fifth Australian Open and thereby equal Sampras’s record of 14 grand slams, and Nadal his first.
The two players were ready for each other, having reserved their best for the last. For Nadal. the finals came close on the heels of a gruelling four hour plus five setter against fellow Spaniard Vedasco who emerged a worthy looser. Federer had his own hiccups, against Berdych, before he showed why he is a world beater against Roddick. The first set went into a tiebreaker with both exchanging breaks,where Nadal finally prevailed. Federer pulled one back fast enough to close the second set 6-3. The third again went into a tiebreak where Nadal showed he was still very much in command. The fourth required the mastery of Federer to tame Nadal. But lo and behold, some one had to be crowned champion, and the decider fifth set which should have produced superlative tennis,each trying to survive and outgun the other, came a cropper for Federer, who submitted a tamely 6-3 to Nadal. One fell to the ground with open arms to the midnight Melbourne sky, the other hung his head in sadness One blazed to glory, the other faded into the night depressed by defeat.
No one in recent times, except Nadal has matched Federer shot for shot, stretched him to the limits, or forced so many unforced errors out of him. In short no one but Nadal could deserve to see him eye to eye. The master had met his match in the feisty Spaniard , who when playing tennis brought images of a matador taming a bull in a bullfight,so popular in Spain. It was thus more a survival than domination for Federer. He finally cracked at the final hurdle, when he found his ammunition insufficient to counter Nadal’s firepower.Nerves and emotion were the byproducts which even spilled into the awards ceremony, and the victor had to comfort the vanquished.
Tennis expert or enthusiast alike,no one could have predicted that things would change in such dramatic fashion. Everyone had more or less accepted for a fact that Federer was emperor on all surfaces except on clay, and even that was a surface only waiting to be conquered. No one was visible in the near horizon who could even remotely challenge Federer. It was always Federer against whom in most Grand slam finals. But then came a certain Spaniard who first established himself in the grinding red clay of Roland Garros with a string of victories, in the process taming the master himself, and earned the sobriquet ‘King of Clay’. He then went on to master grass courts, being crowned Champion at the mecca of tennis, by humbling the Champion in his own den..Now the hard courts have also fallen and what remains is the faster Flushing Meadows of the US Open to be subdued.
All in all a worthy and deserving holder of the world number one slot, Nadal now has proved himself on all surfaces. Can the world of tennis now start talking about a successor to Federer or will the master regain his past glory, is the question that has become pertinent.
It was an epic battle, not on the killing fields of Iraq or Palestine or Sri Lanka, but on the hard surface at Melbourne for the Australian Open crown. Blood was not spilt, but enough sweat and tears. Two worthy opponents, who have ruled the tennis world between themselves for sometime now, were at each other’s throat, trying to outplay, outdo and outsmart each other, to eventually emerge champion. The genial Swiss Federer pitted against the muscular Nadal, was a sight to behold,keeping the spectators on ground and in living rooms across the world, on their seats edge. The match had all the ingredients of a classic, only surpassed by the Wimbledon finals last year. It was to keep tennis statisticians busy with Federer trying to win his fifth Australian Open and thereby equal Sampras’s record of 14 grand slams, and Nadal his first.
The two players were ready for each other, having reserved their best for the last. For Nadal. the finals came close on the heels of a gruelling four hour plus five setter against fellow Spaniard Vedasco who emerged a worthy looser. Federer had his own hiccups, against Berdych, before he showed why he is a world beater against Roddick. The first set went into a tiebreaker with both exchanging breaks,where Nadal finally prevailed. Federer pulled one back fast enough to close the second set 6-3. The third again went into a tiebreak where Nadal showed he was still very much in command. The fourth required the mastery of Federer to tame Nadal. But lo and behold, some one had to be crowned champion, and the decider fifth set which should have produced superlative tennis,each trying to survive and outgun the other, came a cropper for Federer, who submitted a tamely 6-3 to Nadal. One fell to the ground with open arms to the midnight Melbourne sky, the other hung his head in sadness One blazed to glory, the other faded into the night depressed by defeat.
No one in recent times, except Nadal has matched Federer shot for shot, stretched him to the limits, or forced so many unforced errors out of him. In short no one but Nadal could deserve to see him eye to eye. The master had met his match in the feisty Spaniard , who when playing tennis brought images of a matador taming a bull in a bullfight,so popular in Spain. It was thus more a survival than domination for Federer. He finally cracked at the final hurdle, when he found his ammunition insufficient to counter Nadal’s firepower.Nerves and emotion were the byproducts which even spilled into the awards ceremony, and the victor had to comfort the vanquished.
Tennis expert or enthusiast alike,no one could have predicted that things would change in such dramatic fashion. Everyone had more or less accepted for a fact that Federer was emperor on all surfaces except on clay, and even that was a surface only waiting to be conquered. No one was visible in the near horizon who could even remotely challenge Federer. It was always Federer against whom in most Grand slam finals. But then came a certain Spaniard who first established himself in the grinding red clay of Roland Garros with a string of victories, in the process taming the master himself, and earned the sobriquet ‘King of Clay’. He then went on to master grass courts, being crowned Champion at the mecca of tennis, by humbling the Champion in his own den..Now the hard courts have also fallen and what remains is the faster Flushing Meadows of the US Open to be subdued.
All in all a worthy and deserving holder of the world number one slot, Nadal now has proved himself on all surfaces. Can the world of tennis now start talking about a successor to Federer or will the master regain his past glory, is the question that has become pertinent.
No comments:
Post a Comment