Crowds that thronged to the "AELTC"(read All England Lawn Tennis Club) to watch the much anticipated title clash between Federer and Nadal got their money's worth, as the final proved to be an edge-of-the-seat thriller.
A veritable feast of high-voltage tennis action!!!
The Royal Box, had a special guest in the name of Legendary Swede Bjorn Borg (wondering whether he was there to cheer or jeer Federer ), who called the shots at Wimbledon for more than a decade. This is the just the second time he’s returning to this village post-retirement from professional tennis. Both Federer and Nadal should consider themselves lucky, having played the final under the gracious presence of the legend himself.
Finalists exhibited some amazing ground-strokes that would have made the legendary Sampras, Connors and McEnroe proud. They played all the shorts in the book and much more. Worth a special mention is the seamless backhand-crosscourt of the Swiss that left the crowd to raptures.
The first set went down to the wire, a Tiebreaker!!! It could have easily gone either way. As luck would have it, the first set went to Federer (9-7), who was on the prowl for his fifth successive Wimbledon crown. A record that would only emulate Borg's herculean-feat accomplished in the late 70's.A gung-ho Nadal came back harder in the second set, and just when everybody thought the set was heading for a tiebreak, Nadal broke the serve of Federer in the penultimate game and won the set 6-4. Third set was a mere repeat of the first set. Federer won the tiebreaker hands down (7-3). The match rallied for the fourth set. Nadal was storming through, breaking Federer early, twice. Spaniard rose from the ashes just like the mythical-phoenix bird. The customary Rolex scoreboard read 4-0. Couple of line calls that went in the favor of the Spaniard scatterbrained Federer. Federer was busy ranting and raving at umpire's call, while Nadal was smartly drafting the set 6-4. Fourth set went to the gutsy Spaniard.
Ever since the tournament began, a Federer-Nadal marathon five-setter final was always on the cards. And now it came into reality!!!
The Fifth and final set, started off as a nail-biter (when the score read 2-2) but in the end proved to be a damp-squib (for Nadal fans & anti-Federer fans). The decider set looked as if it was preordained by Federer even before the match started. The Swiss serves were a real thunderbolt!!! All of a sudden 'FedEx' started dominating his opponent. Swiss pocketed the set 6-2. The marathon five-setter 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 6-2 lasted for close to 4 hours and Federer had the last laugh( Shattering my hope).Eventually, rose to an eternal-glory that is enjoyed only by Bjorn Borg!!!!
As I recollected the match the same night, I felt Federer was not really tested (throughout his career). I simply couldn't digest the fact that he broke Sampras record of 4 consecutive Wimbledon titles. Call it coincidence or irony, Federer back in 2001 ousted Sampras out of Wimbledon. The latter was then, in the quest of capturing 5 consecutive Wimbledon titles (97, 98, 99, and 00). It must have been a soul-shattering experience for Pete. And today, the same kid, who crashed Sampras party (back in 2001), has achieved what Sampras couldn’t, in the open era!
But in my opinion Sampras was way ahead of Federer, in terms of technique, stroke play and modesty!!!!
Likes of Courier, Agassi, Rafter….would have definitely made the road hard and rugged for the FEDEX!!!
Justifications apart, the day truly belonged the Swiss ace who can bask in glory of 5 Wimbledon Titles on-the-trot, for the rest of his life!!!!
Game, Set, Match… Federer!!!!
