Tennis - The Beauty and the Beast

It is the third successive time in Wimbledon that we are going to see a Nadal vs. Federer final. Federer’s route to final was tougher than that of Nadal and the Swiss master has literally breezed through without dropping a set. I felt agitated to see so many experts already writing off Federer following the drubbing he got at the hands of Nadal in Roland Garros a month back. It has been a difficult year for Fedex as he is yet to get off the mark in the grand slam titles column. If given a chance to sensationalize something myself, I would say that the media; experts at dramatizing slightest of events have all formed an “anti-Federer” campaign. Now that he is in the final, the momentum of this campaign may have reduced a bit.

True that he is nearing 27. However, the kind of game that Federer plays, I feel that the alterations age would have on his game play would be pretty minimal. Anticipation is his middle name, which gives him lot of time to make his next move. There is no need to clutter the calibration of speed guns as Federer can serve aces comfortably at 115 Miles. Baseline play isn’t ideal for him as we witnessed in the disastrous French open final in June 2008. So the question of aged legs unable to pick the shot on the baseline doesn’t really arise. If I can equate this to football, players like Zidane and Bergkamp did not change their playing style much, but still had great influence on the teams they played in despite aging.

I just feel that the media gets behind anyone who has managed to win atleast a slam amidst Federer’s stranglehold. Look at what happened to Roddick? For all the hype, he has only one U.S. open title to show for. Same with Juan Carlos Ferrero. Safin would be the greatest enigma in tennis after McEnroe and Ivanisevic. No doubting the huge talent these guys have, but as the German football coach, Joachim Loew mentioned, disastrously before losing the Euro 2008 final, that a winning mentality should be part of a player’s repertoire. A never-say-die spirit, ability to adapt, a non-imitable and athletic style of play; To sum-up, a bulldozer which can operate with the precision of a surgical knife, that is how I would describe Nadal, in short ;).

I saw that disastrous French open final and also the Wimbledon final last year where he literally threatened to take the match away from Federer. The Spaniard has been getting better with every year and his ability to adapt to different surfaces which was previously lacking, impresses me. Maybe, he has got some extra motivation, like I shall conquer grass before Fed conquers clay :D.

However, which one pleases me more? A symphony or a scene of Lewis Hamilton turning full speed at 90 degrees in Monaco grand prix? Fighting with a rapier or a bludgeon? A Mercedes Benz E-220 or a red Ferrari? A horse or a raging bull? I would happily pick the symphony, rapier, Benz and horse over the other option in each case.

Also, having watched Federer announce his arrival on the grand slam stage with the conquering of another favourite of mine, Pete Sampras, till today, I can say with some assurance that his game play has not changed much. The master doesn’t take any opponent lightly and he concentrates hard on winning the battles and mini battles in each game. Especially when the opponent feels like there is a ray of hope, Fed completely sends him into darkness with a breathtaking pass or an ace served with clinical precision.

It would be too early to pass a judgment on Nadal’s capability to maintain his phenomenally athletic style of play after he crosses 25. Tireless running and rash play may have helped Hewitt to an U.S. open and a Wimbledon. However, his performances apart from these have been mediocre. Nadal, has shown tremendous consistency in keeping his authority on clay intact. However, will that be enough to knock the king of grass off his throne? Self confidence can work wonders for any individual. I’m banking on that extra factor to guide Fedex to his 6th Wimbledon crown. And irrespective of what happens tomorrow and beyond, it will always be “Jai Federer” for me.