Tennis Anyone?

I know that this is supposed to be all hockey all the time but what I just saw transcends the sporting horizon right now, free agency just don't cut it.


Roger Federer, like Tiger has been at the top of his sport, alone, for sometime. With five consecutive wins at Wimbledon, three Australian opens, four U. S. opens, ranked number one in the world since February of 2004, it appeared that all Federer had left to accomplish was to walk away a winner at the French.

Making it a personal mission, he started entering more clay court events (the Monte Carlo, Hamburg, Rome Masters) but always coming up short on the big stage at Roland Garros. The man responsible for the defeating the world's best was always Rafael Nadal. His record at the French was like Federer's at Wimbledon.


In 2007, Nadal and Federer met in the Wimbledon finals for a brawl, Nadal eventually succumbing to Roger's superiority on grass. The two met again this year and Federer is not the only one trying to increase his skill set, Nadal has made huge strides on the softer surface.


In the first two sets, Federer found himself down, but mounted a comeback into the first rain delay, leaving the court up 5-4, after an hour and a half away from the court, Federer started his clawing back to the top. The third set went to Federer in a tiebreaker 7-6, the fourth, the same. The fifth set was back and forth with Nadal pushing Federer to the brink in games and sets alike but Federer wriggling free before Rafa could seal the deal. Both men demonstrating every skill they had accumulated in their careers. Federer looked to be playing a superior strategic game while Nadal was unmatched in speed and strength. In fact, Nadal's creativity seemed to be the difference maker: with lateral moves accentuated with spinning shots; charging the net for timely, deft drop shots; and dramatic unorthodox between the legs or over the shoulder volleys. All the while, Federer seeming to throw the ball into the net when rushing, or sending it wide when trying to fend off Nadal's powerful, against the grain backhand.


After the longest round in the history of the championship (and two previous failed championship points) Nadal finally overcomes. Nadal has shown that he is a star on the rise, could Federer be on the fall? I certainly hope not, because this was the best tennis match I have ever seen, and I want to see more.