It took the genius of Nadal to realize what Roger Federer is made of.
Before I go any deeper I will make it clear that I am a die hard Nadal fan and will always continue to be so, but that has never interfered with my admiration of Federer. The Rafa-Fedex rivalry has been inarguably the greatest sporting rivalry of this century and arguably the best of all times in any sport. It would have been so easy for tennis to be transformed to golf or Moto GP where unless you are a diehard fan, Tiger and Rossi are only two names you will ever know in your lifetime.
Monopoly in any field will always lead to overall deterioration of the system. See the condition of table tennis right now where you see the Chinese organizing the tournaments and winning them all by themselves. You always need someone snapping at your heels to strive for that extra to keep your neck out of water.
The story of Federer has the most clichéd theme in the world of going from rags to riches and coming back to ground zero. This is what Michael Jackson, Mohammed Ali, Britney Spears experience. And this is what makes it the most endearing one. The rise, fall and rise of Federer sends out a bigger message than the loss of maybe a million dollars in advertisement revenues.
Why did the god of tennis suddenly seem vulnerable? Nadal got better or Federer got worse? I suppose it’s a mixture of both but bigger lesson is to see Federer fighting when things are not going his way. When you are on a roll, the whole universe conspires to make you succeed but test of character lies when things aren’t going your way. When quitting seems so easy an option. He doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone. If he hangs up boot today he will still be regarded as best in world but that is where the fun will end.
He is fighting a bigger war with himself than with Nadal. Nadal is just a face to his inner fears and insecurities. Nothing can be more intimidating than seeing your nemesis making mockery of what you thought to be your personal playhouse. But at the same time Federer’s strength is mental rather than physical. He was never a muscle player and never will be. The day he wins in his mind he will start winning on any court in the world.
I wonder if everyone would have been as excited as they are today, if he would have continued winning the French open on the trot after other three slams. I guess not. This struggle has made him more humble and probably far tougher. He seems more human now rather than two years back. And this is what makes it more special. Fighting out of his comfort zone.
He won today. Probably he won’t win any grand slam ever after this or he may continue winning as he was two years back The Federer we see today is someone we can relate to. We all are fighting a bigger battle with the Nadal in our head than in front of us. Possibly he will defeat Nadal himself next time but that shouldn’t take away anything from what he has achieved today. Kudos for the man who never quit!!!
2 comments:
this the best post u ve written!i love this 1!same is true with the sexy france football team ,lance armstrong ,man u coming back on top and yes NADAL DOING HE FEDEX FRENCH OPEN ANALOGY in last year winmbeldon!nadal ousted 3 years ago in round 2 iguess!came back beaten in final!came back and won the final!the beauty of the win lies when u try and u loose for the first time and then u come back again and u perform!then u understand the value of what u ve got!
when ur on a loosing streak u always wonder whatz going wrong and if u r on a winnig streak even if u make mistake u undervalue things u ve got and become overconfident and start showing attitude!thatz the stage where if u do make rt choices u can come back and win it!
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