The Changing of the Guard

" The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies' ". As Napoleon Bonaparte, the famous French General and Emperor has rightly spoken, the battle is won and lost only when one person or a party decides to step forward and take the necessary course of action. And last Sunday, on the 6th of July 2008, one man did step forward to win a tedious battle of epic proportions. After nearly 288 minutes of back-and-forth drama Rafael Nadal was the winner of a truly amazing spectacle of a tennis match that had taken place at the Centre Court of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, England, to determine the winner of the 122nd Wimbledon Championships.

Some readers might think that there is no necessity to apply such comparisons to a tennis match. First of all tennis is no longer in the just-another-sport category. It is a religion for thousands of people around the planet(including me). And those who witnessed the Wimbledon final contested between two men who are at the pinnacle of this sport, will understand what I mean. Secondly, this match had the second highest number of viewers from the USA for a tennis match(The first is of course the 1980 marathon 5-set Wimbledon final between John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, and it was mainly because McEnroe, an American, was in the final). Considering the fact that the Americans are more into baseball and the NBA, and also that the match was being contested between two Europeans, tells us about the level of play that had been achieved by the two warriors.

The match had a lot of hype to live up to and it did not disappoint anyone(except for some Federer fans). I, for one, loved the way the match went on for the first two sets. Then came Roger's saviour, in the form of rain drops. He must have been praying for something like this, for he was at the near end of a comprehensive defeat and humiliation which is bound to follow. He must have had visions about the ghosts of Roland Garros, which have haunted him for nearly a month. But nothing could be done about the rain and play was suspended. Roger and Rafa walked off into their abodes inside the locker room area, with Rafa the one with the perfect advantage. After about 80 minutes of delay due to rain, both players were back on centre court to continue to do battle. Roger had time to revise and reassess his strategy to counter Rafa's sharp heavy groundstrokes. And Roger did turn himself into the mitigator of his own misery. He had thought and plotted a way to unsettle the miscreant in his nightmares. The memorabilia,the 5 Wimbledon trophies this tournament had given him, rekindled the Emperor's desire within him, and he showed the will to fight with all his heart and might. And boy did he do that!

Roger won the third set on a tie-break, acing himself through it. Roger won the fourth set also on a tie-break, saving two championship points against Rafa, the second of which would have made even God to side with Roger, and achieve a near-impossible escape from the deepest of trenches. But the irrepressible force that is Rafa never backed down. Rafa was a proven competitor and at the tender age of 22, had received various accolades for his mental toughness. The loss of the fourth set after having two championship points, and after being two sets up against the defending champion and world no. 1, would have withered the composure and concentration of many a man and turned them into embodiments of dejection. But Rafa was anything but that. The fifth set started with Roger serving and thus giving him a distinct advantage on Rafa's serve. One break of Rafa's serve and Roger could have been beyond Rafa's reach. At 2-2 40-40, the heavens opened up again and the match was called off again. Roger and Rafa returned to their locker rooms. After about half an hour, play resumed and Roger aced himself out of trouble again. The match continued on serve without much trouble for Rafa. And Roger's serve was always under threat from Rafa. But time and again Roger served himself out of difficulty. On Rafa's serve at 4-5 30-30, Roger was two points away from a record-breaking sixth consecutive Wimbledon title. But Rafa showed everyone why he has been so consistent for the past 2 months by taking the game to Roger with his improved serve. The match went on serve until 7-7. Roger saved 3 break points, but was unable to hold on to his service game, as Rafa finally broke the mighty Federer serve to go up 8-7. On Rafa's serve Roger saved one more championship point with an out-of-this-world backhand return winner against an impressive serve down the left service line. But Rafa wasn't to be denied again, and as Roger netted a regular forehand, it was ironical that Rafa, the new champion, fell down on the centre court floor in ecstasy and elation, as he always does on his beloved clay, to celebrate his win while Roger, the fallen champion, was standing on the other side of the court. Finally Rafael Nadal had become the new Wimbledon Champion; a champion from Spain after 42 long years. It took the perfect mixture of power, technique, finesse, and prowess for Rafa to derail the defending champion; it actually had Roger strangulated for over four and a half hours.

This is a huge match report but I just couldn't hold myself back. The entire point of this match and my article was to tell the world what they were aiming to achieve. Nadal's ambition was to be the first man since the legendary Swede Bjorn Borg in 1980 and the second man in the Modern Era, to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same calendar year. He was craving for a place alongside Borg in the record books. Roger was also aiming to cement his place in the annals of history as the first man in the Modern Era to win 6 Wimbledon titles in a row. But the civilized Swiss has to settle for a place alongside Borg like Rafa, for the timebeing. Borg, of course achieved this awe-inspiring Roland Garros-Wimbledon double feat three times in a row from 1978 to 1980, and Rafa is still a long way from even imagining himself at the end of such a divine path of success.

The segment of this article which I really want to focus on is the conclusion. Rafa is 22. Roger turns 27 on August 8th. Roger, had he been able to win this year's Wimbledon, would have had a lot to be excited and joyful about. He would have had 13 grand slam titles, which would certainly have boosted his morale and it would have been full throttle ahead for the Swiss as he continues his record-breaking climb of Mount Sampras. The establishment of Mount Federer seemed not too far away, but this season it seems that everything is falling apart and the peak of Mount Sampras is fading and disappearing right before Roger's eyes. But Rafa could just be able to achieve what Roger has been trying to achieve for the past 4 years, i.e. win the career grand slam(win all of the four grand slams in tennis). Rafa has to win the U.S. and the Australian Opens to do that while Roger has to win the French Open. Rafa's hard court prowess is not the best in the world but if he can improve remarkably on grass, then he can surely master hard court tennis soon. It seems easier for Rafa to achieve the career grand slam than it seems in the case of Roger. And Rafa has 5 grand slam titles at the age of 22. Roger has 12 at the age of 27. Rafa has his glory days ahead of him while Roger has had his best days during the past 4 years. Most of the former top players have won more than 8 of their grand slam titles between the age of 22 to 25. Roger won 10 of his 12 grand slam titles during this period. The only concern for Rafa is his physical health, especially his knees, which are badly affected by hard courts. A physical burn-out could well turn out to be the reason to hinder his awesome spree on the road to greatness. This battle might have been won by Rafa, but the war is still on.