Watching tennis Grand Slams is tough in Pacific time, and I missed all of today’s Wimbeldon men’s final save the fourth and fifth sets, when I happened to catch Rafael Nadal putting Roger Federer on the ropes in the fourth, only to watch Roger break back twice in the fifth and close out the match in what had to be something incredible for those out there who actually got to watch the whole thing.
I’m not sure whether the five-set match is an anomaly or the shape of things to come for the Federer-Nadal matches — perhaps Nadal is getting better on surfaces that are not clay, because this was the first of the finals matches I have ever seen bits of where I thought, “Nadal might actually beat Roger on a non-clay surface.” Again, I don’t have the tennis knowledge to guess whether it’s because Nadal’s game has improved or that Federer is getting older quickly, but I can only hope it’s the former and not the latter — if Nadal manages to top Federer at a non-Roland Garros grand slam, maybe we can get a nice run where these two are alternating, competing for each title.
It might also eliminate the regular talk about the failures among the American men to make major Grand Slam impact in recent years — which has truly grown tiresome (even though it’s true.)
(Photo: AFP/Chris Young)
Filed under: tennis | Tagged: Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Wimbledon
It’s not necessarily that Roger is getting old, but more that Roger is letting Nadal get into his head…