The French Open final this past Sunday was truly a historic day for the modern tennis era. Not only we got to witness the best clay court player ever play a “perfect” match, we saw the torch being passed from the current champ to the younger generation.
The match was nothing especial. It was so one-sided that the crowd were happy at the end that Federer was out of his misery. Federer faced break points in almost all the games he served for and was broken 8 times, holding only 3 times. It could have easily been 6-0, 6-2-6-0. But the final result wasn’t any less embarrassing for the champ. Federer got mauled by Rafael Nadal in Paris and there was no doubt who was No. 1 on that day.
The match reminded me of boxing matches of the past. Take Roy Jones Jr. He got knocked out by Antonio Tarver when was considered one of the best pound for pound boxers in the history. The second match between these two was simply an opportunity for Roy Jones to NOT get knocked out. Roy did manage to avoid that but Federer got knocked out and then some. I think one compare Rafa-Federer (17) to Ken Shamrock – Tito Ortiz III. The first time these guys met, Tito beat Shamrock methodically but it wasn’t fast. But the 2nd and 3rd time, the victories got shorter and shorter.
Same story has been going on with Federer against Nadal on clay. I truly believe Federer had his best chance against Nadal when he played him in 2005 semifinals. He led in almost all sets but kept complaining about how dark it was. Now, Nadal is more experienced and stronger. Federer? He has gotten beaten down so many times that even he doesn’t believe he can win. Federer must’ve had a hard time talking up his chances against Nadal after he saw Nadal destroy a young hungry Novak Djokovic in straight sets. But what Djokovic showed, Federer does not have no longer. Djokovic showed the heard of a champion to comeback from 0-4 in the 3rd set to have set points against Nadal. It would’ve been easy for him to throw in towel and lose 0-6 in the third. But his ego and his drive to be the best did not allow him to quit. Federer quit on Sunday. He quit after the first set. Maybe after the first game. He was never in the match and never showed he wanted to be in the match. It was unnerving how Federer explained his performance as “OK” when he won only 3 service games.
Pathetic! That’s what the performance was. What made Federer great was his heart and his hunger for success. On Sunday Federer did not have the heart of the champion. He went from the greatest champion of modern era to one of the biggest chumps of this era. I would understand the 6-0 set if Federer was injured or sick or 35 years old. But supposedly at his prime, Federer showed that he is as good in quiting as he is at playing tennis.
The future of tennis is bright. Even though Federer did his best to ruin it for all tennis and non-tennis fan viewers on Sunday. Djokovic, Murray, Gulbis, and Tsonga will challenge Nadal. They will be hungry enough. Federer? If he doesn’t win Wimbledon or U.S. Open this year, I expect his sun to set like that of his idol, Bjorn Borg. It’s funny how much Henin and Federer have in common. Both have excellent beautiful one-handed backhands. Both are geniuses. Both are good at quitting. Henin did quit while she was ahead. Roger hasn’t yet. But after Sunday’s final, one wonders which one has been right.