[normally_crazy]

I was rooting for Fed-Ex yesterday. But Nadal played awesome. he deserved to win yesterday.

[deepakhon]

I did not watch the entire match yesterday and I am now repenting for not having watched it. I know I missed something really worthwhile.

It really was good to see both the champions battling it out. Tennis was getting a little boring with FedEx winning almost everything, except the French Open of course. It was good to see Raffa show great character to beat FedEx in his favourite surface.

Though I am happy for Raffael Nadal, I am sad for Federer. He is one of those graceful players amongst those powerful players around. My favourites were always good serve and volley players like Becker, Edberg, McEnroe, Sampras and to an extent, Federer.

I am hoping that this is a lesson that Federer is willing to learn and come back stronger. I want to sit back and watch more of these matches. Damned be the cricket!

[lancer_rit]

I was rooting for Fedex as well :-( Somehow, he could convert all the breakpoints he held against Nadal right through the match. Both played magnificently - so winner has to be given due credit. If only Fedex used more of his super backhand slice ??

[DirtyDan]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

the match was interrupted twice with rain delays and finally ended close to 2 am IST.

I think the era of serve and volley players is slowly dying out.

Nice to see Federer challenged. It was getting automatic. Tennis like few other sports, boxing is another, demands that you beat the other player as opposed to run out of time as in a soccer match. This takes a little more grit.

Serve and volley will be around as long as ultra-strong and rigid materials are allowed in the making and use of tennis rackets. This generates power needed to play this way.

On grass and some hard surfaces the ball bounces and skips very fast also favoring certain power players. The skill-finess players do better on slower surfaces like clay. What makes Nadal's victory even more significant is that Nadal has been more successful on clay and slow courts until this break through. Even Federer said that it is a case of Nadal improving his game as opposed to Federer falling off his game. This win of Nadal is good for the
sport.

[jagan0677]

Absolutely awesome contest.. With the rain-interruptions increasing the tension. I was totally jealous of all those enjoying the live action @ Wimbledon - what a memorable experience that would have been?

Rafa showed a lot of character, along with his normal brute force game.

Two things:


I somehow felt more-than-normal of Federer's returns were finding the net. Am not sure though.

During the second rain-interruption, Vijay Amritraj's take was that Rafa seemed to be thinking 'that he had had his chance, but lost it'. The way their rivalry on grass has turned out historically also seemed to point in that direction. But, in the end, Rafa, i think, was too focussed on the title, to let such things bother him.

I think this more than made up for slightly dull state of things in the womens' game(IMHO)

[finneyp]

One of the Best Tennis encounters between 2 great legends in the modern era!

Nadal was dominant throughout the game, Federer was just hanging in there!

If Nadal can hold his nerve in crunch situations, none can ever dream of beating him!

[lancer_rit]

Originally Posted by finneyp

One of the Best Tennis encounters between 2 great legends in the modern era!

Nadal was dominant throughout the game, Federer was just hanging in there!

If Nadal can hold his nerve in crunch situations, none can ever dream of beating him!

Not necessarily. Federer had more chances on Nadal's serve and also hit far more clean winners. He also made a lot of unforced errors (which were actually to a good degree due to pressure from Nadal and the windy conditions). I think the match was touch and go - Nadal just about deservedly edged it though I am all for Federer.

[salilpawar1]

A suggestion with reference to the thread title:

As far as I know Lawn Tennis is a defunct term. Because tennis is no longer just played on lawn. Tennis would be more applicable.

[aah78]

Originally Posted by salilpawar1

A suggestion with reference to the thread title:

As far as I know Lawn Tennis is a defunct term. Because tennis is no longer just played on lawn. Tennis would be more applicable.

Good idea - name changed.

What a match though! Was definitely worth watching - thankfully, it was a nice Sunday afternoon here in the US, and not midnight as in India.

I was rooting for Federer too (it was hard to imagine him losing, until yesterday), but I didn't want Nadal to loose either. They're both excellent players.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by aah78

Good idea - name changed.

still shows lawn tennis to me

Edit: changed now. Sorry for the blooper

[iraghava]

What a match!! What a match!! I had an awesome time watching it & thoroughly enjoyed it! I felt even better that Rafa defeated FedEx on his favourite surface & tournament, that just made it even more special.

For me Tennis was getting a bit boring & predictable (Like the Sampras years) with Federer winning everything (apart from the French Open of course) in sight! But this defeat for him was something else, he was beaten outright by his arch rival.

So for me it's "Go Rafa, Go Rafa"!!

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

I think the Andre Agassi - Goran final in 1992 (IIRC) was the best I have watched. The best server v/s the best returner.

Oh God - 5 sets of pure bliss that was. The serves, the returns, the passes, the ground strokes and 2 of most enigmatic and charismatic players clashing. That was one hell of a final.

Oh boy that was some match, featuring my all-time favourite player & my all-time favourite server!!

Originally Posted by srishiva

No one seems to be sad for Federer's loss here ! It was a great match up and hope to see how Nadal will fare in the U.S open.

If Rafa can beat Federer on his favourite surface & at a tournament that he's won for the past 5 years consecutively, I say Rafa has a good chance at the US Open too.

[abhinav.gupta88]

There were only 3 points in the whole match where nadal volleyed intentionally
otherwise it was just due to the drop shots.

there were some brillant points won by both . Awesome match

[watfor]

Rafa played the big points brilliantly. Rafa now seems to have gotten into Federer's head. It'll be interesting to see how he picks himself up from here.

[manson]

What a way to get back to watching Tennis, stunner of a match!!
Watched a lotta Tennis back in the 90's, Becker, Edburg, Agassi, Goran, Chang, and the best ever Pete Sampras.
Its good to see that the new generation of atleast this sport has some character.

manson.

[normally_crazy]

I loved Michael Chang (thanks for bringing his name up, Manson).

His speed, stamina and most importantly his never say die attitude. He was dwarfed due to his height but still managed very very well - only due to the attitude.

Fed-Ex is more like Stefan Edberg, I feel. Soft spoken and calm while Nadal reminds me of a bloke called Thomas Muster. Boy what a whacker he was, of the tennis ball. I remember one French Open when he went hammer and tongs and defeated Chang for the title in 1995. (right ?)