Federer’s last hurrah?
As the clay court season wraps up next weekend with the
beginning of the French Open and Rafael Nadal claming his sixth straight
Italian Open over new found rival and current world no.1 Novak Djokovic, the
thought of another epic clay court duel looms. The French Open perhaps presents
a chance for Nadal to obtain some redemption after failing in all seven meeting
with the Serb in 2011.
However, emerging from the woodwork, longtime nemesis and
debatably best of all time, Roger Federer,
quietly salivates at the possibility of arguably his last stand (30 years old now, nearly eligible for ATP
social security) at taking down Nadal at the French for the first time. Many
forget the incredible rivalry that started years ago between Nadal and Federer,
only to be overshadowed by the recent new kid on the block in that of Novak
Djokovic.
Despite winning the French for the first time three years
ago, albeit at the hands of Robin Soderling, Federer needs no reminder of his rival Nadal’s
4-0 record against the Swiss at Roland Garros. To make things even more
interesting, after Federer’s win last week at Barcelona , he moved up to the no. 2 world
ranking, pushing Nadal to his lowest ranking (no.3) since he won his first
major in Paris in 2005 at the tender age of 19.
If Federer were to retire today, many would consider him the
greatest of all time, but to finally beat Nadal and win under the lights at
chatrier would certainly cement Fed’s legacy as the best of the best and remove
that final tennis monkey off his back.
So as emerging rivals Nadal (no 2 seed) and Djokovic ( no 1
seed) appear to be on path for yet another finals collision course, don’t
assume Federer will passively sit like his homeland did during WWII as a
neutral pussy. Federer unimpressed by the young guns will stop at nothing for
what could be his final shot at tennis destiny and the chance to be unequivocally
the best of all time.
Isn't Nadal unbeatable on clay courts? I thought the reason Fed can't beat Nadal is because he clay is Nadal's playing surface. That will make it difficult for Federer to win.
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ReplyDeleteNadal is king of clay, no doubt. However, Federer has beaten him a number of times on clay at various tournaments leading up to the French Open, only to be blown out every time at Rolland Garros when it counts the most. So the point here is, is this Fed's last chance to put it all together and finally get that monkey off his back and win the French while dethroning the greatest clay courter ever???
ReplyDeletehttp://espn.go.com/tennis/french12/story/_/id/7970590/french-open-draw-puts-novak-djokovic-roger-federer-same-side
ReplyDeleteFed and Nadal on opposite sides of the draw, this should be great