15 Grand slams victories.
A win in each of the slams.
World no. 1 ranking for the longest time period .
The Greatest Lawn Tennis player ever born.
Roger Federer, in his 7th straight Wimbledon final, today defeated a fighting Andy Roddick 5-7,7-6,7-6,3-6 & 16-14 to reach a pinnacle that no body has ever reached before in the history of Lawn Tennis.
Just Wow!
3 comments:
Roger is a class act. Like the NetJets ad shown right after were indicative, if he keeps going like this, he will need a bigger jet to carry his trophies soon !
Andy did a marvellous job. The only break he conceded cost him the championship. His first serve was an amazing 80+%. If Federer was not in-line for the 15 th, I would have rooted for him..
In the end, the better player won..
Federer is truly a class act. Last year's final with Nadal was a magnum opus showing the stupendous calibre of both the players.
This year too Roddick gave him a run for his money and it was anybody's guess re the winner. Roddick didn't crack as Soderling seemed to (and Haas and Del Potro in the Semis etc. both in the French and the Wimbledon).
There seems to be a pattern to it. All those who threaten him (except Nadal who is the only real Challenger to Federer's hegemony) in the Semis etc. seem to attempt a valiant upset and even seem up to it until the time, something breaks inside of them, and then on they simply seem to wither away, broken.
Ofcourse, Roddick surprisingly was not a party to this syndrome of withering away in front of the might of Federer.
To prognosticate a bit more on the cause of this 'heart-failure' when much before the match has ended, his opponents seem to embrace defeat, it could be the unflappable disposition of Federer. Even when he is not able to crack his opponent and break his service, he is as unscrutable as when he has broken the opponent's serve and is on his way to glory. His unflappability, stoic calmness, Eastern equanimity in the face of defeat or victory alike...this exhibition of Character is the Undoing of his opponents. To them he looms large as invincible. And the futility of their endeavours for defeating Federer seems to be already scripted in, ordained. All his opponents are Fatalists.
Thankfully there is NADAL. Roddick's was only a flash in a pan probably goaded by the fellow American, Pete Sampras's record tumbling, which he admitted at the end
@Madhu: Totally agree. W'd have rooted 4 Roddick had this been not RF's 15th slam. Seeing RF cry in all the slam finals that he lost to NADAL ,last year, reminded one of a small boy whose candy has just been snatched. Even Nadal was forced to issue a assuring comment in 2009 Australian Open : "you will surely win the 14th GS".
@Sid: Yes, thankfully there is Nadal. Its only Nadal, who disturbs the "unflappability" of RF every time he plays against him. Nadal's one bad match against Soderling in the French Open paved the way open for RF. Inspite of Sampras's comments that RF will go on to win 18-19 career slams, I think RF would find the going very very tough in every succeeding slam from now on.
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