Vamos Rafa!!
An open letter to Rafael Nadal.
Greetings Rafa,
First up, congratulations on winning the Wimbledon title! It truly was a great match !
Let me be honest with you. I don’t really like you. It is not like I dont like your style of tennis or something, but I somehow feel that you are way too arrogant on occassions. Honestly, after I saw you lose to Jo Wilfred Tsonga at the Australian Open, earlier this year, I thought that your game was too one-dimensional and that you would struggle on grass against Federer. I thought that you would win at Roland Garros but that it would not be a cakewalk like it has been for the last three years. But boy did you prove me wrong. You not only decimated Federer on clay, but by beating him on grass, you have now become only the second player after Bjorn Borg to have won on both clay and grass in the same year.
Fantastic!
I must admit that I wanted to see Federer win last night. I must admit that at the start of the tournament and even midway through the tournament, I , like many others, thought Federer was too strong on grass.
But you stunned everyone ! You made the genius look ordinary. You deserve to be the champion!
Thank you for showing me you full array of wonderful passing shots! Thank you for showing me the best tennis I have ever seen in the 11 years that I have watched this sport, especially that fourth-set tie breaker ! Thank you for adding more spice to what is already a legendary rivalry between you and Federer!
And oh ya, Forget the ATP rankings. I think everyone, including Federer himself, knows who the world number 1 is at this moment.
Your fan!
Vivek Tulsidas
An ardent Federer fan that I am, I would like to admit that Rafa didn’t win because he was better than Federer, but because Federer made too many mistakes! And that damn hurts!
@Tulsi -
Blog looks cool, very cool..
Thanks Praj! I was just a little bored with blogger , so decided to move to wordpress
And about the wimbledon final…
I know you have a valid point. But come to think of it, God could not have made a better opponent for Federer’s style of tennis. Federer likes hitting winners and Nadal is likes running down every ball.
With Nadal, Federer always has that one extra shot to play on every single ‘would be a winner against other opponents’ shot which increases the probability of an unforced error.
I agree that Federer was way below his best. But Nadal was certainly at his peak. And for someone who doesn’t like playing on grass, this is a fantastic win.
I agree with you vivek. It was certainly a great victory for Nadal. I love the style of tennis that federer plays but I always felt one thing that he has to do more often is come to the net. I couldn’t watch the final. But I think he would have certainly upset Nadal by coming to the net. Or may be trying serve and volley.
I still haven’t seen Nadal responding to high quality serve and volleying. I think he could have found it difficult against kinds of Sampras and Edberg.
But credit should go to him . Beating Federer in his backyard is an amazing acheivement. I am just hoping Federer beats Nadal in French and Wimbledon next year and brings more spice to the already existing rivalry.
Vishwas, Federer did try the serve and volley in the final. Lot of people dont know this, but Federer can play some excellent volleys. He maybe not an inspirational serve and volleyer like Sampras, McEnroe or Becker…but he is still decent.
Point is that Nadal is quick enough not only to get to those volleys but also make an excellent passing shot in response. I think after two or three such passing shots Federer was smart enough not to be too predictable in terms of when he is coming up to the net.
Lets face it. The better player won.