Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park
Most ordinary tennis fans like me around the world must have thought that the all Spaniard semi final match between Rafa and Verdasco will be a one sided affair in favor of the world number one.
No it wasn’t. The battle went on for over 5 hours well into the wee hours of Saturday. The end result went off course in favour of Rafa but the match was in no means was a one sided affair. It was an epic match and had all fine qualities of being classified as one of the greatest. It probably was the greatest match we witnessed after the unforgettable Fed and Nadal’s final at SW19, London last year.
These two young tennis players, one 22 already on top of the tennis world rankings and another 25, a fellow countryman and a Davis Cup team mate sizzled and set the court on fire with some amazing fore hand shots and aggressive tennis with very rare deft delicate drop volleys. What’s more common to them was that both were aggressive and steet fighters. They were spitting fire on fire and were almost on par in most post match statistics with “193-192 winners” standing out. It was just one point that kept Verdasco from reaching the final and maybe those extra late double faults when it was not needed at that moment.
Nadal fell on ground when Verdasco double faulted with his Service – his strength and gave away the match to the world number one. Nadal showed why he is so adorable and showed that there is a softer side in him inside his aggressive looks with bulged up biceps when he ran over to the other side of the court to console Verdasco with some good words and walking arm over arm. It was a great sight to see the champion player reacting that way. In the end, Verdasco walked away winning more fans, friends and admirers.
So it is Fed Vs Nadal again in the final and all I can say is “bring –it – on”. Roger is eying to equal the great Sampras record of 14 grand slam titles and the young Rafa will be eying his first Australian Open title. What a match that will be. I personally want Roger Federer to beat Rafael Nadal to settle score with him for that Wimbledon loss. He has an advantage of an extra rest day and the legend will be looking at putting the world number one in place. Roger also has less expectation from fans this time as Rafa has beaten Roger 5 out of last 8 meetings. This should ease his mind and allow him to go all out against the terrorizing Rafael Nadal. That said, the Swiss master relishes the rivalry and will be looking to make amends to that most painful SW19 loss.
The match will be a close one as always any Fed-Nadal match has been. It’s the mental aspect that comes into play and whichever player stays tough mentally will come out a winner. Federer is aware of how grueling it can be playing Nadal and said "Playing Rafa is obviously more exciting because of the history we have, playing in so many grand slam finals," Federer said "Him being the best player in the world at the moment, it would make it a very intriguing match."
I hope Roger will forget the past losses and starts the year on a bang by beating Rafa convincingly and by giving him some tennis lessons as this can set the tone to the June Wimbledon showdown. If Rafa goes on to win this finals, it might set an end of an era of Roger’s glittering career and we might very soon miss the game’s last gentleman and a classy copy book tennis champion in action.
Time for me to catch the Women’s finals now where Dinara, sister of the enigmatic Marat Safin is playing Serena (do you need the last name? or an introduction?)
Adios and have a great (Aus) OPEN Weekend!
-Anil Kumar, Hong Kong
