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Second serves: Federer a champion in defeat
by Zachary Pierce, FOXSports.com
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- Day 12: Women's F |
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- Day 6: Women | | | Women
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Analysis:
- Cronin: Nadal makes case for No. 1
- Pierce: Federer shows his mettle
- Cronin: Venus, Serena at their best
Others:
- Draws: Men's singles | Women's singles
- PHOTOS: Men's final | Women's final | Men's SF | Women's SF | Men's QF
- Results: Men Women | Ranks | Schedule
Partners:
Throughout his merciless tear through the world of tennis, Federer has rarely been tested when it most counts. He has lost matches, yes. He has come up short in a few Slams. But prior to his 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7 loss to Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon final, he had never seen the odds stacked so highly against him in a Slam title match outside of Roland Garros.
Whether you believe Nadal is now the new king of tennis or not, what matters is this: In defeat, Roger Federer showed us more championship mettle than ever before.
Consider that he spotted Earth's second-best player (or arguably its best) two sets, did not break him over the final three sets, faced a 5-2 deficit and a pair of championship points in the fourth set tiebreak, hit nearly twice as many errors (52 to 27) as his opponent, and still — amazingly — was within two points of winning the match, at 30-30 on Nadal's serve at 4-5 in the fifth set.
It takes a champion to give himself a chance when nothing's going his way.
Give Nadal credit. He overcame dodgy weather, a crowd pulling for Federer to prolong the match, the mystique of a five-time Wimbledon winner staring at him from across the net, and the memory of last year's painful five-set loss on this very stage. He held his nerves time and time again, incredibly staving off 12 of Federer's 13 precious break-point chances after facing only 10 and surrendering four in his first six matches combined. All this from a 22-year-old not known for his serve.
After that first 94 minutes, the total tally was five straight sets that Federer had dropped to Nadal — three in the French Open final, two on Centre Court. The scores in those sets were 6-1, 6-3, 6-0, 6-4, and 6-4 — a score line more fit for a first-round match than a pair of Grand Slam finals. Recent and ancient history were on Nadal's side — no one had won six straight Wimbledons since the first presidency of Grover Cleveland.
But just like he refused to fade in 2007 — when Nadal forced him to a fifth set at Wimbledon for the first time in six years — Federer rallied. He won prolonged tiebreaks in each of the next two sets, shrugging off the frustrations of missed opportunities, mounting errors and a relentless opponent.
This time, though, the fifth set went quite differently. That's no knock on Federer. Nadal is getting better all the time, scary as that is to imagine. Make no mistake: Both men brought their top-level game on Sunday. Only one could win.
Even Federer, known for being candid in his post-match analysis, admits that his opponent — who had to win 33 games in five sets to dethrone the champ — was just too much.
"Look, Rafa's a deserving champion," Federer said. "He just played fantastically."
If Federer had found a way to convert, for instance, his break point at 3-4 in the fifth set and then served out the match, writers would've blown the circuits on their computers trying to come up with new superlatives to describe the world No. 1 player. That's the harsh reality for Federer — the difference between undisputed greatness and newfound vulnerability decided merely by a break point saved.
Now, the bar has been raised. Federer, the near-flawless player who set the standard for so long, finally has reason himself to get better. Champions always do.
Oh sisters, where art thou?
On the other side of the rivalry coin, there's Venus vs. Serena. The much-hyped meeting of the Williams sisters in the Wimbledon final was probably their best to date, and it still left something to be desired. The Associated Press recapped the odd scene on Centre Court:
"Things were still a tad awkward after all these years — for the sisters themselves, of course, but also for the 15,000 or so fans, who couldn't seem to get into picking someone to support, leading to a subdued atmosphere; for chair umpire Carlos Ramos, who occasionally forgot to add the necessary first name when announcing, 'Advantage, Miss Williams'; and, perhaps most of all, for the relatives sitting in the players' guest box."
You can't blame the sisters for the lack of punch in their rivalry. The media — lover of a good rivalry — tends to treat them as one, which ironically makes it difficult for fans to differentiate personalities and pick a favorite.
Use the force, Andy
To hold Andy Roddick up to Roger Federer's model of consistency would be futile, but you have to wonder — if the American couldn't make a run at this edition of The Championships, will he ever be a factor again?
His section of the draw could not have been more appetizing. The top seed in his quarter — Nikolay Davydenko, who has never had much success at the All England Club — was bounced in the first round. The third-highest seed in his quarter — James Blake — had lost to him six out of the eight times they'd played.
Roddick, though, lost in round two to unseeded 42nd-ranked Janko Tipsarevic — a grad-student look-alike with a penchant for harassing some of the world's top players on the court. All of the seeds ended up flaming out in that quarter, giving us a quarterfinal matchup of Arnaud Clement against Rainer Schuettler.
Roddick was quick to admit the disappointment and asserted he's still focused on getting back to the top.
"I'm going to have pressure on myself regardless," Roddick said. "And it's not from anybody else, it's from within. I want to win another Slam, and I could probably coast and not train and be a top-10 player and kind of have a cushy lifestyle and be set for as long as I need to be set for. I'm happy as I can be away from losing tennis matches. But I don't know if that appeals to me. ... I want to win another Slam."
A semifinal run was there to be had. Instead, Roddick leaves another Grand Slam with a pile of doubt.
The Associated Press and FOXSports.com contributor Matt Cronin contributed to this report. Zack Pierce is an editor for FOXSports.com.
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