Monday, July 07, 2008

Finally, He Concedes Defeat

Last night, I stayed up late just to watch Wimbledon Final Match between the World No.1 Roger "Fedex" Federer and his arch-rival, Rafael "the Clay King" Nadal.





Nadal had a jump-start when he leads 2 set with 6-4, 6-4 but Federer however was not in the mode to surrender his title easily. He closes the gap with a tie-break win in the 3rd set, 7-6 (7-5) and the rain start to pour heavily. The game had been delayed for about an hour.



Trading blows like champion boxers, both men served strongly in the fourth set, Federer twice to stay in the Championships, forcing a second tie-break as good as any since Bjorn Borg's epic against John McEnroe in 1980.



Federer earned his second set point at 9-8, and this time a long backhand return from Nadal brought an end to a truly remarkable tie-break, Federer's 10-8 victory clawing the match back level.


Another short rain break early in the decider did little to detract from the game's momentum, with Nadal having the first chance, failing to convert two break points on the Federer serve at 5-5.




Finally at 7-7 Nadal converted his fourth break point chance to set up the opportunity to serve out for the Championship. On his fourth match point, Nadal forced one final error from Federer, and collapsed to the turf in triumph. The Final score are 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 ( 5-7), 6-7 ( 8-10), 8-7.



At the post-match interview Roger accepted his defeat:
"Later on in life I'll think it was a great match to be part of but it doesn't feel so good now. I played well but missed too many chances in the first two sets but I'm happy with the way I fought. He served well and played well and I pushed him to the edge but he deserved to win."

2 comments:

Hambali ® said...

sejak bile mung minat tennis ni swot??

X-weatherman said...

Lama doh Sme..time di maktab dulu pun aku rajin maing tennis jugok..sampai pecah tingkap asrama pompuan...