Wimbledon Final - Federer v. Nadal

This match was decided on one point. After losing the first set 6-0, Nadal was playing brilliant tennis and up a break in the second against Federer. At 5-4, Nadal was serving for the set. He would double fault on the crucial 15-30, after having served an astonishing 80% first serve percentage for the match to that point. Giving Federer 2 break points on grass to get back control of the match which at this point in Federer’s career is an impossible thing to recover from. Federer would go on to win the 2nd set in a tie break, and up 2-0 on grass it’s over.

It is abundantly clear how great Federer is and how great he still can be…but it is impossible to ignore what can become of Raphael Nadal. He is a clay court specialist now thriving on the much faster grass surface…something people can rarely do (and rarely do the other way around going from grass to clay). For non-tennis aficionados, it seems weird that there is so much difference between tennis courts surfaces, but they are subtle. Clay plays slower and has bigger ball bounces; grass is much faster as the ball skids on the grass and stays much lower to the ground. To put it in perspective, Pete Sampras won 7 wimbeldons (14 total titles) but no French Opens. Boris Becker had 3 Wimbledons, but no French Opens. The great Bjorn Borg is an exception winning 5 Wimbledons and 6 French Opens (though never winning the US or Australian). Ivan Lendel won every Major except Wimbledon (including the Wimbledon loss in straight sets to Pat Cash – a 1 major title wonder) This is why Agassi is my favorite player – he won on EVERY surface all 4 major titles with 8 total career Finals wins. Federer has yet to win a French despite having won every other major at least once. But Nadal is showing prowess on grass, getting to this year’s final and showing some great volleying skills critical on the grass. The key to Nadal’s success on grass is speed. He chases down balls like Michael Chang which gives him a shot on this faster surface.

It is for these reasons that we need to seriously watch Nadal’s career. If he can master the slow and fast surfaces, he may vault himself into rarified air. Do you know how many times Federer has lost this year? Federer has only lost 3 times in the final match this year…and they were all to Nadal! Though admittedly all on clay. Nadal is proving to be a man that may have as close to as any one can have to getting Federer’s number…and now Nadal can play on grass. Nadal is only 20 yrs old, 2 Majors already won, and much time left to prove how great he can be.