A Tale of The Champions

Men's Tennis has been both a kingdom ruled by the legends as well as fierce battleground for the Kingship. Much of it is spoken about the open era in tennis when professionals were once again welcomed into playing the championships but I started following the tour only in the early 90's and for me, the tale began in the summer of 1993.

McEnroe, Becker and Edberg were in the last days of their professional life and there were gossips about who could be the next emperor. I was particularly fascinated by a young American tennis player who never cared for the critics commenting on his two-finger-wipe of the sweat off his forehead before he served or his tongue that hung loose beyond his lower lip during most of the time he spent on-court. Pete Sampras was clearly my favourite and my best pick - a dedicated professional, strict serve-and-volleyer and a slam-dunker!

Even amidst tough competitors like Goran Ivanisevic on grass; Andre Agassi on fast courts and hard courts, by 1995, Sampras entrenched his rule in the kingdom of men's tennis. His matches against Ivanisevic were particularly interesting. The big serving Croat offered tremendous resistance to take a point in his service game. Sampras too played an almost perfect game on his service games and most of the times the set would end up in a tie-break. The guys were so perfect with their service games that, all they needed was ONE BREAK on the opponent's serve - and they would definitely close the set! I haven't seen such games after their era, I doubt if I ever would!!



Another notable rivalry was Sampras - the perfect server Vs Agassi - the all-time best returner of serves. It was simply a connoisseur's delight! It was Sampras who lead the head-to-head but in the end, it little mattered who won. In the summer of 2000, Sampras won his 7th Wimbledon title, his 13th Grandslam trophy and went into the history books. Sampras wasn't satisfied, may be he didn't want to stop at the unlucky "13."

It indeed proved unlucky because he went into a title-draught for the next 24 months. His signature-serve no longer worked and the giant who topped the ATP men's ranking for 286 consecutive weeks succumbed to every Tom, Dick and Harry on tour. By this time, the technology had improved and young players with powerful light-weight titanium racquets stood fearlessly against his thunderbolt - a heavy Wilson Prostaff 6.1 graphite racquet. Little did he care for the critics who strongly felt he should consider retirement and entered the US Open of 2002 with a ranking as low as 17! The 4 time champion in New York was no longer among the favourites for the betting. It was then that he put all his experience and hard work into play. Two weeks later, Sampras ended the event with his 14th Grandslam win and celebrated by kissing his heavily pregnant wife in the stands of the Arthur Ashe Stadium.



His absence from the tour for most of the 2003 had clearly sent his unspoken words of retirement into air. That summer, Sampras bid a tearful farewell to the crowd at the Arthur Ashe Stadium as he walked out of the court with his son and wife. The kingdom, by this time, was without a ruler and every American teenage kid with a tennis racquet in hand felt he could be the next king! Between 2002 and 2003 there were 8 different Grandslam champions.

The grasses at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club changed their direction and their blades would now face the net instead of the baseline. This prevented the balls from sliding and slowed the pace of the game. The tennis balls were being opened three weeks before the start of the tournament and this would help them absorb some moisture. The heavy balls started bouncing high and favoured the hard-hitting base-liners. Serve-and-volley was a thing of the past and top-spin was the new Mantra at the spiritual home of tennis - the Championships Wimbledon. It was then that the Swiss express rushed to the barren land and ended the speculation of Andy Roddick being the hope of continuing the American reign on the kingdom. Although not a strict serve-and-volleyer, Roger Federer mixed his baseline shots to rush to the net and finish-off the rallies with crisp volleys.

I was not happy with Federer's arrival just because of one silly reason - he seemed like breaking every other record set by my all-time favourite, Pete Sampras. Except that, it was always a pleasure to watch his intelligent construction of the rallies and he almost flawlessly finished the weak returns off his opponents' racquets. Although Federer looked docile on the French clay [even Sampras was!], his game spared a room for improvement and gave a hope to his fans that he would one day complete his career-slam, something that Sampras failed to achieve! During the latter half of the 2004 tour, Federer occupied the throne left vacant by Sampras. Ranked no. 1 in the world, he seemed mighty as the 2005 season opened. Though he lost a 5-set-thriller at the semifinals of the Australian Open to the eventual Champion Marat Safin, he looked confident of winning the other three and finishing his career-slam that year.

When every other player stood nervous across the net against Federer, an 18-yr old boy from Majorca dared to carry the Spanish torch at the Roland Garros. Playing his first French Open, Rafael Nadal was seeded fourth in the tournament. Dressed in a green sleeveless shirt, white knee-length shorts and a white head-band to keep his shoulder length hair out of sight, Nadal entered the Philippe-Chatrier court to take on the top-seed Roger Federer in the semifinals. He counted on his stamina and stretched Federer's patience beyond limits and earned a match point in the fourth set. Unable to face the heavy top-spin off the Nadal-backhand, Federer sent the ball long and Nadal celebrated his 19th birthday rolling joyously over the French clay! Later that week, Nadal pocketed his first Grandslam trophy and posed a real threat to Federer's dream of a career slam.



Nevertheless, Federer confidently walked around the AELTC and Flushing Meadows through rest of the summer and finished the season with Wimbledon and US Open titles. Like most French open winners, Nadal fared lousy on other surfaces and there's was no one to pose even a slight threat to the Fedex. The American hope, Andy Roddick started failing consistantly against the Swiss ace and even Jimmy Connors could not tame the big server to control his erratic ground-strokes.

Towards the beginning of 2006, Australian open witnessed a young Cypriot Marcos Bhagdatis (don't ask me where he is now!!) who dismantled Andy Roddick and David Nalbandian on his way to the finals. It was too much to hope for a magical run to continue past the Swiss master and Bhagdatis finally woke up from his dreams when Federer won his second Australian Open. As if dormant through the winter, Nadal sprung back to life with the beginning of that summer. Federer faced Nadal in the finals of the French Open and Federer's fans were on a high when he won the first set 6-0 against the young Spaniard. Nadal shrugged off his languid attitude and bounced back in the second set and continued it till he won the match. Grandslam no. 2 for Nadal and another disappointment for Federer.

But what surprised everyone was, they both met again in the finals of the Wimbledon. Traditionally, those who won in Paris never stayed in London beyond the first week of the tournament. Whatever, it was time for Roger Federer to take revenge against Nadal and he just did that, although in four sets. Federer carried the momentum from London to New York and won his third successive US Open title.

Australian Open 2007 had another surprise finalist, Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, who ousted Nadal in the semifinals. Like Bhagdatis, he could not run past Federer in the finals and Federer won his third Australian Open trophy. Nadal's fortune bloomed with the onset of summer and he continued his clay court reign. Again, Federer was tested when he faced Nadal in the finals. Nadal consistantly hit those heavy top-spin forehands to Federer's single-handed backhand. Federer could not swallow the bounce as he either committed unforced errors or returned them weakly. Nadal would simply punish him for his weak returns. Grandslam no. 3 for Nadal and another disappointment for the Swiss' fans.

Federer looked forward to Wimbledon to take his revenge. And they met again on the second Sunday of the tournament. Surprisingly, Nadal levelled the match at two-sets all. Federer used his experience and played a brilliant fifth set. In the eighth game of the deciding set, at match-point, Federer was handed a high ball at the net which he smashed effortlessly before rolling over the broken grasses!



With a fifth straight title at the AELTC, Federer went to New York with greater confidence in his sports kit. By this time, a young Serb was doing well on the hard courts. Although he managed to reach the finals of US Open, Novak Djokovic was too inexperienced for a big challenge and handed a fourth consecutive trophy to the Swiss entrepreneur.

Australian Open 2008 maintained its tradition of unfurling another surprise finalist, this time a 6'2", 93 Kg heavy-weight Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who proved too much for Nadal in the semifinals. Unlike before, the other semifinal also saw an upset when Novak Djokovic derailed the Fedex train in three straight sets! Djokovic's victory over the surprise finalist won him his first grandslam but it was not at all a clear threat to Federer, as he was still recovering from Infectious Mononucleosis (don't ask me who he got it from!).

Nadal continued his tradition of clay court dominance as the summer blossomed. This time, he got even better and hardly put out any sweat. Roger Federer was handed was completely dominated and Nadal, even after winning his fourth consecutive title in the French capital, controlled his urge to roll on the clay, as a mark of respect to the reigning emperor. But he maintained his tradition of biting his trophy as he posed in front of the photographers!

Federer flew to Germany to warm up for Wimbledon. Nadal chose to warm up at the Queen's club and he sent a clear warning to Federer by winning the tournament. Federer, little affected by that, continued to religiously sacrifice all those who fell into the top half of the draw. The crowd at the South West London witnessed one of the finest matches in the history of Wimbledon as Federer and Nadal contested in a four hour 48 minutes battle in the finals. With rain interuppting twice in the match, the contest went on till quarter past 9 in the evening, when the five-time defending champion netted a forehand at the match point. As if it was a lightening, cameras around the stadium flashed and lighted the 22 year old Spaniard, as he fell to the ground in ecstasy.



The emperor's reign was further challenged when Nadal went on to Beijing, to win a Gold for Spain in the Olympics. That summer, Nadal ended the Swiss's four-and-a-half year reign at the ATP rankings. With no major victory throughout the season, Roger Federer came to New York to seek solace. Top-seed Rafael Nadal failed again to pass his semifinal examination. The playing conditions were tough, given the rain interruption and heavy winds at the Louis Armstrong stadium, but it should not have theoritically bothered the then World No. 1, as he fell in four sets to the British hope Andy Murray. Murray was another easy opponent and Federer ended his title draught of the season - a fifth straight title at the Flushing Meadows for Federer!

Traditionally, the 2009 tour began with Australian Open and this time, Nadal was fighting another potential surprise-finalist, Fernando Verdasco. The Nadal-Verdasco semifinal was one of the finest matches of the tournament and Nadal lighted up the center court with a stunning running forehand down-the-line - the ball went past the sideline but once it crossed the net, it curved inwards and landed within the court! The crowd rose to their feet and Verdasco stood wondering what else he could do.



Playing his first finals at the Flinder's park, Nadal fought Federer in another five-set thriller that lasted four hour 23 minutes and Nadal became the first Spaniard to win the trophy in Melbourne. As he received his runner-up trophy, Federer broke out in tears, "God, it's killing me." Nadal collected his trophy and went straight to Federer, put his arm around his shoulders and comforted him. Once the match was over, they were good friends again!

Three months later, things changed. Federer changed his game strategy as his took on Nadal in the Madrid clay. Federer mixed his game with surprise rush to the net and forced Nadal to give short balls on the return. Federer convincingly beat the clay court king in the Roland Garros warm up event. Federer was sure to give a shock to Nadal if they were to meet again in Paris but Nadal was given a shock before that. In the fourth round, Nadal faced a 6'4" Swede, Robin Soderling who was little affected by the top spin Nadal manufactured. He took advantage of his height and started attacking the balls staying closer to the baseline. Nadal was forced to step back and this created ample room for Soderling to close out the rally. After a four-set loss, the Spanaiard revealed his knee-injury that further disappointed his fans. Soderling eventually reached the finals. Federer, though struggled to reach the finals, played confidently against the Swede. He wasn't playing Nadal in the finals, so he made sure he won it! Equalling Sampras' record of 14 Grandslams, Federer also completed his career-slam and joined the elite club of four others to have won all the four major events on the tour.

Nadal's injury made it clear that there would not be a Federer-Nadal finals at the Wimbledon. Federer breathed the comfort air in London as he sailed to the finals to face the fastest server in the world, Andy Roddick. Though he won the first set, Roddick made the biggest mistake of his life in the tie breaker of the second set. Leading 6-2 in the tie break, he wasted 3 of the 4 set points. At 6-5, Roddick had a set point on his serve, hit a hard serve, got a weak return, pushed it to the Federer's forehand corner, Federer handed him a easy backhand volley at the net, Federer's backhand-court wide open, Roddick had all the time and space in the court but he chose to send it 3 feet wide!! If I were Roddick, I would have quit playing tennis at that moment itself. Anyways, Federer won his 15th Grandslam with a 16-14 victory in the fifth set of that match.





Also that summer, Federer regained his World No.1 spot. Meanwhile, Nadal announced his recovery from the knee injury and fared well at the hard court warm up tournaments for the US Open. At the start of the open, we were hoping for another Federer-Nadal thriller in New York, but destiny had its own choice. Nadal was handed a tough draw and he had to work out his way through the rain interrupted second week of the tournament. Nadal faced another tall guy, 6'6" Juan Martin Del Potro in the semifinals. Though an abdomenal injury bothered him in the earlier matches, it was clearly not the reason why he lost the tall Argentine. Once again, his top-spin proved inefficient against the tall guy. As if the Argentine had thoroughly revised the book chapter, "How Soderling defeated Nadal," Del Potro exactly did the same - took advantage of his height, attacked the top-spin early and sent the injured Spaniard running for balls! Federer continued his tradition of making it to the finals of US Open and Del Potro seemed an easy opponent.

Del Potro, who lacked experience at 20 years of age, surely had the energy to mount a fight-till-death attack. In the first set, Federer was comfortable with his strategy of pushing the tall guy away from the baseline. In the second set, he had a couple of chances of taking a 2-0 lead but Federer relaxed. May be, he thought he would have a couple more opportunities but Del Potro held on to his momentum. During the later half of the match, I don't why Federer chose to drag him side-to-side, it was blessing in disguise for the tall Argentine. He ran effortlessly chasing the balls and experimented with new angles on the court. Federer was completely dominated in the fifth and Juan Martin Del Potro announced the arrival of a new contender to the emperor's throne!

Where does Nadal go from here? Troublesome injuries, worst defeats at the Grandslam, once again failed his semifinal exam at the US Open and what's worse, a new opponent has emerged. His 3200 rpm top-spin is not working anymore. It's time to do some homework, Nadal, you have to change your strategy. Where does Federer go? Straight into the history books, with bold and big-font prints! He's already achieved so much, whatever he wins will be icing the cake. My guess is, he could win another 3 Wimbledons before he bids adieu to the kingdom! The American tennis has no hopes as of now. The Spaniard needs to recover from his injuries and change his strategy, Del Potro has to gain some more experience, Andy Roddick needs to improve his return of serves, and Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are yet to find out a strategy and stick on to it, rather than playing impulsively. The Quest for Perfection continues - who's next??