To start it off: Justine Henin (Mr. Hardenne is apparently available if any of you ladies are interested) appeared in her 5th final of the last 6 majors. In a sport dominated by a handful of personalities, Henin has quietly racked up 7 majors. Superior play beats superior marketing every time.
In the men's: first set, Federer up 3-2, on serve. Nadal falls down luv-40, rallies back and finally takes the point after 8 deuces. Federer comes back drained, breaks just like a little girl, Nadal breezes through his serve and breaks Federer once more to take the set. The one flaw of Federer's game is occasionally he drifts off to the Bahamas in his mind and loses himself for a little while. Normally he comes back anyway because he's a heartless tennis machine and well, he's just better than you. But coming back on Nadal on clay is like thinking you're gonna catch Reggie Bush once he's past you: it may be possible but it ain't too likely. Federer wasn't out of it but failing to capitalize on opportunities in his return game must've stung.
Federer came back strong in the 2nd and comfortably takes it. It looks like we got a match.
Incidentally, I was only rooting for a good match. In tennis that clearly requires pulling for the guy who's behind at any given moment. In the 1st I hoped only for compelling tennis and got it. In the 2nd I was pulling for Federer and was rewarded. In the 3rd I went back for Nadal to regain the momentum and again was pleased (or at least pleasantly un-surprised).
Which brings us to the 4th. I was rooting for Federer to come out and lay it all out there. I feel like he did but just wasn't getting the luck. He's gambling and trying to be pro-active but just couldn't get his way. Credit Nadal for being the best clay court-er in the world. Federer may well be 2nd best, I have no doubt they'll be playing for many more Slams. Nadal would probably be winning more if he didn't have Federer keeping everybody out.
Federer is dominating more than Sampras or Borg or Laver--dominating more than Tiger! 8 straight slam finals (6 wins with 2 losses to Nadal in Paris), that's just unheard of. He's in Steffi Graf/Gretzky/MJ/Coach K territory with John Wooden/Bill Russell/Vince Lombardi territory not far off. And Nadal is looking like Alysheba galloping just behind Affirmed. But Nadal is feisty, he'll win more than Duke or the Braves or Shaq ever did.
They'll meet again in Wimbledon, methinks, and when they're back in Federer's turf, I suspect the result will be evenly reversed. Good tennis is a good thing.
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