Fed-Rafa match and all that..........

After battling for four and half hours on the Rod Laver Arena, Federer hit a forehand long and Rafa sink into the ground in glee. He knew instantly he had achieved something special and few minutes later on the stage, Federer wept inconsolably. He obviously knew he had lost something—a golden chance to touch Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles and receive his Cup from his childhood hero, the great Laver!

The end was anti-climactic after four sets of breathtaking tennis, where the two champions refused to give the other any leeway to break free. That's what challenges can do to human beings. Both of them raised their game to the next level and it was difficult to pick a winner till the last 20 minutes when the usually-phlegmatic Federer lost his nerve and handed over the match to the always-at-you Rafa.

If I had not seen the match, I would have looked at the statistics and said that Federer lost the match because of very low first serve percentage and high percentage of unforced errors. Where do you serve to a player who has a brilliant forehand and backhand? When you play someone like Nadal, as Verdasco discovered, you have to hit three winners instead of one winner to win a point! No wonder, even someone with pin-point accuracy as Federer is forced to go for broke and try and place the ball beyond Rafa's reach!

Is it the end of Federer? Is Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles safe? Will Rafa ever get to Sampras? Interesting questions, these!

Firstly, there is nothing to suggest that Federer has won his last Grand Slam title. This talk has been going on ever since he lost to Djokovic in staright sets at Melbourne, a year back and then five months later to Rafa at Paris, winning just 4 games. Then the loss to Rafa again at Wimbledon heightened speculation about his possible decline. He still rounded off his year by winning at New York. His record at the Grand Slam events last year—losing semi-finalist at Melbourne, losing finalist at Paris and Wimbledon and winner at New York! How can this be a decline? Maybe from his superhuman feats!

Secondly, to answer the other questions, we must look at what is in store in the coming year. Other than the two, there is Andy Murray who is almost ready to launch himself at the Majors, despite his record so far. He has the game to trouble the best, which he showed last year. And the talented Novak Djokovic, who has the all-court game to add to his sole Melbourne title. Outside the four, you have two talented youngsters, Tsonga and Verdasco. Many people who saw Verdasco the other day in the epic five-setter felt that he is a better player than Nadal and that he lost that evening because of inexperience at the big stage. He is likely to trouble Nadal on clay. Tsonga played only six months last year and the way he pummeled Nadal in the Australian Open last year showed his obvious class. He can only get better. 

Finally, coming back to Nadal and how far will he go! The answer to that lies in his knees. They have taken a pounding over the last 12 months and there is no let-up in the next six months! There is a buzz around in the tennis world that he is only delaying going under the knife! If and when that happens, it will be sad as the fans wouldn't want to be shortchanged. And the scheduling is so tight that there is no let-up, no time for recuperation. But if he is fit, he will take a crack first at the Career Grand Slam and then the magic #14.

Will Federer get to #14? The answer to that lies in the way he broke down after the match yesterday. It hurt him immensely. That means the hunger is still there!