mobile
email
stampa
condividiThe new King
Rafa upsets Federer in a dramatic final. Alessandro Mastroluca
A new era is started. After one of the best finals of the last years, after almost five hours of thrilling show, Rafa Nadal hoisted the Spanish flag in the Swiss kingdom.
It was a match of paradoxes, of relentless fights, of unbelievable quality and remarkable pathos. His intensity and level of play reminded us the show offered by Agassi and Sampras during the "match of the four tiebreaks" at the Us open in 2000.
Nadal confirmed all his technical improvements and his iron made will of winning. His mental strongness has blocked a possible historical comeback to rejoin his dreamful end.
For the first two sets F ederer seemed the same resigned condemned we saw in Montecarlo and above all in Paris. Soon broken in the first set, wasted an enormuus series of break point with hurried returns and strokes full of fear. The ghosts of Montecarlo final newly assaulted him in the second set. Ahead 4-1, Federer played a terrible service game at 4-2 and, bewitched by Nadal's lefty tricks, left the second set going away 4-6.
In the third, like a shipwrecked man to his raft, Federer remained grasped to his service while Nadal showed off crosscourt backhand passing shot at unthinkable angles and a new confidence in his own serve. The Spaniard varied cuts and directions, succeeding in masking until the last moment his true intention and Federer had many difficulties in reading his ball. But someway they went on with serves. Anyway, also if we were at 5-4 40-40, in Federer's favour, the sensation was that the n.1 was drowning.
Paradoxically it was the water that almost saved him. The match was delayed for an hour and a half, while the Swiss cleared his mind and, after that, the momentum changed. Thanks to four aces, he conquered the tiebreak 7-5. In his kingdom, he would have sold his life dear before surrendeing.
The "Nadal syndrome" was there yet for the Swiss champions. But the last three sets were the first step towards the cure. Federer fought with new enthusiasm, obliging Nadal to another breathless tiebreak, tight and thrilling like the famous one betwenn Borg and McEnroe. Nadal wasted a first Championship point at 7-6, before playing the shot of the match, a strabiliant forehand down-the-line passing shot to reach another match point, saved by Federer by a winning backhand, his feebler hit.
Also the luck sometimes seemed partaging for Federer, who saved himself a pair of times thanks to the netcord. But at 2-2 during the fifth set, a new short shower of rain interrupted the game again.
In the incipient darkness Nadal perfectioned his masterpiece sealing a fully deserved 64 64 67 67 97 victory; then he burst into joyful tears. Today, more than in the past encounters, Nadal's merits exceeded Federer's unworthynesses.
Technically Federer should have tried more attacking backspin backhands, he could have played more carefully some points. But, after the break, he hadn't to blame himself for almost nothing.
He served well, he returned well, he often came to the net, but always having prepared the point. The key to explain the end is simple: Nadal won three or four times more long rallies.
The champion from Manacor, who defined himself as the "best second in the tennis history", is the number 2 yet. But only according the computer, who understands numbers but doesn't know anything about sport. The rest of the world has already celebrated the new king.
Alessandro Mastroluca
rss
Softec