The stuff Champions are made of

If ever there was an award for the biggest match of attrition, the Wimbledon-2009 final raised the stakes right out of the roof. An humdinger, where emotions could override the physical drain, the shadows could dawn from all directions, a long forgotten warrior could reinvigorate his career and win score of fans from world over and for once it even created a doubt in my mind if the finale in 2008 was the best the world of tennis could offer.

Another truth, I should say one heck of a bitter truth that came out once more was how you can do all but one thing right and yet thanks to that one wrong step, just one slip, one error of judgment and this cruel, sometimes unrewarding world would shred you in pieces emotionally and sometimes even physically, so to speak and in no time one sinks into an abaddon, an oblivion. Federer had no answer whatsoever to big and immaculate Roddick’s serve; it was only down to one simple equation: either Roddick would be able to repeat the previous break of serves or the one and only break from Federer would seal the match and championship. One can only term the equation as cruel and lopsided but the world can never be entirely fair and for survival we are expected to not obstruct change but embrace it in our stride or in rather brute sense ‘suck it up’. The otherwise low number of unforced errors sealed the fate against Roddick’s wish in the time of reckoning and all the previous good deeds and ordeal over the past 4 hours was all but forgotten. I had a tough time expecting this fact of the matter while I was growing up, I recall how I would bicker about how I got the hard and unfair deal and even now one makes the mistake of calling it bad luck and follow the curse and bitch way of solving-nothing.

When Federer in post match presentation said how he understood the grief that might have engulfed Roddick’s disheartened heart, his prompt reply was how he had already won 5 Royal Green titles. True but the sooner he realizes the above as a fact, the sooner he would be ready to fight another day and return the favor. The world is all random and lopsided; some events, decisions weigh much more than the others and bear more than their fair share of consequences. Only one break of serve decided the fate of the pinnacle of tennis, in the same vein one supposed ‘ill-decision’ by Shiney Ahuja mired his hard earned name and fame.



Coming back to that match, it is worth noting how the champion has transformed himself into one humble, emotionally rock solid, all popular winner from once hard to believe bitchy and angry young man. It is worth appreciating how the smile communicates the frustration as a form of amusement contrary to much preferred all abusive, racket tossing, clonking and throwing behavior. Although Roddick has also come a long way from the unnecessary exuberance of the youth and it would not be entirely wrong to state it as one big reason (appended with the volleys, drop shots, more consistent execution and the ever agile physique) to why he proved to be much bigger obstacle than many pundits predicted; it is the consistency of Federer in humility in both wins and loss, that makes me awe and gasp.

Let us only hope alongside Nadal and Murray, revitalized Roddick would give the healthy competition another shot in the arm which the later years of open era has so yearned for. With Hewitt (Yeah if the late charge is any indication of the time to come), Djonkovic and whole breed of other Spanish, Argentine players to boot, we have a lot many enthralling contests on our hands. Even part dominance from now on will just forward the claim of RF being the greatest player of the open era.