Now I'm not a huge tennis fan but yesterday's Wimbledon championship match between Nadal and Federer was unbelievable. Nadal seemed to have things in control being up two sets to none but Roger stormed back. Then in the fourth set tie break, Nadal had him up 5 to 2 but ended up losing it. At that point, I thought Nadal would be demoralized and Roger would take the 5th and deciding set and win his unprecedented 6th Wimbledon in a row. The 5th set was amazing. Both guys made tremendous shots and both held their serve until Nadal finally broke Roger. Nearly, five hours of unbelievable tennis, Nadal took home the championship. Again, I don't typically get into tennis but if you are any type of sports fan, this was one of the greatest tennis matches (and sports competitions) there has ever been.
Aside from the physical play of the two, you have to appreciate the rivalry they have as well as the tremendous amount of mental strength they showed. When Roger is down two sets to none, he has to be feeling pretty bad. When Nadal had the title in his grasp in the fourth set but lost it, it had to be demoralizing. It truly was an amazing match and ESPN will be broadcasting again tonight as an instant classic. The other great thing about the match was the class both guys showed after it was over. It's clear they both have a desire to be the best in the world. They both wanted the title badly. They both recognize the intense rivalry they share and at the same time show great respect towards one another.
4 comments:
That was a great spectacle of human endurance and skill. It was the two best tennis players in the world playing in the hallowed Center Court in the Wimbledon Finals. Awesome match.
It had everything and every shot mattered. I loved it. I wanted Federer but certainly respect what Nadal did.
I was pulling for Rafa. I am the kind of guy that likes to see upsets and streaks broken (unless it is a team I root for).
It was definitely one for the ages.
It's interesting because ESPN had a poll of which championship was the best this year and it's a pretty hard one to choose. The choices were:
1. Giants over the Pats in the Super Bowl.
2. Tiger winning the U.S. Open
3. Kansas over Memphis in the NCAA BB championship game.
4. Rafa over Roger in Wimbledon
All four were great championship games. Really is difficult to pick a winner.
If I had to make a choice, it would probably be the Giants over the Pats just because of how much the Pats dominated the season setting all types of records and going up against a pretty ordinary NYG team. Manning's pass to Tyree is one of the all time great plays in Super Bowl history and then pulling out the win with less than a minute was pretty impressive. Still, any one of those choices above can be justified.
Tiger.
The shot he made on the final hole to send it to the playoff was amazing. With all the pressure in the world he delivered.
But really, I give it to hime because the guy won the U.S. Open with a torn ACL. He beat the best golfers in the world with one leg. That is how good he is.
Again, they are all worthy selections. Tiger was amazing in that he played hurt and won but still a hurt Tiger is still better than the rest of the field as he proved.
The Giants, very much the underdog, took on arguably one of the greatest teams in NFL history and pulled out the victory in one of the biggest sporting events in the world. They were somewhat of a rag tag bunch that gelled at the right time and beat the powerhouse that was the Patriots.
If I had to rank the championship games, they would go in this order:
1. Giants win Super Bowl
2. Nadal beats Federer
3. Tiger
4. Kansas
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