2008 Men's Single Wimbledon Final

Apa sudah jadi, Federer?

Federer's loss to Nadal is something I did not expect to happen. I was full of hope that Federer would survive Nadal and take home the trophy again. Even his big loss in the French Open finals did not make me change my expectation. Then, came the day of drama - the Wimbledon Men's Singles Final. All five sets played were competitive. The competitiveness remained even after two rainstops. The first rally of the match could be the telltale sign that this was going to be explosive. Alas, Nadal took the first two sets 6-4, 6-4. By then, it all pointed to Federer's loss. Personally, I believed at that moment that Federer would make a comeback. And, yes, he did. He took the second two sets 7-6, i7-6. As expected, he won all the tiebreaks in the match. He almost lost one in the fourth set when Nadal led him by 5-2. Luck was with Federer. Nadal committed a double fault. 5-3. Federer won the next point when Nadal's weak second serve was broken by him. 5-4. Then, came Federer's turn. He did what he should have did at first - firing a stinging ace, and killed off Nadal's resistance to take the game to the fifth. Federer won 7-6.

Came the penultimate set. No tiebreak. After four hours, they still fought tooth and nail, using all stored arsenal to eliminate one another. The fifth game was filled with more drama. What superhuman efforts they had. No superlatives could describe how the last 45 minutes went. Finally, at 9.16 pm, Federer surrendered his title with a forehand that hit the net. Briefly before that, he returned Nadal's serve with a backhand crosscourt. Spectators stood in amazement. "Can he survive?" It was not to be. His last unforced error decided everything.

Tennis bug has certainly taken its toll on me. Here at PSPN there is a tennis court. Met a fellow tennis fan, wearing Rafa-style short (this one is not tight). So far, we have played 4 times. All won by him, Shamsul Kamil Osman. I managed to win 8 games only. It was awkward at first as I only used to play badminton. With badminton, most hits and returns involve wrist movement. So far, I find that in playing tennis, wrist movement seems insignificant to the movement of forearm. There I could see that what I am going to hit is something much heavier than what I have to hit in badminton. The racquet make is also different. The game technics are different. So far, in the four games I have played, I managed to return shots and make a few crosscourt returns. I managed to serve, tossing the ball into the right court. After watching many tennis live coverage and highlights, I finally get to feel the beauty of the game.