The day the earth stood still

January 29, 2017 will go down in the history as the day that marked a fierce competition between two super humans, and one of them, with a slight edge over other, rise to the occasion and clinch a grand slam title after seven long years.

The most coveted Fedal match was on and the whole world seemed to be emotionally invested into it. Expectedly so, the match turned out to be full of ebbs and tides of emotions. With every point made, every serve break, there was a small fan inside us that just became exhilarated with joy or just worried a little more. We saw some of the most beautiful and unhuman (for the lack of better word) shots in the match. There were times where you would start doubting, are these men for real? Finally after a marathon 3.5 hours, it was Roger Federer who tasted the sweet victory and claimed his 18^th Grand Slam. What a match!!

Being a huge Federer fan myself, it took me a while to sync in the fact that we witnessed what we BEL18VED in and after several hours of watching the highlights, post match press conferences, interviews and replays, I sit to reflect over the whole match as to what it meant to the two men on either side of the court, to their fans and to the tennis itself. Here are my thoughts as I gathered from my mustering

Let’s talk about Roger Federer first. I was utterly disappointed when last year he pulled out of all professional tennis matches for the year owing to his knee injury. I had long believed in the 18^th grand slam for Federer and with each year, it seemed to be drifting apart. When 2017 started with the Australian Open, Federer did not come as favorites and never thought himself that he would make it so far. But as it’s said, form is temporary but class is permanent. We saw the vintage Federer with his crisp and clean shots, those beautiful backhands and slices.

And then there was the D-day. Federer met Nadal for the AO2017 final. He was playing against all odds. If records were to be discussed, Rafa dominated the head to head figures in every way. Commentators said that if Federer were to win the match, he needed to do it in four sets, for Rafa is the Demon of the Fifth set. But as fate would have it, the match did go up to the fifth decider set. Rafa broke an early serve and my heartbeat was running faster than the fastest train in the world. Could Federer pull some magic or this was it for him? But even at the position of disadvantage, Federer rose to a new energy and aggression and fired his shots all over the court to which Rafa had no replies. With the final drama of in/out challenge, Federer had done the unimaginable. He claimed his Australian open title after 7 years. I saw his roar in the court that I had been dying to see for so long. 

But there is so much than just the 18^th Grand slam that Federer gave us with this win. He proved that it’s never too late to make a blasting comeback. When he played against the odds and won the game, he proved that records are just numbers and statistics, what matters most is that you give yourself completely to the present. He showed us that mental strength which made him overcome all injuries and register an unparalleled victory. A very well-deserved victory for Fedex. No wonder you are the GOAT.

Rafael Nadal. The reason why this match was an epic match to follow. For many of my friends, for the first time in many many years, there was no favorite. All they sat for was to see an epic battle between the two maestros. And I would argue with them, how can you be result agnostic when there’s Federer on one side!! But even Federer’s greatness could not diminish the grit that Rafa brought to the court. As a Federer fan, I always hated Rafa’s guts and the fact that he beat Federer so many times. I hated the fact that he could endure such mental pressure and still give his best at crunch moments. I disliked that he could pull through extremely long matches and still emerge as a winner.

Everyone knew that Rafa had just one day to recover from his extended 5 hours game in the semis and to prepare for the finals, but he refused to consider it as a disadvantage when asked in a press conference before the finals. And he indeed gave Federer a tough fight in the final. Recovering from an injury himself, Nadal displayed the typical ‘Nadalness’ in the game. Throughout the match I disliked Rafa for every point he made against Federer and silently felt happy when he missed, but game wasn’t over for Nadal until the last point, last rally. Nadal lost the match but as I watched post match interviews and his interviews before the finals, they made me appreciate the genius of Rafa. I realized why my brother venerates him. Nadal inspires everyone with his will to succeed, his stubbornness to give up, and his optimism even at the most negative situation. I could see why it was hard for most tennis lovers to pick one and for the first time in my life I cried for Nadal on losing the game. I felt bad for him to be on the losing side even after putting himself out completely in the field. He deserved to win as much as Federer did.

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The match is over and it feels like a void somewhere. The emotional meltdown, the tension, the nervousness, the love and the fan following that these two men commanded in yesterday’s match was unprecedented. There is no denying to the fact that it’s the rivalry between these two that has made both of them the greatest tennis players of their times. This is what Federer said at his presentation after the match ‘Tennis is a tough sport, there’s no draws but if there was I’d be happy to share it with Rafa tonight.’ The mutual respect and love that they have for each other, their bromance, is just too adorable. But to me, more than Federer’s comeback win, this match will be imprinted in my brain as the match where I witnessed two Godly figures compete with each other, and as a match that made me love Nadal more than ever. There is no doubt that I would still be rooting for Federer to win for as long as he plays but Nadal sure now has one more person that he inspires to the core of her heart. I can proudly say that I was alive when Nadal and Federer played tennis. Go Rafa, Go Federer. Tennis needs you, your fans need you and most of all, the world needs inspirational people like you to instill the qualities in us that are paramount to success in any field.