In the span of a Sunday afternoon, a tournament to forget became one that won’t be leaving the minds of tennis fans anytime soon. That’s the thing about the Slams. Even one as beleaguered as this year’s Wimbledon still has more to offer that just about any sporting event—good, bad, ugly, and dramatic. In the end, the final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal made it clear that we’re being treated to a golden age on the men’s side, courtesy of two of the best players in the sport’s history. I’ll wrap this one up by rating the relevant characters and moments involved.
Roger Federer: A+
Federer earned this championship in a different way from his others. In the past, he’s been far and away the best player in the event—any sets taken from him seemed like flukes. As we know, this was the first time he had to go five sets in any match during his five-year run. It’s also the first time he had to do what champions occasionally have to do to survive: Win despite being outplayed. The final was a classic Sampras-like grass-court performance from Federer. First he was rescued by his serve—Nadal was the better player when the rallies began—then by his ability to avoid making errors at the most important moments, i.e., the tiebreakers, and finally by his champions’ ability to take a match when his opponent left it up for grabs.
Federer lost it in the fourth set when he asked that Hawk-Eye be turned off. It was a shocking moment of vulnerability from him; John McEnroe was right, though, that it wasn’t the machine that was on his mind, it was the play of Nadal and his own botched shots. But Federer redeemed himself with his acceptance speech after the match. One thing that has bothered me about him during his years of domination is his inability to accept that anyone is even remotely in his league as a player. It’s an attitude that has led to his stubborn insistence that he doesn’t have to change his game to beat anyone, including Nadal on clay—he’s Roger Federer, so why would he change anything? But talking to Sue Barker on court, Federer showed the grace of a mature champion. “I told Rafa at the net that we both deserved to win.” This was just right for three reasons. It was an honest assessment; it gave Nadal well-earned respect and acceptance as a worthy rival on all courts; and it recognized that this had been an historic match between two players as much as it had been an historic victory for one. Forget the dorky, trying-too-hard outfits and their “classiness.” Federer’s generosity was class in action.
Venus Williams: A+
True, Venus wasn’t put to a true test in the final, but her fourth Wimbledon win was still remarkable because it was so Williams—bizarre, inexplicable, utterly unlikely, and totally convincing. Like Serena in Australia, Venus made a couple early escapes and then, out of nowhere, just started to play infinitely better. All the balls that were flying out in the early rounds were suddenly perfectly measured. The perspective of the show courts somehow gives her more presence; there you can appreciate her towering height, ridiculous legs, graceful movement, and grave competitiveness. When she got to Centre Court, she put just a touch more topspin on her forehand, stuck her backhand volleys, and ate up yards of grass with each step. It made me wonder how she ever loses.
But that’s not a question worth asking; nor is it worth wondering whether Venus is “back”—who knows? This was just another chapter in the strange and unique legend of the Williamses, the tennis family that does everything their own way.
Men’s Final: A
This doesn’t get an A+ because the fifth set lacked nail-biting drama at the very end. But in every other way it was a classic—it may even have been the best-played match in the history of tennis. This isn't a measurable judgment, of course, but one thing that amazed me about both guys was their court coverage. No matter what’s been done to the grass surface in recent years, the ball is still moving through it pretty quickly. We can complain that the courts are too slow, but after watching Federer and Nadal, I started to think that the men make the grass look slow because they’ve gotten so fast. You can look at the ratio of winners to errors to judge the quality of a match, but they’re not going to tell the whole story of this one.
In politics, the incumbent has all the advantages; in boxing, they say you have to knock out the champ to claim the belt. It’s the same at the Slams. The champ goes in with the simple but crucial mental edge of having done it before—he can have no doubt of his ability to win this tournament. Think of the difference in pressure between a defending champion and someone trying to win a major for the first time. For Federer today, losing might mean he would be remembered as a four-time Wimbledon winner rather than a five-timer; for Nadal, it could be the difference between being forever known as a Wimbledon champion—or not at all. (The reverse is true at the French, and you can see Nadal has an advantage in the key moments there.) That’s not to say Federer didn’t feel it, but the pressure Nadal must have felt as he got to the end of the match is the kind that will make even the most self-assured player blink. Nadal was in uncharted territory as he threatened to take the lead for the first time all afternoon early in the fifth set. And he blinked.
I had said before the match that it would be decided by who could take over the center of the court. But that ended up being pretty much a stalemate—if anything Nadal won that battle. What finally decided it was a quirk of this particular match, which played out in the opening games of the fifth set. Nadal was on a roll and Federer was shanking balls and hanging his head. The Spaniard got to 15-40 twice; both times he slightly overhit makeable backhand returns, a clear sign of nerves. It was just enough of a slip for Federer. He held and then, having dodged a bullet, finally relaxed and played tennis like a man just out of jail. Nadal, on the other hand, couldn’t shake those missed opportunities. After going neck and neck for four sets, that was enough for Federer to get his nose across first.
