Nadal and Federer - Champions of Tennis

The 2008 men’s Wimbledon’s final was in sharp contrast to the woman’s final. I witnessed one of the best tennis every played on the center court in Wimbledon. Pete Sampras and Agassi produced the same quality of tennis during thier peak.Agassi once mentioned that Pete pushed him to greater heights than he could have ever imagined.I am sure Nadal and Federer can say the same thing about each other.

Nadal was a worthy and humble winner and Federer , the five time champion was gracious in defeat. The match which was the longest match in Wimbledon spanning 5 sets and more than 4 hours and 30 minutes, produced immaculate tennis.The grit and determination showed by both athletes were astounding and the respect that these two champions had for each other was evident in the presentation ceremony.Nadal heaped generous praise on Federer and the 5 time champion acknowledged that Nadal played better than him.

Tennis is one of those rare sports where the focus is still on the game . There are no gimmicks and very rarely do you see idiots on the tennis court.There are still occasions where there is a show of emotion but it is really not as bad as the other mainstream sports. Lately sports has been played for the TV. Right from cricket to football and most American sports you will see a lot of non-sporting behavior on display which gets really irritating after a while. This is not to suggest that we should have robots on the sports arena but the basic attribute of a sportsman is to play the sport within the defined framework and not indulge in theatrics.

This match was a classic example as to why sports can be fascinating when the players give it their best.McEnroe rightly said that this should revive the interest in this great sport irrespective of which country you are from.