MELBOURNE – The championship match wasn’t always of the highest standard, but the fifth set was absolutely unforgettable. Roger managed to implement the right game plan, while Rafa didn’t. Federer’s backhand proved to be the key shot that decided the match.
Federer’s fans must be on cloud nine today, while Nadal’s supporters can’t be too disappointed. At the end of the day, the wonderful sport of tennis was the true winner at this year’s Australian Open. The main concern before this final between the two greatest champions of the last decade was that the match wouldn’t have lived up to its expectations. We were afraid that the final could have been decided in straight sets or one of the contestants could have retired from the match due to injury. We were dreaming about an emotional five set match and at the end we were gifted one for the ages. Federer’s incredible win marks his first Grand Slam title in four and a half years, precisely 1666 days after prevailing over Andy Murray in the 2012 Wimbledon final. It is also Roger’s first win in a major final over his nemesis Rafael Nadal since the 2007 Wimbledon championship, almost 10 years ago.
Djokovic, Murray and Wawrinka still remain three of the main contenders for the rest of the season, while Nadal will probably be the man to beat at Roland Garros. With this Australian Open title though, Roger is back in the mix and could eventually clinch Grand Slam title No. 19 at Wimbledon – a tournament that the Swiss star has already won an astonishing seven times. Federer also has five Australian Opens, one French Open and five US Opens in his extraordinary trophy cabinet. It will be interesting to see how Nadal will bounce back from this unexpected defeat against his longtime rival, but you can almost rest assured that the Mallorca native will do some damage on his beloved clay – from Monte-Carlo to Barcelona, Madrid, Rome and eventually Paris. Despite flying under the radar with very little expectation early in the tournament, Nadal took major strides and slowly became one of the favorites as the Australian Open progressed. Many depicted him as the favorite in the final against Federer, especially in a long five set match.
Despite the fact that the quality of play wasn’t always the greatest, the championship match gave us so many emotions that it will definitely go down in history as a classic. It was a see-saw match with the first set decided by only one break, while all of the other sets were full of ups and downs from both players. Nadal went up 4-0 in the second set and clinched it 6-3, then Federer convincingly conquered the third 6-1. In the fourth Nadal broke early and defended his lead until he wrapped up the set 6-3. The Spaniard looked on his way to his 15th Grand Slam title when he went up 3-1 in the fifth and decisive set. At that point nobody could predict that Rafa would lose five games in a row, instead the Swiss maestro refused to throw in the towel and staged a spectacular comeback with a sequence of extraordinary shots and breathtaking rallies that drove the crowd into a frenzy and kept everybody on the edge of their seats.
At 35 years of age, Federer has now become the oldest Grand Slam winner since Ken Rosewall, who won the 1972 Australian Open when he was 37 years-old. Roger is also the fourth player in the Open Era to have beaten four of the first ten seeds en route to victory; last time that it happened was in 1982 when 17-year-old Mats Wilander won at Roland Garros.
Roger tactically played a superb match, especially with his backhand. He decided not to slice too many backhands and opted for a flatter shot that produced an enormous amount of winners and often caught Rafa off guard. On the other hand, Rafa made the mistake of setting up the rallies with fast counterpunching shots and rarely forced Federer to hit any backhands above his shoulders. Nadal was trying to hit too flat instead of using his nasty top spin that had caused Roger so many problems in the past. In that regard, the quick hard-court definitely played to Federer’s advantage. Nadal’s return position was also too far back behind the baseline allowing Roger to produce a remarkable 20 aces, most of which came on crucial break points. Rafa was standing so far back that he often found it difficult to cut the angle in the service box whenever Roger was hitting his serve out wide.
Hopefully this is not the last major final that these two extraordinary champions have contested in their careers. This year’s Australian Open championship match was definitely the best advertisement that the sport of tennis could hope for.
(Article translation provided by T&L Global – Translation & Language Solutions – www.t-lglobal.com)
