Roland Garros de King Dethroned

I never happened to watch a single shot of this match.I had been to a family function, hence could not do so.But as I was returning back home,drenched in rain that hits Bangalore only in the evenings ,I came to know of the result by an SMS from one of my good friends (who happens to be a staunch supporter of the main protagonist in this blog). And it was a mixed feeling for me. Firstly,I responded by telling him that it was one of the greatest upsets of all times.Secondly,I was really wondering, DID IT REALLY HAPPEN???

YES Indeed.... Rafael Nadal had been beaten at Roland Garros !!! This was the image that I saw on Television coming back home!!



One who had risen up the ladder of Men's Tennis from being a clay court specialist, to King of Clay and to challenge and overcome the best of them all, on any surface. Frankly, I was just in awe watching him from 2005. Being a very staunch Roger Federer fan, it was really tough for me to see him being challenged and dethroned by someone relatively inexperienced. And
Rafa did exactly just that......It was not until he beat Federer at Wimbledon,that I had to simply adore him for his meteoric rise.

Alright he had to lose some day at Paris...but when?? He was in such tremendous run on clay, that none on earth looked capable to snatch the Coup de Mousquetaires or the Musketeers Cup from him.Federer tried thrice, also getting brutally hammered in 2008.He had lost only 5 matches on clay in the last 5 years, and had never lost a best-of-5 clay court match.
More so, he was stretched to 5 sets only thrice in them !!!

Keeping this apart, he had never lost at Paris since making his debut at the age of 17 in 2005.

Many Federer fans will rejoice at Nadal's loss, for it has been the only Grand Slam Roger has never won, thanks to Nadal standing in his way.

But it would be completely foolish and insane to say Rafa's gonna fall down after this defeat !!

Simply look at his achievements in the past 4 years:

• 4 French Opens in a row, from 2005 to 2008
• First man to Win both French Open and Wimbledon in the same year(2008) after the great Bjorn Borg. This to stop Federer's 5 year golden run at London-SW19.
• When critics began to point out his weakness on Hard Courts, he came out and beat Federer at the Australian Open in 2009, after a gruelling 5 hr semifinal a day before.
• Has already won 15 masters series titles(tied with Federer), second only to Andre Agassi's 17.
• When the whole world was predicting a 25 GrandSlam collection for Roger Federer, Nadal rose out of nowhere, and now Federer is finding it hard to break Sampras's 14.
• Broke Federer's 237 week long Streak at the Top spot of Men's tennis.
• Only player to beat Federer in GrandSlam Finals.
• Furthermore, he had to beat Federer to win each of his Grand Slam titles ( 5 Finals and 1 semi-final)
• Leads Federer 13-7 in Career meetings. The only player currently in the top 10 to boast of this record.
• Last but not the least, he won the Olympic Gold Medal in singles, something that Federer dearly misses.

And the list goes on and on....

I might have been a bit Parochial in mentioning Federer several times in the blog, but that has what's been the benchmark for men's tennis in the last 6 years.
And that's what Rafa's tennis career has been about as well..."how he dethroned emperor federer"...

And what a journey it has been so far...This small roadblock would make him even more determined and stronger.

I found a very good article describing Nadal's rivalry with Federer...Aplty sums up their camaraderie and I endorse the views as well...
http://tennisworld.typepad.com/tennisworld/australian_open_2009/



And as he went out of the tournament, he simply admitted defeat saying it wasn't a tragedy after all..Superb head on his shoulders one must say.Andre Agassi predicted that Nadal could be the first man to win a single year grand slam this year, after the legendary Rod Laver.

But now that that's gone, Nadal would certainly want to get the career slam with a US Open title into his kitty.By the way, he did put the man whom he idolizes and has been his no.1 rival, under pressure, by saying that Federer is the favorite to win the elusive French open. The win would complete Federer's career slam and put him on par with Sampras' record of 14.

That would be a sigh of relief if it happens, because I really did believe this year when Nadal won at Melbourne, that he could beat Sampras before Federer does !!! And as I write this blog, Federer has just made it to his 20th consecutive Grand Slam quarter final,with a come-from-behind 5 set win over Tommy Haas.

Hope Federer wins the Musketeers' Cup this year !!!
Hope I get to savour and write more and more about the rivalry and more and more about Rafa.....