A conqueror's story
He personified grace, style, power, & dominance on court, combining superb strokes, astute strategies and fleeting footwork on 4 different court surfaces, proving they are no obstacles to his obvious talent & greatness. Already on 12 grand slam wins, 2 shy of the 14 record held by Pete Sampras, and still only 26, he's definitely on course to surpass Sampras's achievement and be an all time great of the sport. He's King Fed, a.k.a. Roger Federer, the Fed-Express.
His Spanish nemesis, a certain young man named Rafael Nadal, has been his number 2 for as long as I could remember, providing more than decent competition to his throne which he had held for record 235 weeks. Anointed the King of Clay, he had won 4 consecutive French Opens, beating Federer each time and never allowing him to come close to his title. On the other hand, he had managed to close the gap on Federer each year in other surfaces, improving tremendously and pushed him to a five-setter in the Wimbledon final last year, when his best performance previously was taking a set 0ff him in the grass court event final. His playing style is the total opposite of King Fed's: power in abundance compared to the graceful Fed's strokes, full running speed as opposed to Roger's seemingly effortless footwork, and a killer forehand stroke with heavy spin to match Fed's passing backhand rocket.
In the epic Wimbledon final this year, Roger faced a vastly improved Nadal again for the 5th consecutive time. This time, doggedness and determination prevailed over style and coolness, and Nadal finally snatched the Wimbledon crown from Federer for the first time. Since then, Federer had lost to lesser opponents in the lead up events to the next grand slam event, the US Open, suggesting that he had lost his aura of invicibility. To compound his misery, Nadal is slated to take over as the new world No. 1 after the Olympics, on the back of his excellent performances this year, regardless of how Federer performs in the US Open and Olympics.
It remains to be seen how Federer attempts to bounce back from his mental block and regain his composure in his quest to become the greatest tennis player again. His skills and techniques are unquestionably the best in the circuit, but mentally he is not as strong as Nadal currently, having failed to snatch French Open title and lost Wimbledon trophy to his strongest rival. There's one quote from the Three Kingdom's era that I found particularly apt for this setting,
King Fed has conquered almost all the battleground that he fought in, and now his 'kingdom' is under threat from a Spanish invasion. As the saying above goes, whether he can gather back the pieces of his kingdom, or whether it will be ruled by King Nadal, will be anyone's guess. To prove himself as the best of all time though, he will need to overcome the current crisis, and after all the hyped-up stories of rivalry, he will need to realise that Nadal is not his greatest rival; his mental block is.
His Spanish nemesis, a certain young man named Rafael Nadal, has been his number 2 for as long as I could remember, providing more than decent competition to his throne which he had held for record 235 weeks. Anointed the King of Clay, he had won 4 consecutive French Opens, beating Federer each time and never allowing him to come close to his title. On the other hand, he had managed to close the gap on Federer each year in other surfaces, improving tremendously and pushed him to a five-setter in the Wimbledon final last year, when his best performance previously was taking a set 0ff him in the grass court event final. His playing style is the total opposite of King Fed's: power in abundance compared to the graceful Fed's strokes, full running speed as opposed to Roger's seemingly effortless footwork, and a killer forehand stroke with heavy spin to match Fed's passing backhand rocket.
In the epic Wimbledon final this year, Roger faced a vastly improved Nadal again for the 5th consecutive time. This time, doggedness and determination prevailed over style and coolness, and Nadal finally snatched the Wimbledon crown from Federer for the first time. Since then, Federer had lost to lesser opponents in the lead up events to the next grand slam event, the US Open, suggesting that he had lost his aura of invicibility. To compound his misery, Nadal is slated to take over as the new world No. 1 after the Olympics, on the back of his excellent performances this year, regardless of how Federer performs in the US Open and Olympics.
It remains to be seen how Federer attempts to bounce back from his mental block and regain his composure in his quest to become the greatest tennis player again. His skills and techniques are unquestionably the best in the circuit, but mentally he is not as strong as Nadal currently, having failed to snatch French Open title and lost Wimbledon trophy to his strongest rival. There's one quote from the Three Kingdom's era that I found particularly apt for this setting,
"The vast kingdom, long divided, must unite, and long united, must divide"
King Fed has conquered almost all the battleground that he fought in, and now his 'kingdom' is under threat from a Spanish invasion. As the saying above goes, whether he can gather back the pieces of his kingdom, or whether it will be ruled by King Nadal, will be anyone's guess. To prove himself as the best of all time though, he will need to overcome the current crisis, and after all the hyped-up stories of rivalry, he will need to realise that Nadal is not his greatest rival; his mental block is.
posted by leonhart @ 1:03 AM
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