Roger - Emotional Athyachaar :(

A Roger v/s Rafa final is as good as it gets in a Grand Slam and every time these two play each other, they dish out a classic either matching or even better than their previous encounters. And this one was all the more significant with Roger bidding to equal Pete Sampras' record of 14 Singles Grand Slam titles.

It had all the ingredients of a thriller, but for an anticlimatic finish in the 5th set, where surprisingly Fedex was completely derailed by a tenacious Nadal, who forced Federer into committing loads of unforced errors with his penetrating ground strokes.

What makes this an incredible win for Nadal is the fact that before the Final, Nadal played the longest match in the history of the Australian Open with a marathon 5 and a half-hour semifinal victory over his fellow Spaniard Verdasco. It was he who should've felt physically drained out, but he showed tremendous courage and commitment to stay focussed throughout the game.

Being a Federer fan, I would just shudder at thought of the possibility of Nadal having had a shorter outing in the semi-final. I am pretty sure he would've defeated Fedex in a much shorter time in the final.

The sight of Roger Federer (regarded by one and many as the greatest player in the history of tennis Open era) crying after a tough loss to his nemesis Rafa Nadal, will remain etched in many a tennis fan's mind. In the past, we have seen quite a few champions expressing their emotions after winning a championship, but mostly they were tears of joy after winning a title. But this one was significant and the bruises of this loss will probably be even worse than that in Wimbledon last year.

From a Federer fan's perspective, what is disturbing is to see the champ pass out in the most crucial stages of a Final with a whimper, especially with Nadal being on the other side. This is FedEx's 5th loss to Nadal in 7 meetings in Grand Slam finals. With each passing match, FedEx is unable to crack the mystery of the Nadal game and with him being on the wrong side of the 20s, FedEx is running out of time both to win the maximum number of Grand Slam Singles titles and most importantly to beat Nadal and regain his No.1 spot.

Will FedEx cope up with the pressure? Only time will tell. With players like Murray and Djokovic knocking on the doors, this year is surely gonna be a cracking and interesting year in the tennis world.

Signing Off....