Rafa = O.O Roger = -_-
I think Rafa was shocked himself.
As a fan of both, it's bittersweet for me. But dang, I'm STILL stunned to silence. What I loved about Rafa's speech is that quite lengthy congratulations he gave Roger -- the crowd was applauding him for some moments, him waving his uh... tray in appreciation -- during Rafa's speech! I've never seen such respect between two players anywhere else. (The women's finals had venom written all over their speeches.)
Rafa's play at this year's RG is near-perfect. He was like a WALL out there and all Roger was doing was return the balls. It's depressing to see the score -- heck, the first round against Bellucci had better scores and stats. But I hope the media don't label Roger as "no good on clay" (as they always do) because after all, he reached the finals... for the THIRD TIME.
Yet... if Roger can't beat Rafa on clay -- nobody can. (JCF doesn't count, sorry.)
I've always admired Rafa. And his display of talent and sportsmanship here at the 2008 Roland Garros is near-perfect.
I don't know what to think about this:
The last man to do so was Federer himself, at the Australian Open last year, but the aura of invincibility has well and truly left the Swiss now.
It was the heaviest defeat of Federer's career in Grand Slam tournaments and suggested he is as far as ever from fulfilling his dream of winning all four major titles. -- Source.
*shudder*
And it that wasn't enough, this final broke a lot of Roger's bad records:
This is the fewest number of games that Federer has won in 173 Grand Slam matches, his previous lowest was seven games against Andre Agassi (l. 6-1, 6-2, 6-4) in the fourth round at the 2001 US Open. It is also the fewest games he has won in the 372 matches since he has been at No. 1 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, going back to February 2004.
The Swiss becomes just the second player after Jaroslav Drobny since 1925 to lose his first three Roland Garros finals. Having lost the finals in 1946, 1948 and 1950, Drobny did go on to capture two Roland Garros titles in 1951 and 1952. -- ATP
But on the flip side:
Nadal now collects €1,000,000 in prize money and 1000 South African Airways ATP Ranking points, while Federer receives €530,000 and 700 points. -- ATP
How much is that in dollars? And points? They defended their points, right?
As a fan of both, it's bittersweet for me. But dang, I'm STILL stunned to silence. What I loved about Rafa's speech is that quite lengthy congratulations he gave Roger -- the crowd was applauding him for some moments, him waving his uh... tray in appreciation -- during Rafa's speech! I've never seen such respect between two players anywhere else. (The women's finals had venom written all over their speeches.)
Rafa's play at this year's RG is near-perfect. He was like a WALL out there and all Roger was doing was return the balls. It's depressing to see the score -- heck, the first round against Bellucci had better scores and stats. But I hope the media don't label Roger as "no good on clay" (as they always do) because after all, he reached the finals... for the THIRD TIME.
Yet... if Roger can't beat Rafa on clay -- nobody can. (JCF doesn't count, sorry.)
I've always admired Rafa. And his display of talent and sportsmanship here at the 2008 Roland Garros is near-perfect.
I don't know what to think about this:
The last man to do so was Federer himself, at the Australian Open last year, but the aura of invincibility has well and truly left the Swiss now.
It was the heaviest defeat of Federer's career in Grand Slam tournaments and suggested he is as far as ever from fulfilling his dream of winning all four major titles. -- Source.
*shudder*
And it that wasn't enough, this final broke a lot of Roger's bad records:
This is the fewest number of games that Federer has won in 173 Grand Slam matches, his previous lowest was seven games against Andre Agassi (l. 6-1, 6-2, 6-4) in the fourth round at the 2001 US Open. It is also the fewest games he has won in the 372 matches since he has been at No. 1 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, going back to February 2004.
The Swiss becomes just the second player after Jaroslav Drobny since 1925 to lose his first three Roland Garros finals. Having lost the finals in 1946, 1948 and 1950, Drobny did go on to capture two Roland Garros titles in 1951 and 1952. -- ATP
But on the flip side:
Nadal now collects €1,000,000 in prize money and 1000 South African Airways ATP Ranking points, while Federer receives €530,000 and 700 points. -- ATP
How much is that in dollars? And points? They defended their points, right?