really nice article after the Wimby final ....
Dictionary needed to give proper due to final, Federer
July 8, 2007
By Art Spander
www.sportsline.com/tennis/story/10249907 WIMBLEDON, England -- It was a match that was matchless. A match that had the winner in tears and the loser -- well, there was no loser -- calling the winner "amazing." It was a match that seemingly went on forever but still ended too soon.
Bring out the adjectives. Toss in the hyperbole. Roger Federer won another Wimbledon and tied the record of a man who in the golden glow of the setting sun watched from the Royal Box.
But this time it took five sets. This time it took 3 hours, 45 minutes. This time it took all the skill and courage of the Swiss master some call already, at age 25, the greatest tennis player who ever lashed a forehand across a net.
Then, overcome by his achievement after slamming home the final point, Federer fell to his knees, then onto his back and finally sat up and began to cry, clutching his face with his hands almost in disbelief.
"What was going through my mind?" Federer related. "I was crying already when I was up 5-2 in the last set. So many things were going through my mind. I had to focus on that last point."
Epic. Classic. Dramatic. Surprising. Marvelous. It was all that and more Sunday when Federer outlasted Rafael Nadal 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 6-2 at Centre Court for a fifth men's singles championship in a row.
Federer equaled the mark of five consecutive Wimbledon titles set most recently, if 1976 through 1980 can be considered recent in this fast-changing world, by Bjorn Borg, who later congratulated Federer as, minutes after the victory, his name was painted anew on the wall of winners.
"Each one is special, no doubt," Federer said. "It was such a close match. And to play a champion like Rafael in the finals means a lot more to me. And equaling Bjorn as well. I'm happy with every one I get now before (Nadal) takes them all. He's improved so much."
But still not enough to beat Federer on grass.
Two consecutive Wimbledon finals for those two. Two consecutive French Open finals. In France, on the red clay of Roland Garros, Nadal, the 21-year-old Spaniard, came out ahead both times. At Wimbledon, on the grass of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Federer took them both.
But this time, Nadal broke Federer's serve three times and lost those two tiebreakers by the smallest of margins.
Isn't that the mark of a champion, a winner, to make the big play when it matters most? To find a way to win. That's what Roger Federer keeps doing.
"To hold the trophy," he said after parading around with the Field Cup, which dates to 1877, "is always the best thing."
This was his 11th Grand Slam victory, three behind the record 14 of Pete Sampras, three U.S. Opens and three Australian Opens to go with those five Wimbledons.
"He was not outplaying me from the baseline," Federer said of Nadal, "but he had the upper hand. He knows the game on grass so much better than he did a year ago."
Nadal led Federer 15-40 in the third and fifth games of the fifth set, but Federer won each and then broke Nadal in the sixth game, his first break since the second game of the match. Roger would survive.
"I told Rafa at net he deserved to win," Federer said.
But in sports, there is no such thing as deserving to win. You play hard and try to win, and all the sympathy and emotion becomes secondary to the result.
"If Rafa had won one of those breaks, I think maybe now he would be champion," Federer added.
But Nadal didn't, and he conceded that it cost him.
"The difference -- some points," said Nadal. "Just have big chances in the fifth. Maybe if we have to find any difference is the serve. He serve better than me."
Federer served 24 aces to Nadal's one.
"I was nervous," Federer said of the two chances to be broken. "I got out of the first one, and then I'm thinking, 'Oh my God, I've got to do it again.' You need a big serve on grass. I served well. I was so happy I came out of it, because I knew he probably missed his chance."
Nadal knew it, too.
"I play a great tournament, no?" Nadal said. "I play very good level, playing against one of the best of the history of this surface, having two chances for a win. I'm playing at a similar level."
Nadal twisted his right knee in the fourth set, but after getting taped, he seemed fine and did win the set.
"I can say nothing bad about the tournament," said Nadal. "Tomorrow I will be happy about my tournament and my game."
A game that a year ago wasn't ready for grass but certainly is now.
"Today was tough for me," said Nadal, "but at the same time it is good to watch me playing a final against the best in the world on grass."
An hour after his victory, Federer, in his Great Gatsby attire -- white jacket, white pants, the clothes he wears onto the court at Wimbledon -- stood on a walkway between Centre Court and the players' lounge and tossed tennis balls to a group of screaming fans below.
It was practically the only thing he gave away all day.
But so far away
But so far away
)
) a feast of Wimbledon's Champion Roger Federer!!! ;D ;D
I missed the final and had no chance to see it yesterday so this was very great ;D
)
Think they are old ones from Vogue..but not sure