It was bound to happen sooner or later but, like millions of Roger Federer fans out there, I was hoping it would be much later than sooner. I was even hoping that someone else would defeat Federer at Wimbledon, someone other than Rafael Nadal (Djokovic perhaps). Anyone but Nadal, that's what I always prayed for. Unfortunately, my prayers were not answered as Nadal defeated Roger Federer to deny the Swiss superstar a sixth consecutive Wimbledon title, the end of an era.

An early break of Federer's serve in the first set immediately sent chills through my bones. Was this the ominous sign that this was the end, I asked myself. Still, I banked on the reassuring thought that Federer was a slow starter. He'll bounce back, I told myself. But as the first set
progressed, the comeback I was waiting for didn't happen. Every sign of a rally from my idol was met by a stronger counter attack from Rafael Nadal at the other side of the net or an unforced error from a seemingly uneasy Federer. Was it just me or did I detect that he was very tentative in his play?

The second set was much better, at least at the start. Roger Federer immediately set out to a 4-1 lead. I was starting to sense the comeback that I was waiting for in the earlier set. However, Nadal gradually erased that lead with gritty baseline play and countered Federer's earlier successes at the net. Again, it seemed to me that Roger was not his cool, confident self as he succumbed to Nadal's power plays and his own unforced errors. Several fumbled overheads and mishits finally did Federer in as Nadal again won the second set. I was shaking my head in disbelief. My idol was on the brink of losing his Wimbledon streak to the foe that I disliked most of all. Even some in the arena were shaking their heads as the cameras panned, probably not because they dislike Nadal like I do (he he) but because they too could not believe that Roger Federer would be denied a sixth consecutive crown.

By the time rain interrupted play late in the third set, I had almost given up. Although Federer was leading at that point (5-4), the pessimist in me (again) knew that it would be a hard climb to reverse the outcome of the match. Not with the way Rafael Nadal was playing, and certainly not with such tentative play from Roger as well. What's more, a restart was bad news to Federer fans knowing that he is a slow starter. Hmm, hope I am wrong, I thought. I was hoping that the rain would bring a miraculous reversal of fortune for my idol.

It did. After resumption of play, the two rivals were at it again and this time, my idol Federer was playing much better, enabling him to equalize by winning the third and fourth sets through nerve-wracking tie breaks. The champion has come back. But whatever momentum Roger Federer had after the rain delay was quickly snapped by another downpour. Shh, I thought, just when Federer seemed ready to crack the Nadal shell, Mother Nature throws in another equalizer. At least she's fair, I thought, having done so earlier when Roger Federer was on the brink of defeat. Now, it was back to square one with both players seemingly starting even, two sets all and at 2-2 and deuce in the fifth set.

But I couldn't wait for the restart. It was already 3AM in our part of the woods and my eyes were desperately calling it a day. But before I turned it, I prayed that Roger Federer would be given the strength to surpass Bjorn Borg's record and equal Martina's six consecutive titles. When I woke up this morning, news of Roger's defeat greeted me, a hard loss that stretched to a 9-7 tie-breaker. Maybe God did give Federer the strength to win the title, but Rafael Nadal was still stronger in the end as he has been all year.

It was a sorry loss for my idol. I was counting on him winning Wimbledon after his earlier defeats at the French Open and the Australian Open, as well as to the other tournaments he lost this year. Where will this take him? I don't know. I guess we'll just have to wait and see and hope for the best. My congratulations Nadal (argh!) and all the best for my idol Roger Federer. (Photo credits: Getty images and Telegraph.co.uk)

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