The headline's a bit misleading, making it look like Roger Federer hasn't won a grand slam title before the 2008 US Open. But to many of his fans and most tennis aficionados who have followed his career for the past five years, that's what it feels like. Indeed, it was a fitting end to the year's tennis Grand Slam season for Roger Federer, ending a long title drought by winning the 2008 US Open men's final against Andy Murray and capturing his 13th career Grand Slam title, one shy of Pete Sampras' all-time record of 14 wins.
For a man whose name has been synonymous with the words grand slam tennis, tennis win and grand slam title (individually or otherwise) for the past five years, a man often described as
the best who has ever played the game, it was a bittersweet victory. Many were starting to write him off as a has-been, the falling star of tennis, after failing to win a major tennis title so far this year and losing his world number one ranking for the first time in 4 1/2 years. Many of his fans, including myself, were starting to doubt as well. But if this straight-set win over Andy Murray is any indication, Roger Federer is back to his winning form! The long title drought must have spurred him to try harder, awakened his senses from complacency and gave him back the hunger for a win that has been missing from his game.
The tennis season isn't over and there are a lot more tournaments in store before the year-end Master's Cup. Expect a fierce battle for the year-end world number one ranking Federer and Rafael Nadal, and another great season for 2009. And with this 2008 US Open men's single title in the bag, there is clear indication that Pete Sampras' 14 Grand Slam title record is in danger of at least being equaled in the next twelve months because Roger Federer is playing like Roger Federer again! (Photos courtesy of AP, Reuters, Getty Images)Photos of Roger Federer's 2008 US Open men's final win
Read more: Roger Federer beats Murray for 5th US Open title | US Open 2008: still Roger's Court | US Open 2008: The Resurgence of Serena | 2008 Grand Slams: The Year in Review | the end of an era: Nadal beats Federer at Wimbledon | 2008 French Open final: Nadal beats Federer again!
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2008 US Open: Roger Federer finally wins a grand slam
tragedies: the Hungarian weightlifting accident & tennis upsets
Have you seen this? Can you see how his arm is twisted in the photo above? Ouch! I actually saw this photo and a video of the accident last night but couldn't get myself to make a post out of it because, to be frank, it made my head spin, almost to the point of puking!
I have always been amazed at the strength of weightlifters, how they can lift weights even beyond their own body weight. The strenght in their arms and legs must be awesome, I always thought. And women in the sport amaze me even more. However, after seeing this accident, I don't think I have the stomach to watch another weightlifting session in the near future, or look at the sport in the same way again.
I tried to look for the video I saw last night. Unfortunately, it has been removed due to copyright issues. Too bad i cannot share it with you. However, I found the following clips that will have to suffice for the mean time.
The other tragedy (for me at least) in the 2008 Beijing Olympics lately was the loss of Roger Federer to James Blake. His long slump continued and the bid for his first Olympic singles medal ended Thursday when he lost in straight sets. For many of his fans, this is terrible news for we were counting on a gold medal to end his long string of losses this year and avenge his sorry losses to the new number world number one, Rafael Nadal.
So began an upset parade in the quarterfinals. Serena Williams then lost to Elena Dementieva of Russia, and as the clock approached midnight, Venus Williams was beaten by Li Na of China. The sequence of surprising results came in a tournament that had gone mostly according to form through three rounds. But upsets have long been the norm in Olympic tennis—since 1988, no top-five player has won the gold medal in men’s singles.
The elimination of Federer means no rematch in Sunday’s final against Nadal, who won in epic fashion when they met for the Wimbledon title. There will be no rematch of the Wimbledon final between the Williams sisters for a gold medal, either. I am now pinning my hopes on another favorite to win the gold in the men's side, Novak Djokovic. On the ladies side, I wonder who'll end up winning?
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the end of an era: Nadal beats Federer at Wimbledon
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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Wimbledon 2008: another all-Williams final?
It is shaping up to be another sister act in the Wimbledon 2008 finals as Venus and Serena Williams hurdled their quarterfinals opponents. With one win to go in the semis, this will be the third all-Williams ladies finals for Wimbledon, with Serena winning their two previous encounters in 2002 and 2003.
I have been following this year's grass court Grand Slam tournament as always and I am naturally thrilled about the prospect of another Williams win. They're two of my favorites in women's tennis, together with Anna Ivanovic and my all-time choice as the greatest ever, Steffi Graf. Venus gets more of my vote though. I like the way she plays and admire her on-court demeanor. Ever since, I have favored cool and quiet (but deadly) tennis players, the likes of Borg, Sampras, Aggassi, Edberg, Graf, Venus, Davenport, and of course, Roger Federer. I
hope it will be another Venus Williams championship this year, to add to her four other wins in 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2007 plus runnerup finishes in 2002 and 2003. (BTW, the sisters also won the doubles twice before.)
On the men's side, the quarterfinals are due today with my idol Roger Federer still in the hunt for his sixth consecutive crown. I hope he makes it, though his previous plays this year have been quite erratic compared to the Federer express he has been known for. Waiting to snatch the championship from him is Nadal, one of my most non-favorites in men's tennis. I don't know but I just don't like him no matter how good he is (probably because he scratches his ass a lot, he he), similar to how I feel about Sharapova (probably because she grunts a lot). I know that Roger will eventually relinquish his no. 1 ranking but I hope it will be to someone else, preferably Djokovic. He he. Howver, I must admit that Rafael Nadal is looking as strong as ever this year, with many observers saying that it looks like this will be his year at Wimbledon. Hope not. Who knows, someone other than Federer and Nadal might end up winning, like a resurgent Safin perhaps? Let's wait and see.
Update: The stage is set for another Williams ladies singles final as Venus and Serena beat their semi-final opponents yesterday.
Update: Venus William has won her fifth Wimbledon Ladies' Singles crown after defeating sister Serena in the finals (wooot!) Now let's hope that Roger wins over Nadal so that my 2008 Wimbledon dream will be complete.
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the king is dead, long live the king !?
The crowd slowly rose to its feet, almost in disbelief, before applauding Novak Djokovic, then gave Roger Federer a standing ovation as he quickly left the court. It was an unusual scene and everybody was understandably surprised. Never before in 
the previous ten grand slam tournaments has Roger Federer lost before the finals. In fact. He has won almost all of them, except for the two French Opens, which were won by Nadal. But he reached the finals nonetheless. This was definitely unexpected, almost surreal, especially to Federer fans.
I was afraid this would happen, that Roger would lose in a grand slam eventually. After all, he’s just human. But that’s just it. He had been playing like a well-oiled
machine for the longest time, especially in major tournaments, that people were expecting he could do no wrong. Nobody played like him before. Well, maybe Bjorn Borg. But he was not as consistent as Roger, not as invincible for so long except at Wimbledon. In a post match interview I saw, Federer summed it up by saying, “I've created a monster that I need to win every tournament”. I agree.
On the other hand, others, my brother included, were hoping that he would lose. Not because they’re not Federer fans. In fact, like my brother, they idolize him. But they say tennis has become boring with Federer winning almost every time.
Signs that his armor of invincibility was cracking started showing up towards the end of the season last year. His uncharacteristic losses to David Nalbandian and Fernando Gonzales unnerved his fans, this one included. I even remember asking myself, “Is this the beginning of the end?” Then, as the Australian Open unfolded, I saw a different Roger playing. He seemed sluggish, and his racket appeared lacking in punch. He’s just a slow starter, I assured myself. However, as the tournament went on I saw little improvement. His almost-loss to Tipsarevic showed it all. I didn’t see the usual Federer flair, his balletic movements on the court that produced winners after winners to the dismay of opponents. Though he won that match (just barely), I sensed that he wouldn’t win this one this year. That he would eventually lose before the finals. I was right.
Having said all these, I’m not saying that Djokovic’s win was a fluke. In fairness to him, he played excellently, dashing every bid of a comeback by the defending champion with smart play and formidable serves. However, the big news tonight isn’t his win, but the loss of Federer. I hope he can recover. I know he can recover. Maybe he just needed a wake up call after all. Or maybe he was getting bored himself, who knows? But there’s one thing I’m sure of. The king isn’t dead, he just stumbled.
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