Wimbledon - (this should have been the movie)

On July 5th a champion and a pretender entered the center court of the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Two champions left it. They gave us a match that was priceless. Both of them chasing records. One aiming to become the first to win the title 6 times in a row after the 1880s, the other trying to becoming the first spaniard since the late 60s to win the french and the wimbledon. Trying, since 2006.

It had everything. It was, like, the perfect script. The challenger winning the first two sets; The champion looking out of sorts against his much improved nemesis. Third set was even better. Rain interrupted play at 5-5 (I guess). Two hours of wait. The wait to see if the champion would succumb in straight sets. The hope that he wouldn't hanging in the air around. Then, the rain stopped. Federer took the third set. Millions jumped for joy that second. I just know.

Champions dig in. Pretenders dig their pants.

Fourth set. Oh boy oh boy oh boy, the fourth set. If you ask me to watch it again and again for an entire day even, I would gladly do it. And thank you for it too. There were too many awesome shots to mention a few.They jumped, they ran, they served, they ran, they volleyed, they ran, they shouted "come On!!!", then ran some more. Supercharged men on supercharged legs with supercharged spirits. The challenger faced the down-but-not-out champion serving to stay in the match. He was forced to corners of the court he had probably never set foot on. What happened next was magic. Sheer magic. A backhand down the line pass facing match point. I woke up my mom from her sleep with my whoops of joy!!

5th set began. Guess who entered at 2-2 ? Rain again. This is when I had a bad feeling. Because the match slowly crept into monday. But I consoled myself saying it was still sunday in London. Rain ended, the 5th set continued. I settled down with pieces of cake and biscuits. Midnight snacks rock. it was 5-4, the challenger serving at 30-30. I wished the miracle comeback would be complete. No. At 6-5 and 30 all, Again I crossed my fingers. It wouldn't happen. The challenger broke his serve instead. And with that took the game as well.

The best match of tennis I've seen in a long long time. The crowd had a whale of a time. The family and friends would have probably thought that they 'd ridden all the rollercoaster rides in the world. Vijay Amritraj said " Now I've said everything!". Such was the intensity of the play.
But someone had to win. And the challenger did deserve it. The champion deserved it too. But that's the way things ended.

"If Roger Federer were superman then Nadal has finally found his Kryptonite." Maybe. But Roger will be back. To take back what is rightly his. The Gentlemen's singles championship. Nadal is an awesome player. Agreed. But first he should grow up, become a gentleman and then come back. Agreed?

Roger Federer was unrivalled on grass. Nadal stood up to him. Played with Fed's mind. But the will to stay in the match that Federer displayed on the 7th of July was something new, something fierce. He has his sights set on the French open trophy alright. He has his sights set on redemption.

Majesty meets muscle part II. Waiting for it. Oh yea.