Posted July 5, 2008, 3:00PM Philippine time
ESPN captioned it as "Top Two To Tango" while the Wimbledon site tagged it as "Roger and Rafa - Take Three". But for this given epic battle, I would like to borrow NBA's most popular tagline during the playoff season to describe this encounter as "There Can Onl
y Be One!”.
Yes, there can only be one, but tennis fans all over the country and the world will have to wait for another 48 hours to witness the most anticipated Grand Slam event in Wimbledon history as Roger Federer and Rafael "Rafa" Nadal, world number one and number two respectively will battle all out in the men's finals on Monday (Philippine time) to determine among the two who is, "The One".
During the semifinals, Federer crushed Marat Safin, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-4 with a flawless and excellent performance to approach his sixth consecutive Wimbledon title and 13th Grand Slam Championship. Rafael Nadal disposed Rainer Schuettler 6-1, 7-6 (3) 6-4 in the other semifinals game setting up a sixth career Grand Slam final against Federer.
The saga continues for both tennis stars as they meet for the third time in the finals. Federer beat Nadal in the two previous finals but Nadal was too close to win last year. Nadal was leading but Federer was more determined to claim his 5th Wimbledon trophy. It would be a matter of time Nadal will seize it, who knows this time around.
A lot of talks have been coming out whether Nadal, the king of clay court, can beat Federer in the finals as most say Nadal has a lot of problems in grass court. But others see the resurging Nadal as the one to beat in the finals. Doubts have been cast on Federer's ability to beat Nadal this time. Fresh from our memory that Nadal beat Federer in last months' French Open finals in just three sets. It wouldn’t be difficult for Nadal to make it in the Wimbledon.
But like Rafa's stamp on clay, the second seed would have problem orchestrating his moves in Federer's turf. Wimbledon courts have been Federer's long time home. Federer has been playing so amazingly well. The top seed eliminated all his opponents from the first round to his way to the finals in only three of the five sets.
"I haven't had many problems whatsoever throughout the championships," Federer said in an interview. "It's been a perfect way to the finals, but there's one more left. I need to win to get it. But so far it's been quite unbelievable actually."
History is likewise about to unfold. If Federer claims the Wimbledon title this year, he will be the second man to win Wimbledon in six consecutive years after Willie Renshaw made it in the 1880s and will close in one win to the 14 Grand slam titles record set by Pete Sampras in the previous decade. If Nadal wins this finals game, he will be the first one to win back to back Grand Slam titles in French Open and Wimbledon in the same year.
So whoever wins the finals, a new record will be set. But I doubt both are particular on records as of this time, they just want to beat each other, and there will only be one to come out as the winner.
Let’s check it on Monday night.
ESPN captioned it as "Top Two To Tango" while the Wimbledon site tagged it as "Roger and Rafa - Take Three". But for this given epic battle, I would like to borrow NBA's most popular tagline during the playoff season to describe this encounter as "There Can Onl
y Be One!”.Yes, there can only be one, but tennis fans all over the country and the world will have to wait for another 48 hours to witness the most anticipated Grand Slam event in Wimbledon history as Roger Federer and Rafael "Rafa" Nadal, world number one and number two respectively will battle all out in the men's finals on Monday (Philippine time) to determine among the two who is, "The One".
During the semifinals, Federer crushed Marat Safin, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-4 with a flawless and excellent performance to approach his sixth consecutive Wimbledon title and 13th Grand Slam Championship. Rafael Nadal disposed Rainer Schuettler 6-1, 7-6 (3) 6-4 in the other semifinals game setting up a sixth career Grand Slam final against Federer.
The saga continues for both tennis stars as they meet for the third time in the finals. Federer beat Nadal in the two previous finals but Nadal was too close to win last year. Nadal was leading but Federer was more determined to claim his 5th Wimbledon trophy. It would be a matter of time Nadal will seize it, who knows this time around.
A lot of talks have been coming out whether Nadal, the king of clay court, can beat Federer in the finals as most say Nadal has a lot of problems in grass court. But others see the resurging Nadal as the one to beat in the finals. Doubts have been cast on Federer's ability to beat Nadal this time. Fresh from our memory that Nadal beat Federer in last months' French Open finals in just three sets. It wouldn’t be difficult for Nadal to make it in the Wimbledon.
But like Rafa's stamp on clay, the second seed would have problem orchestrating his moves in Federer's turf. Wimbledon courts have been Federer's long time home. Federer has been playing so amazingly well. The top seed eliminated all his opponents from the first round to his way to the finals in only three of the five sets.
"I haven't had many problems whatsoever throughout the championships," Federer said in an interview. "It's been a perfect way to the finals, but there's one more left. I need to win to get it. But so far it's been quite unbelievable actually."
History is likewise about to unfold. If Federer claims the Wimbledon title this year, he will be the second man to win Wimbledon in six consecutive years after Willie Renshaw made it in the 1880s and will close in one win to the 14 Grand slam titles record set by Pete Sampras in the previous decade. If Nadal wins this finals game, he will be the first one to win back to back Grand Slam titles in French Open and Wimbledon in the same year.
So whoever wins the finals, a new record will be set. But I doubt both are particular on records as of this time, they just want to beat each other, and there will only be one to come out as the winner.
Let’s check it on Monday night.
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