DON'T DISS 'THE FED'
June 8, 2008. 6-1, 6-3, 6-0.
A date and a result that is forever burned into Roger Federer’s brain. It was on this date three weeks ago that Rafael Nadal gave Federer the worst beating of his illustrious career, in the French Open Final. A beat-down so bad, that Federer spent days washing out the Roland-Garros clay stains Nadal stomped into him.
The natural progression was then for every sports pundit and talking head to proclaim Federer’s demise. Tony Kornheiser, co-host of Pardon the Interruption, went as far as to exclaim, “Federer’s done. He’s finished. Nadal is the new king of the courts.”
I ain’t buying it.
Until Nadal beats Federer in the two tournaments that “The Fed” has ruled for years, Wimbledon and The U.S. Open, he’s still the king.
Federer has dominated on grass, and on hard courts. He’s the five-time defending champ of Wimbledon (2003-2007); he’s won four straight U.S. Opens (2004-2007). He just finished the first week of this year’s Wimbledon tournament by not losing a set!
He kicked off the final week of the tournament Monday by giving 2002 Wimbledon champ, Lleyton Hewitt, a taste of exactly how “washed-up” he is. He destroyed Hewitt in straight sets--7-6 (7), 6-2, 6-4. “The Fed” has now played more than a week at Wimbledon, and still hasn’t lost a set.
Federer can never be considered the greatest tennis player of the modern era—he has to win a French Open first. But he owns 12 Grand Slam Championships between Wimbledon, The U.S. Open and The Australian Open. To say that he’s on his way down is ridiculous.
“The Fed’s” main competition these days, Rafael Nadal, is strictly a clay-court master. He owns three straight French Open Championships. Dude is unbeatable on the orange stuff. But take “Rafi” outside of France, and it’s a completely different story. He has won no other Grand Slam.
Rafi’s best opportunity to ascend the throne occurred earlier this year at The Australian. Federer was just returning from battling mono, and had been ousted by Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. The door was wide-open.
Rafi’s answer? A semifinal loss of his own to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Djokovic, the world’s number three, went on to win the Australian Open. He then mouthed off after his victory, and said that he believes Federer is feeling the pressure of having young guys, like himself, coming after him. He followed that by entering Federer’s kingdom at Wimbledon, and got destroyed in the second round, in straight sets no less, by Marit Safin.
So Novak, tell me how that grass tastes?
Through it all—the mono, the semifinal loss in The Australian, the verbal barbs from Djokovic and getting clobbered in the French Open by Nadal—Federer has remained the world’s number one.
The potential Clash of the Titans still exists in this year’s Wimbledon, as Nadal advanced on Monday as well. He overcame an early injury scare, after slipping on a dead grass spot, then proceeded to dump Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets—6-3, 6-3, 6-1.
Most believe that Sunday’s Men’s Final will be Federer vs. Nadal. Count myself in that group. At that point, we’ll see exactly where Federer stands. He’ll prove to the world that reports of his demise have been greatly exaggerated. Or, Nadal will stomp some All England Club grass stains on “The Fed” to go along with the clay stains from the French, thus proving the talking heads correct. There won’t be any in-between.
My bet: Don’t diss “The Fed”.