Throwback Article: Just When It Was Getting Predictable….

Posted on 08. Aug, 2009 by admin in Sports, Tennis

I remember watching Tennis as a young enthusiast and looking forward to seeing all the major grand slams, waiting in anticipation for who would take the trophy or dish this time around. Even though fans at the time were used to seeing Sampras lap up all the accolades there was still the occasional wins and form spurts from major rivals from Pat Rafter to Andre Agassi to Boris Becker. Even after legends retired there was an array of talent and rivalries which made watching Tennis that much more exciting. This was up until 2006 when my enthusiasm began to wane. There were no more sparks, major rivalries or upsets…there was simply no competition. My boredom for the sport reared its ugly handsome head in the form of Roger Federer.

2006 marked Federer’s 4th straight Wimbledon win and a year where he was more than established as THE MAN. The Swiss just simply won everything bar the French Open and beat almost everyone who came in his way. Do you remember that robot in Terminator 2: Judgement Day who just wouldn’t die? Federer was a machine. His record speaks for itself.

As much as his tennis was a pleasure to watch it was less pleasurable watching Tennis as a whole and even more worrying for the sport of men’s tennis. Here was a man who was still young, yet to reach his peak but was still defeating everyone… in easy fashion. Call me the antagonist but it would begin to annoy me watching him do this. Sure I support a team who win almost everything in their respective sport (shout out to Sir Alex) and there is of course my enjoyment of Women’s Tennis which provides a new star every tournament, but I wanted to see a 5 set final in Men’s Tennis as well but it just wouldn’t happen. Men’s Tennis had become somewhat predictable.

Roger Federer

The Edberg Era, The Courier Era, The Agassi Era, The Sampras Era and The Hewitt Era were all short in domination span or intertwined with each other which made for an exciting spectacle in the 90’s and early noughties. The mid to late noughties however brought an air of inevitability, until today. Mark this date, Sunday 6th July 2008, the day when Men’s Tennis regained its excitement; the day when Roger Federer was beaten at his best.

Wimbledon’s five time champion was in scintillating form as usual leading up to today’s final and although I wanted my favourite Tennis player at this point in time Rafael Nadal to win, I was convinced it would be a 6th Wimbledon title in a row. However to my surprise Nadal produced an impressive and fighting performance against an equally impressive opponent in Federer and captured the title in a 5-set thriller. It was symbolic of stepping up to the bully in his own playground and I for one enjoyed it.

It was the penultimate stage of an indifferent year for Federer. He has yet to win a major competition in 2008 and if he was to lose in the US Open, it would be the first time in 6 years that the Swiss player has failed to win a Grand Slam. Does this spell the end for Federer? No, of course not, anyone who thinks that is naïve and obviously didn’t see his performance in today’s final. What Federer’s barren spell does do however is make Men’s tennis an exciting prospect for now and next year as numbers 2 & 3 in Men’s tennis have captured major titles beating Federer along the way. We will now see a rise in competition in men’s tennis with Nadal, Federer and Novak Djokovic as major rivals for coveted Trophies. Who knows maybe even Andy Murray may join the fray. My enthusiasm for the sport has surfaced again with my eyes fixated on the US Open when it begins. Now I can look at the tournament wondering who will win rather than observe a foregone conclusion.

References
Picture Source: http://www.sitv.com/files/imagecache/LARGE/images/35_2482_39939522_rafael_nadal_h153628_l.jpg
http://www.enjoyfrance.com/images/stories/france/sport/Roger-Federer-tennis-star.jpg