Opportunity wide Open!

Guess it was a watershed day in history! Little known Swede Robin Soderling did what none of the big guys could do! He beat the King of Clay in four sets on his favourite surface, on the red dirt of his favourite tournament. It was definitely a rude jolt for World No 1 Nadal vying for his fifth straight title at Roland Garros.
For the last four years Nadal domination at the tournament was nonpareil. Such was his mastery on clay that even taking a set off Nadal would itself be an achievement. Since the 2007 final, where he lost a set to Federer, Nadal had not even lost a set in the tournament. So, little did anybody contemplate or even comprehend the World No 25 Swede beating Nadal.
Nadal’s defeat came at a time when the champion had proved that clay courts were not his only demesnes and he could wallow on the grass of Wimbledon and hard court of Australia as well. The aura of invincibility that had enveloped Federer for so long, had suddenly entwined another. The tennis world was out of ideas on how to play Nadal. The question was who could crack the Nadal clay code?
Djokovic? The World No 3 took a set off Nadal at the Monte Carlo finals. Close. Closer still? Djokovic played a four hour, forty minutes semifinal against Nadal in the Madrid finals. The match could have gone either way. In the end Nadal’s tenacity was the winner. Yet there was hope. Another match, another final and maybe Djokovic would do it. But Djokovic’s loss in Madrid was Federer’s gain. The Serbian No 4 tired the World No 1 to such an extent that next day in the finals it was a jaded Nadal that took on Federer only to lose in straight sets. But not to discount Federer’s efforts, even a five set thriller would not have sapped the energy levels of the Swiss. That’s the kind of game the Swiss plays. Facile backhands, lethal service games tossed with sheer finesse and grace. If the physicality of Nadal’s game propelled him to the highest echelons, it was also his pitfall. After all fitness is what determines a champion. How many times does Federer complain of injury? How many tournaments has Federer missed? Few. On the other hand, burn out at the end of the season is a common feature for Nadal. In 2008, Nadal missed the Masters Cup. Everytime he has played an exceptionally demanding semifinal, Nadal has been found wanting in the finals. (Chennai Open 2008, Madrid Masters 2009).
In the match against Soderling, Nadal looked patchy and out of sorts as he had no answer to some of the Swede’s thundering shots. It was always thought the only way to beat Nadal on clay would be to keep the points shot. And Soderling had done his homework. He did exactly that and came out with flying colours. Soderling did everything that tennis lovers wanted Federer to do. Now that Nadal is out, the expectancy to lift the only silverware missing from his arsenal rests onerous on Federer. Nothing could further the drama than the Swiss maestro winning the French Open and completing his career Grand Slam. That would be his one unfailing dream and so of die-hard Fedex fans’ like me!