Is the Fed Express Back on Track?
It wasn’t very long ago that Rafael Nadal dropped down to a shuddering number 4 in the world rankings, whereas Roger Federer was three and a half thousand points away from everyone else as far as official rankings are concerned. No one would have thought it possible that in the span of a mere five weeks this spot would be regained by the maestro, for the second time since 2003. Roger Federer was the undisputed king till his nemesis came back to his former glory, and regained his position with his recent surging form.
Coming back from a recent injury, Rafael Nadal tried to avoid major tennis till he had fully recovered. But once he did, he made sure to remove all doubts as to his future. He has been looking stronger than ever and has captured the clay court season in a manner that makes it seem as though he has been playing amongst novice players. Federer on the other hand went on a streak of losing comparatively easy matches. Players ranked way below him were defeating him with the utmost ease. His backhand was exposed and his forehand was off range. He was easily taken down by youngsters such as Earnest Gulbis, and moreover there was no flair to his game. The class one associates Federer, is seen without his former style and strength.
The most surprising of facts, is that Federer began playing crucial points very poorly. His fans were relieved to see him in the Hamburg Open final at all, but were disappointed to see how Rafa dominated above him. Federer came across a situation where he had to defend his two thousand points on the clay at Rolland Garros, but was clearly below par in his quarter final match which was against Sweden’s Robin Soderling, who is ironically the same man who was defeated by Federer in last year’s French open final.
It seemed as if Federer had absolutely no plans to win when he came out on the court while Soderling was showing a level of conviction unseen in him before. Federer kept on providing innocent short balls giving Robin the chance to blast them all over the court. But fans can’t count the champion out just yet can they? Straight off the clay courts of France, he found solace on a surface he is most comfortable upon. The green grass of Halle welcomed the champion once again and he did not disappoint as he convincingly won all matches leading up to the final, which is at the top of a 250 level event.
Federer has always favoured playing at Halle to start off his Wimbledon dreams, dreams he lives out almost every year since he began his career as a tennis genius. Nadal on the other hand has been suffering ever since he set foot on these grounds. He was defeated in the Quarter final at the Aegon championship by Faliciano Lopez. Nadal also claims to have been coping with a leg injury; fans can only hope he enters Wimbledon as a world number one tennis player should.
Reflecting on the outrageous history of both players and their confusing form, it is hard to predict the outcomes of their struggling careers in tennis, for now the only statement tennis watchers can make is ‘may the best man win’.
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