Nadal versus Federer-sports rivals
Rafael Nadal just beat Roger Federer to win the Madrid Open tennis tournament. This leads to an interesting question, is there such a thing as the greatest rivalry in sports history? A lot of different sports teams for many different reasons have had some great rivalries, and it is always fascinating to discover what caused these rivalries to develop and why they are so entertaining for fans to watch. A rivalry is only good to watch and enjoy in sports when the two teams or people playing are of the same level.
It gets better still, if one is slightly better than the other one. As a result, it becomes great to root for the underdog team or player. In the great rivalry between Federer and Nadal, it seems as if both tennis players are equally matched. Tennis has not seen a rivalry like this before because of the sheer skill and dominant playing style of both these two tennis greats. When this generation of tennis lovers grows older, they can proudly tell their children that their generation witnessed the greatest tennis rivalry between Federer and Nadal.
It is just that these two are such good tennis players that they blow the competition away and it is only when they play each other that tennis fans get an evenly matched competition. Sometimes Nadal wins and sometimes Federer comes out on top but whoever wins, the fans know that they will get to watch some fantastic tennis in the process. Maybe that is the secret to this and all rivalries; each player has his/her own set of specific and diehard fans. It seems that everyone who comes to a Federer/Nadal match has to pick a side and support either one or the other. The neutrals, if there are any, will still be in for a great tennis match. However, it is purely a fan-specific match so supporting one player is important to enjoy the contest the most.
Other rivalries in sports have the potential to be as great as the Nadal/Federer rivalry. Two of the biggest rivalries in cricket have the same potential. The first is the rivalry between India and Pakistan on the cricket field. This has spilled over because of geographic differences and underlying tensions between the two countries. This political tension seems to be obvious whenever the two countries play a game of cricket. The game becomes a matter of national pride for both sets of fans, the Indians hoping they will trounce the Pakistanis and the Pakistani fans hoping an Indian thrashing by Pakistan.
The other great cricketing rivalry is the Ashes series between Australia and England. This series has been going on for many years. The Ashes series has a film made on it, which was called Bodyline. Wikipedia has this to say about the series, “The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of international cricket's most celebrated rivalries and dates back to 1882,” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_ashes). The same Wikipedia article says that the name of the series came about when Australia beat England for the first time on home soil a newspaper said that cricket was dead, the body will be cremated, and the ashes will be taken to Australia. Interesting rivalries usually have interesting stories behind them as well.
Other great rivalries over the years that have been seen are as follows. In basketball, the Boston Celtics vs. the Los Angeles Lakers is a great contest going back many years and in football Real Madrid vs. Barcelona is another fantastic contest. In boxing, one of the best rivalries was between Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier, which turned nasty and very bitter, but then that is boxing for you.
It seems the reason why sports rivalries are so entertaining to watch is because people get so involved in them that the rivalries of teams or players become their own rivalries as well. They love to support someone very passionately and it seems to go back to a time when all of our ancestors fought for land or titles or honours against a common enemy. It could be similar to that or it could be that people just like the intense spirit of competition.
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