Wimbledon 2010; Nadal and Federer heading in different directions
Who would have predicted that out of the top seeded four players at the grass court Grand Slam tournament, just the six times winner Roger Federer will skip the semi final clash?
The two top seeded players Roger Federer as well as Rafael Nadal came across two of the hardest hitting tennis players on Wednesday at the All England Club. Federer in his quarter final encounter met the talented player from the Czech Republic, Tomas Berdych where as Rafa faced the Swedish tennis ace Robin Soderling in his match on the grass court.
Both matches concluded in a total of four sets however with different results as far as the top seeded players are concerned. Rafa, the second seeded tennis sensation won the quarterfinal battle in a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-1 match set where as Federer was knocked down by Tomas in a 4-6, 6-3, 1-6, 4-6 set score. The defeat came as his second straight quarterfinal exit in a major tournament. It would be the very first occasion that the big man has not been a Wimbledon finalist since 2003.
The results of both of these quarterfinal clashes talks much as far as the career flights of the perpetual competitors Nadal and Federer are concerned. While, Roger around 30 is striving hard to continue his high quality game standards in the concluding stages of his professional career, juvenile stars on the other hand like Rafa who is just twenty four years of age is persistently progressing as well as working hard on his game quality with every single match on the tennis courts.
Regardless of his health problems, Federer generally didn’t play bad at all. With a total of fourteen aces, with an inspiring 44 winners, he did play an intense match. However, Tomas Berdych, similar to Soderling’s performance in the French Open quarter final clash stupefied with blossoming serves along with few body movements that seized Federer’s game.
Nadal on the other hand, had little problem tackling Robin’s nasty pressure. The number one player in the world and seeded second at Wimbledon 2010, Nadal has been working hard his already well developed game, adding speed to his serves and thus successfully managed his quarterfinal clash against Soderling.
“Well, actually the players like Tomas Berdych as well as Soderling have excellent serves along with their hard hitting abilities”, as told by Rafael Nadal after his encounter. “So it is very tough at times to curb such sort of tennis opponents”, no?
Berdych along with Robin Soderling has had the flair of tennis for long but over the last few months both of them have really improved their level of confidence as well as their self control and strength of mind in order to grab complete advantage of the game.
Robin Soderling who defeated Roger Federer in the French Open quarter final this year just to lose at the hands of Rafa in the final one and Tomas Berdych, who in the similar fashion beat Federer at the Sony Ericsson Open championship this year, are both members of the fresh class of lanky, sports hard hitters, the kind of class that is now gaining a lot of attention from all over the world. Juan Martin del Potro who is the victor of US Open Championship last season is also a part of this group.
Robin Soderling is almost an inch smaller as compared to Berdych’s thin 6 foot 5 inch build. Both of the players hit the tennis ball with remarkable two handed back hand, however mainly bluster the competitors with the use of their forehands. Moreover, both the tennis sensations hit serves on regular basis that surpasses almost 130 miles per hour.
Undoubtedly, the playing manner of Soderling as well as Tomas is quite similar to each other. However, their aptitude as well as flair isn’t the same. Tomas steps with more alertness where as Soderling on the other hand, goes for greater chances with the help of his heavy strokes where as Del Potro who is a little taller as compared to Tomas and plays the laziest of them, enjoys the best forehand.
Nevertheless, as far as the tennis master Roger Federer is concerned, he still has all the chances in the world to triumph in the Flushing Meadows this season more particularly with Del Potro not contesting in the championship due to his wrist operation. However, sadly, Federer in the near future is not going to snatch the number one spot that easily for sure. The big man will further drop to number three spot in the world’s ranking next week so the biggest question is, for how long will he remain there?
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