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Date: 01 Feb 2009 19:34:40
From: TT
Subject: The new king
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The new king
Rafael Nadal accepted his Australian Open trophy from the legendary Rod
Laver on Sunday night – and is well on the way to becoming a giant of
the game himself.
He won the Australian Open, becoming the first Spaniard to do so. He
joined an elite group of just 12 men who have managed to win three Grand
Slam titles on three different surfaces since the Open Era began.
He took his tally of major titles to six and his record of Grand Slam
final appearances to eight – and all of that achieved in just 20 visits
to the four major championships. In the Open Era, only Bjorn Borg has
been more clinical in collecting the important trophies (he won six
Grand Slam titles in only 18 attempts).
But all this was as nothing compared to Rafael Nadal's most startling
achievement of the evening. He made his friend cry. He did not mean to
do it and he wasn't quite sure what to do when it happened, but the new
Australian Open champion had broken Roger Federer's heart.
Nadal had somehow conjured up the heart and the physical puff to go toe
to toe with Federer for four hours and 23 minutes and then, with the
clock standing at 12.14am, Nadal won 7-5 3-6 7-6(3) 3-6 6-2 and was
crowned as the new king of Melbourne Park.
How he had managed to do it was beyond anyone's comprehension. Less than
48 hours earlier, he had staggered off court at well after 1am at the
end of a five hour 14 minute epic with Fernando Verdasco. At the very
same time, Federer had been sound asleep after getting an extra day off.
Yet here was Nadal again, winning the battle of the muscles, the tactics
and, most crucially of all, the nerves to beat Federer again, his 13th
victory in 19 meetings and his fifth victory over the Swiss in seven
meetings in Grand Slam finals.
To be fair to Nadal, it was not entirely his fault that Federer burst
into tears during the presentation ceremony. This year is the 40th
anniversary of Rod Laver's second Grand Slam, and the ‘Rockhampton
Rocket’ was at Melbourne Park to present the prizes.
Standing alongside the great man were the four men he beat in the four
major finals that year – Andreas Gimeno, Ken Rosewall, John Newcombe and
Tony Roche. A bigger collection of legends you could not hope to find
late on a Sunday night, and the fact that Federer wanted so dearly to be
one of them, to win that magical 14th Grand Slam title and match Pete
Sampras' record, was his emotional undoing.
But as Federer sobbed and gulped and tried to control himself, 15,000
spectators stood and applauded. It was 15,001, to be precise, as Nadal
joined in with the ovation and bit his lip nervously.
When his moment came to step forward to the podium, he looked almost
sheepish. Federer patted him on the shoulder as he passed and Nadal, in
turn, took the trophy quietly, held it aloft very briefly, and then went
to put his arm around his pal and console him.
"I'm sorry for today," he said to Federer as he accepted his AUD$2
million winner's cheque. "I really know how you feel. But remember – you
are one of the best players of the history and you are going to improve
the 14 of Sampras. It is always a pleasure to play you and best of luck
for the rest of the year."
Such kindness from his conqueror almost set Federer off again, but as
his lower lip quivered, the significance of the evening's events began
to sink in. Federer will need all the luck he can get if he is to get to
grips with the challenge of Nadal.
On paper, this was one of the best chances Federer would have to beat
Nadal – the Spaniard ought to have been tired, he ought to have been on
the back foot on the hardcourt surface, and he ought to have been tense
in his first Australian Open final. But there was not a bit of it.
If Federer had hoped that Nadal's tank would run dry after such an
energy-sapping semifinal, he was to be sorely disappointed – the
Spaniard can run on fumes if necessary, and the thought of a fifth set
appeared to hold no fears for him. As for his nerves, they are
armour-plated, while his mind is reinforced with steel. It was Federer
who was overcome by the enormity of the moment while Nadal simply put
his head down and forced his way to the finish.
When Nadal first started chasing Federer around the Grand Slam circuit,
the Swiss was happy to concede the French Open to his young rival. But
in the past three years, Nadal has proved himself to be the unstoppable
force on clay, on grass and now on a hardcourt. Federer has nowhere left
to hide.
"To have the trophy presented to me by a legend like Rod Laver is a
dream for me," Nadal said. The legends had come to see Federer become
one of their number but, instead, they stayed to applaud Nadal. With
only the US Open left to conquer, it will not be long before Nadal
becomes a legend himself. And that really will make Federer cry.
http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/articles/2009-02-01/200902011233414919593.html
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Date: 01 Feb 2009 14:41:26
From:
Subject: Re: The new king
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On 1 feb, 18:52, RahimAsif <RahimA...@gmail.com > wrote:
> > Rafa is GOOD PEOPLE.
>
> The key part of the sentence is "one of the best in history" - a
> subtle change from "best in history". Rafa knows the significance of
> this win on Fed's legacy. The damage has been extensive...
I agree. Gillette will think twice before call Federer and many just
once to call Nadal.
Enjoy.
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Date: 01 Feb 2009 12:52:13
From: RahimAsif
Subject: Re: The new king
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On Feb 1, 1:31=A0pm, mzavag...@gmail.com wrote:
> On 1 feb, 15:34, TT <g...@Olympics.org> wrote:
>
> > The new king
>
> "I really know how you feel. But remember =96 you
> are one of the best players of the history and you are going to
> improve
> the 14 of Sampras. It is always a pleasure to play you and best of
> luck
> for the rest of the year."
>
> Rafa is GOOD PEOPLE.
The key part of the sentence is "one of the best in history" - a
subtle change from "best in history". Rafa knows the significance of
this win on Fed's legacy. The damage has been extensive...
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Date: 01 Feb 2009 11:31:33
From:
Subject: Re: The new king
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On 1 feb, 15:34, TT <g...@Olympics.org > wrote:
> The new king
>
"I really know how you feel. But remember =96 you
are one of the best players of the history and you are going to
improve
the 14 of Sampras. It is always a pleasure to play you and best of
luck
for the rest of the year."
Rafa is GOOD PEOPLE.
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Date: 01 Feb 2009 15:38:55
From: mimus
Subject: Re: The new king
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On Sun, 01 Feb 2009 11:31:33 -0800, mzavaglia wrote:
> On 1 feb, 15:34, TT <g...@Olympics.org> wrote:
>
>> The new king
>
> "I really know how you feel. But remember – you are one of the best
> players of the history and you are going to improve the 14 of Sampras.
> It is always a pleasure to play you and best of luck for the rest of the
> year."
>
> Rafa is GOOD PEOPLE.
That is gracious; others ought to take note.
--
Take a deep breath, take a walk, cool off, plot a bit, and serve again.
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Date: 01 Feb 2009 10:59:51
From: Patrick Kehoe
Subject: Re: The new king
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On Feb 1, 10:17=A0am, Sao Paulo Swallow <Sao_Paulo_Swal...@yahoo.com >
wrote:
> A new king is right. And now all the pressure is on Nadal. It will be
> news now when Nadal doesn't win, regardless of surface. No more
> surface-related exceptions. I know Nadal is up for it, but will be
> interesting to see if his fans are.
++ No more: "Well is his teetle and his playING very well, no... he's
still in history the best so Roger's favourite, no?"
NOOOOOOOO... LLOOLL!
All your Rafa! Run with it Rafa!
P
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Date: 01 Feb 2009 10:17:34
From: Sao Paulo Swallow
Subject: Re: The new king
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A new king is right. And now all the pressure is on Nadal. It will be
news now when Nadal doesn't win, regardless of surface. No more
surface-related exceptions. I know Nadal is up for it, but will be
interesting to see if his fans are.
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Date: 01 Feb 2009 14:03:45
From: WAY2GOOD
Subject: Re: The new king
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"Sao Paulo Swallow" <Sao_Paulo_Swallow@yahoo.com > wrote in message
news:f35f5b6c-b9a1-45d5-a1f7-e98a3d645433@y1g2000pra.googlegroups.com...
>A new king is right. And now all the pressure is on Nadal. It will be
> news now when Nadal doesn't win, regardless of surface. No more
> surface-related exceptions. I know Nadal is up for it, but will be
> interesting to see if his fans are.
I'd say that all the pressure is still on FEDDY: he's the one trying
so hard to prove he's the "greatest of all time" (a joke when he
gets spanked by Rafa as often as he does).
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Date: 01 Feb 2009 10:11:30
From:
Subject: Re: The new king
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On Feb 1, 12:34=A0pm, TT <g...@Olympics.org > wrote:
> The new king
>
> Rafael Nadal accepted his Australian Open trophy from the legendary Rod
> Laver on Sunday night =96 and is well on the way to becoming a giant of
> the game himself.
>
> He won the Australian Open, becoming the first Spaniard to do so. He
> joined an elite group of just 12 men who have managed to win three Grand
> Slam titles on three different surfaces since the Open Era began.
>
> He took his tally of major titles to six and his record of Grand Slam
> final appearances to eight =96 and all of that achieved in just 20 visits
> to the four major championships. In the Open Era, only Bjorn Borg has
> been more clinical in collecting the important trophies (he won six
> Grand Slam titles in only 18 attempts).
>
> But all this was as nothing compared to Rafael Nadal's most startling
> achievement of the evening. He made his friend cry. He did not mean to
> do it and he wasn't quite sure what to do when it happened, but the new
> Australian Open champion had broken Roger Federer's heart.
>
> Nadal had somehow conjured up the heart and the physical puff to go toe
> to toe with Federer for four hours and 23 minutes and then, with the
> clock standing at 12.14am, Nadal won 7-5 3-6 7-6(3) 3-6 6-2 and was
> crowned as the new king of Melbourne Park.
>
> How he had managed to do it was beyond anyone's comprehension. Less than
> 48 hours earlier, he had staggered off court at well after 1am at the
> end of a five hour 14 minute epic with Fernando Verdasco. At the very
> same time, Federer had been sound asleep after getting an extra day off.
> Yet here was Nadal again, winning the battle of the muscles, the tactics
> and, most crucially of all, the nerves to beat Federer again, his 13th
> victory in 19 meetings and his fifth victory over the Swiss in seven
> meetings in Grand Slam finals.
>
> To be fair to Nadal, it was not entirely his fault that Federer burst
> into tears during the presentation ceremony. This year is the 40th
> anniversary of Rod Laver's second Grand Slam, and the =91Rockhampton
> Rocket=92 was at Melbourne Park to present the prizes.
>
> Standing alongside the great man were the four men he beat in the four
> major finals that year =96 Andreas Gimeno, Ken Rosewall, John Newcombe an=
d
> Tony Roche. A bigger collection of legends you could not hope to find
> late on a Sunday night, and the fact that Federer wanted so dearly to be
> one of them, to win that magical 14th Grand Slam title and match Pete
> Sampras' record, was his emotional undoing.
>
> But as Federer sobbed and gulped and tried to control himself, 15,000
> spectators stood and applauded. It was 15,001, to be precise, as Nadal
> joined in with the ovation and bit his lip nervously.
>
> When his moment came to step forward to the podium, he looked almost
> sheepish. Federer patted him on the shoulder as he passed and Nadal, in
> turn, took the trophy quietly, held it aloft very briefly, and then went
> to put his arm around his pal and console him.
>
> "I'm sorry for today," he said to Federer as he accepted his AUD$2
> million winner's cheque. "I really know how you feel. But remember =96 yo=
u
> are one of the best players of the history and you are going to improve
> the 14 of Sampras. It is always a pleasure to play you and best of luck
> for the rest of the year."
>
> Such kindness from his conqueror almost set Federer off again, but as
> his lower lip quivered, the significance of the evening's events began
> to sink in. Federer will need all the luck he can get if he is to get to
> grips with the challenge of Nadal.
>
> On paper, this was one of the best chances Federer would have to beat
> Nadal =96 the Spaniard ought to have been tired, he ought to have been on
> the back foot on the hardcourt surface, and he ought to have been tense
> in his first Australian Open final. But there was not a bit of it.
>
> If Federer had hoped that Nadal's tank would run dry after such an
> energy-sapping semifinal, he was to be sorely disappointed =96 the
> Spaniard can run on fumes if necessary, and the thought of a fifth set
> appeared to hold no fears for him. As for his nerves, they are
> armour-plated, while his mind is reinforced with steel. It was Federer
> who was overcome by the enormity of the moment while Nadal simply put
> his head down and forced his way to the finish.
>
> When Nadal first started chasing Federer around the Grand Slam circuit,
> the Swiss was happy to concede the French Open to his young rival. But
> in the past three years, Nadal has proved himself to be the unstoppable
> force on clay, on grass and now on a hardcourt. Federer has nowhere left
> to hide.
>
> "To have the trophy presented to me by a legend like Rod Laver is a
> dream for me," Nadal said. The legends had come to see Federer become
> one of their number but, instead, they stayed to applaud Nadal. With
> only the US Open left to conquer, it will not be long before Nadal
> becomes a legend himself. And that really will make Federer cry.
>
> http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/articles/2009-02-01/20090201...
That'll do Rafa.
That'll do.
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