Just Another Sunday...

Or not! I wasn't planning to post anything till my exams get over, but I know I HAVE to write about Sunday's match before I get over the high!
I think I've lost count of the times I thought Nadal was out of this year's Wimbledon (while he was playing Soderling and Youzhny, and before he played Djokovic). So when he made it to the finals, I was relieved more than anything else. I have to say I didn't except him to give Federer any sort of fight. I excpected a three setter, maybe a four setter... Well, I was wrong! (Thankfully!)
There was plenty of build up to the match, most notably a segment which had Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg walk down from the entrance, past the locker rooms and right onto the Centre Court itself, rounded off with a nice little mini-interview by Sue Barker. I was excited enough already!
As Rafa and Feddy walked onto court, I was probably more nervous than both of them combined! The match began not so well for me - Rafa got broken in his very first service game. But thankfully, he broke back soon to take the set to a tie break. Feddy thought he'd won the set but Nadal made a very wise Challenge that won him the point. This was the first of many which Feddy was to suffer, though he didn't know it. (Of couse, we didn't either!) But Nadal just delayed the inevitable. Feddy won the set anyway.
The second set seemed pretty neck-and-neck, but just as Feddy was serving to stay in the set, Rafa won a fabulous point sitting down, and before he realised it, the set was snatched from under Feddy's nose! I loved that!
Third set was boring, more so for Rafa fans. Dragged into a tie break, which Feddy (duh!) won.
The fourth set was where the action actually began. Feddy got broken in the very first game of the set and I was thrilled to bits. Nadal held, and just when it looked as though Feddy was going to follow suit, Nadal made yet another brilliant Challenge. The ball was called in, much to the displeasure of The King. And (in a first), he whined, and got broken again. Just as he looked to be losing it, Nadal started gripping his knee. Half a game later, he called for the trainer. Now, Roger Federer was sulking like a little kid and asking the chair umpire to switch off Hawk-eye. That is the first time I have seen him behave less than perfect, and I have to admit, it felt sort of good. Nadal was, by this time, clearly not in greatest physical shape, but he somehow held on to his two breaks of serve and his own serve, and took the fourth set 6-2.
Fifth set would have been fabulous had Nadal not been injured. He couldn't convert any of his 4 break points, and succumbed quite easily to the might of Federer. I was almost in tears. To quote a few of my friends, (a) My heart had been smushed and plastered all over the walls, (b) My heart had more holes than Spongebob Squarepants and (c) Feddy had ripped my heart out and done the Mexican Hat Dance on it.
Still, Nadal and I both braved the presentation ceremony. Most importantly, I can now laugh at people who say that Nadal's a good-for-nothing except on clay. He's silenced the world with his game and won hearts (He's won mine, at least!) with his humility. Just to give some perspective as to how close the match was, let me mention that Nadal and Feddy had won the exact same number of games - 27 apiece. Which is more than you can say of Feddy at the French. Vijay Amritraj says that Nadal will win a Wimbledon before Feddy wins a French. And I hope with all my heart that he's right, because he deserves it thoroughly. And to me, he's brilliant already!