Sunday, September 13, 2009

A Stroke of Genius

I hadn't intended to blog today until after the women's final, but whatevs, I'll talk about Kimmie and Caro tomorrow. No matter what happens, it can't possibly be as dramatic as Serena incident.

And I need to talk about THE SHOT.

Roger didn't play the greatest match today - though he still managed to beat Novak Djokovic in straight sets, so he didn't play sucky either. His serve wasn't in the zone, but he still managed to come through, so well done.

But the match won't be remembered for any of that. It probably won't even be remembered for the fact that Federer won en route to (hopefully) his sixth US Open title.

It'll be remembered for THE SHOT.

Federer is up two sets to love, 6-5 in the third. Djokovic is serving. 0-30.

Federer rushes the net. Djokovic lobs him.

Federer scrambles backwards and, on the dead run, hits a crosscourt pass between his legs for the winner.

He then follows it up with a screaming forehand winner off the return to win the match, but it's THE SHOT that's going to be remembered. There is no one else alive who could make that shot. Hell, even Federer admitted he couldn't make it most of the time. But when it mattered, he came with the goods. He came up with... wow. This is why he is the greatest player of all time. No one else has ever displayed such genius.

Wow.

And we have to give a few words to Juan Martin del Potro, who is into his first ever Slam final - nice work, Juan! You have to feel sorry for poor Rafa Nadal, though... pummelled again in the one Slam he has never won, and he's now going to be out for a month with an abdominal tear. He's won the Aussie Open this year, but it just hasn't been his year on the whole, poor dude. Here's hoping he'll come back better than ever next year... if nothing else, I think he gets his #2 ranking back from Andy Murray. And let's face it - Roger and Rafa belong in slots #1 and #128. It's just the way it is.

Sorry if I've been a little incoherent, but wow. WOW. You don't see shots like that every day. Or, you know, ever. Roger Federer, you amaze me.


Today's Results

US Open (Flushing Meadows)

Men's Draw

Roger Federer def. Novak Djokovic, 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 7-5
Juan Martin del Potro def. Rafael Nadal, 6-2 6-2 6-2


PS. Vale Jack Kramer. You will be missed.

2 comments:

Tennis Talk, Anyone? said...

Hey Jodi, I liked the Jack Kramer shout-out at the end. Very nice.

And that shot was absolutely ridiculous!

John said...

The world wanted to see whether it was Andy MURRAY that will break the whole Rafa/Roger spell. But in the end it was DEL POTRO will now stand a chance to so when he takes on the Swiss maestro in the final.

Hell Yeah! I've been waiting for this a long time and finally it has arrived to see an Argentian in a Grand Slam final.

But this match will be no easy ride for him as I still tremendous respect for Fedex. I knew those dark episode he suffered since last years lost at Wimbledon was just a temporary setback for him. Just look how he has bounced back.

For DEL POTRO to win this, he will need to do more than just repeating another prefect game plan he did in the semis against the Matador from Spain. I won't be expecting another epic battle just like the one we witness in last years Wimbledon but surely this will be great final.

So now what is your expectation in this final? What will it take for DEL POTRO to finally lift his cursed against Fedex?