Rafael Nadal marched his way to glory by beating former world number one, Roger Federer by 7-5, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2 in the Australian Open 2009 final in Melbourne. The greatest player of all time for me, Federer was bidding for a 14th grand slam to equal the record of Pete Sampras but he was halted like he was at the French Open and Wimbledon. The sensational and upstoppable Spainiard now has 6 grand slam titles including 4 at French Open and 1 each at Wimbledon and Australian Open. He had never won a grand slam on hard court before and by winning tonight, he now has titles on the three surfaces; hard,clay and grass. And with his age(22), you can be sure there are many more slams coming his way.
The way he lays his tennis is just incredible. He just hates the ball dropping in his court and thus runs like a rabbit and make sure ball doesnot bounces more than once in his side of the court. Verdasco said after his defeat against Nadal in semifinal that you have to win a point three times against Nadal. That is how difficult it is against the man who plays amazing muscular tennis.
I mentioned in my post how I wanted to write about Federer winning is the final but it isnt the case now. I am always rooting for Roger so it is obviously sad. But do you know what is heart breaking? If you have seen this match you know it.
It was the scene when at presentation ceremony the great Roger Federer broke down and cried inconsolably. Man, I could not bear those scenes. Roger said” May be ill try later. God, its killing me…” and then he broke down cried his heart out for long time. A tsunami of emotions at that very moment. A terrible sight for tennis fans. I would have written about how he played the match but after watching this, I am not in a position to write anything. It was just so overwhelmingly difficult to see him sry. That shows how much he wanted it (a win against Nadal in finals) and how badly it hurts him losing yet again to Federer. But I dont think the loss again was the factor that made him cry. Nadal has just gotten so deep.. ahh…forget it. I wont say anything. It was just too hard to see that sight. For the champion he is, I cant believe it.That is one sight I will never forget. You are still the champion and still the greatest Roger.

Here is the video that says it all:

A few more pictures:

You are still the champion Roger and will always be. We will always love you!!!

Pictures from