In Australian Open final, Rafael Nadal triumps over Roger Federer, leaving the 13-time Grand Slam champion in emotional shambles

2/1/09
wimbledon
By Max J. Dickstein

In Australian Open final, Rafael Nadal triumps over Roger Federer, leaving the 13-time Grand Slam champion in emotional shambles

Photo credit: Game Face

(Photos by Getty Images)

(Photo by Getty Images)

By Max J. Dickstein

The numbers tell the tale best. Rafael Nadal has won three of the past four Grand Slam events. Roger Federer, the 13-time major winner, owns just one of the past five titles.

What’s more, Nadal has won six of eight major finals at the same age (22) when Federer had won two of two. If Federer is to add more Grand Slam titles, he must do so against Nadal, a possibly historic young force with a 13-6 career edge over the 27-year-old Federer.

Federer fans will find no consolation in the loss in balmy Melbourne on Sunday; their champion, seemingly playing from behind all evening, dropped serve at 15-40 in the first game. Something — perhaps a nagging fear of the unsolvable Spaniard — was amiss with the Swiss. Federer landed only 51 percent of his first serves, robbing himself of a weapon he uses customarily to erase break points; one of his six key double faults cost him the third-set tiebreaker.

Federer truly cowered in the 34-minute fifth set. As Federer shanked through the final games (he finished with 64 errors), Nadal moved swiftly toward a new championship.

But why did Federer break down and cry bitterly during the ceremony? He has done so as a winner before — offering the crowd his tears of overwhelmed joy. On Sunday, I think his tears flowed out of recognition that he had not only contributed mightily to his own defeat in this match, but also to future meetings with Nadal. Indomitable as a front-runner but less steely in his seesaw battles against Nadal, Federer's spirit broke like a leaking dam.

"I wasn't able to enjoy this win too much after seeing Federer in the state that he was in after losing the final. It leaves you a little shaken," Nadal said later. "I think that mentally he made such a mountain of it that he came crashing down, but that can happen to anybody."

Here is a sharp and notable perspective.
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wimbledon

In Australian Open final, Rafael Nadal triumps over Roger Federer, leaving the 13-time Grand Slam champion in emotional shambles

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