I've never been to Spain, although it's on the cards for next year (my mate Pablo has guaranteed me tickets for Madrid-Barcelona, which are pretty much invaluable), and so I've never seen a bull fight. But from the stories I've read and footage I've seen, it's a peculiarly brutal experience, a macabre pas des deux I'm not sure I want to experience first hand. The Spanish have an established appetite for the bullfight, though — which would suggest yesterday's French Open Final went down particularly well in Spain.

Rafael Nadal's progress through the early stages at Roland Garros suggested that he might somehow have improved on his already peerless performances at previous French Opens — more ruthless, relentless, unforgiving. But even when he destroyed Novak Djokovic in the semifinal, making the Australian Open champion look distinctly ordinary, you wouldn't have expected the final to play out as it did. After all, you might beat Roger Federer, but it's never an easy task.

Until yesterday.

There's a touch of the unsettling to watching as regal and proven a performer as Federer rendered quite so impotent, on so public a stage. Schumacher stalling on a straight, Woods hitting a shank off the first, Jordan missing the entire backboard from the free-throw line — this was all that, and so much more. Federer mauls opponents with regal disdain, sweeping past them in a blur of groundstrokes; he's set the benchmark for the men's game, and sits comfortably amongst tennis's greatest ever.

But to sit atop that pile would mean winning in Paris, and yesterday that achievement looked unlikelier than ever. With Nadal only just 22, Federer is stuck with the Spaniard for his remaining assaults on Roland Garros, and if the world number one had made a fist of his two previous finals with Nadal, then he was as much a spectator as the rest of us this time, which hardly bodes well for Federer completing his Grand Slam collection. Played 28, won 28 at Roland Garros, with just one set lost in four years — even Borg wasn't quite this dominant in Paris.

Borg was watching yesterday's final, and suggested afterwards that Nadal could win at Wimbledon; the more pertinent point to raise would have been, can Federer recover from such a humiliation to defend his grass court title in London? Nadal's game is made for clay, certainly, but the tears that follow his triumphs suggest Federer isn't as ice cool as he likes to make out, and the scars from Paris will take some healing.

It does set Wimbledon up for a fascinating fortnight — aside from the goring of Federer, Djokovic leads a host of beaten players itching to have a go at Nadal away from clay. And while he rules supreme on clay, his blitz of Roland Garros suggests his confidence and form has to make him a threat at Wimbledon, the sheer power and tenacity of his Paris demolition job the signs of a supreme tennis player.

I've watched the highlights several times this morning, and they're almost painful — watching Roger Federer reduced to a mere mortal is more disconcerting with every viewing. But the admiration for Nadal that emerges at the same time is undeniable, and given the calibre of his opponent, the Spaniard's fourth victory will go down as one of sport's more remarkable moments this year. Time to watch a little bull-fighting, if only for a more even contest.

  • Contact Dan at dan@metropolis.co.za
    Print this page
    Send this article to a friend
    RSS
       Digg
    de.li.cious
    facebook