By Chris Oddo | Friday January 27, 2017
Now that the dream final is a reality in Melbourne, we can relish in an unexpected, delightful matchup that has throwback and aftershock written all over it. If the current tennis generation was an earthquake, then Sunday’s final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal can certainly be viewed as an aftershock. We may never experience it again and yet these two seismic tennis legends, ticks or double-ticks past their prime, have turned back the clock to produce the fitting finale to a magical fortnight down under.
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If you polled a thousand tennis experts, so-called or otherwise, three weeks ago, and asked them what they thought of the likelihood of a Federer vs. Nadal final in Melbourne all you’d have gotten is laughter—and maybe a few tears. This is the Murray and Djokovic era, after all. As No.1 and No.2 in the world, those are the two players that have taken the bull by the horns and ascended to the throne of tennis in recent years.
For Federer and Nadal, legendary as they’ve been, the crumbs are all that has been availed of late.
If you ask Nadal, he’ll tell you himself. His appetite was for crown jewels, but even he expected more crumbs after an off-season that was more about getting his body injury-free than realistically expecting to prepare for—and possibly win—his 15th major title.
Yesterday, after his thrilling five-set win over Grigor Dimitrov, Nadal spoke of the visit that Federer paid his recently opened tennis Academy in Mallorca in October, and how both of them had no idea how beautifully things would play out for them in just two months.
“No, in that moment, for sure we never thought that we had the chance to be, again, in a final, and especially in the first of the year,” Nadal said. “Happened. Both of us I think worked very hard to be where we are. Is great. Is great that, again, we are in a moment like this and we are going to have a chance again to enjoy a moment like this. Just very happy for me and very happy for him because I think it’s going to be a very nice moment.”
It’s well-documented that Nadal, stubborn and eager to win as they come, yearned for a return to form and believed he could get back to the winner’s circle at majors. But to do it so soon, and on a hard court?
“I am a positive person,” he said. “I never say never because I worked very hard to be where I am. I really have been working very hard and very well. Before coming here, I said in the press conference before the tournament, I am practicing very well. I didn't think about be where I am today. I always had the confidence that if I am able to win some matches, then anything can happen.”
Apparently it can.
Many thought that “anything” was going to happen last spring, when Nadal was pushing to make a run at the Roland Garros title. But he was forced to pull out of the draw with a wrist injury. It was a devastating moment for the nine-time French Open champion, and he opened up about that experience last night during his press conference.
“Last year was tough,” he said. “When you feel that you are playing very well and you have to go from Roland Garros without going on court, I remember myself crying on the car coming back to hotel, no? That was a tough moment.”
Federer spent an autumn off the grid, but while many were wondering if he’d ever be the same player again, he was quietly taking all the steps to make a stunning return to form. Any doubters who watched him run roughshod over Tomas Berdych in the third round quickly reversed course and started paying attention last weekend in Melbourne. this was the old Federer, regal, sublime and merciless. For just the third time in his career, he has won multiple five-setters in a major, and as he prepares to fight Nadal for the title, there is a genuine giddiness emanating from the oldest player to reach a Grand Slam final on the men’s side since 1974.
“I'm in the finals, I know that,” Federer said. “I know I will have a chance to win on Sunday now. That's a great position to be in… All I care about is that I can win on Sunday. Doesn't matter who's across the net. But I understand the magnitude of the match against Nadal, no doubt about it.”
Nadal is the only player who has been able to regularly solve Federer, and if there is one caveat next to his “Greatest Player of All-Time” status it is the fact that Nadal has won 23 of 34 matches against Federer, including nine of 11 at majors (there’s a caveat next to the caveat, which is that Nadal is nearly five years younger).
It’s something that Federer admits he was painfully aware of in the early stages of the rivalry. He says that Nadal’s ability to devour him on clay bled into the tone of their tennis on other surfaces. When he speaks about it now, it sounds like he is still calculating, still searching for the ways to loosen himself from the grip of Nadal’s stranglehold over him.
“It was more mentally something at some moments,” Federer says. “Now it's a different time. A lot of time has gone by. I know this court allows me to play a certain game against Rafa that I cannot do on center court at the French Open.”
Just as Nadal heaps praise upon Federer, calling him a legend and acknowledging his myriad achievements, Federer has a healthy respect for the essence and vitality of Nadal.
“I just think he's an incredible tennis player,” he said. “He's got shots that no other one has. When you have that, you are unique and special. Plus he's got the grit. He's got the mental and physical ability to sustain a super high level of play for years and for hours and for weeks. He's proven that time and time again. He's come back from many injuries, you know, time and time again. He made it seem easy, and it's not. I think he's been tremendous for the game. I have a lot of respect for him on many levels.”
So the tennis world prepares for what will perhaps be the last Grand Slam final between the two greatest players of the Golden Era of tennis. It sounds hyperbolic, but it’s not. Pinch yourselves, tennis fans—this is real.
Roger, Rafa and the rebirth.
“Is special play with Roger again in a final of a Grand Slam,” Nadal says. “I cannot lie. Is great. Is exciting for me and for both of us that we still there and we still fighting for important events. So that's important for us, I think. That's very special.”
But what makes Federer vs. Nadal so special? What makes it a rivalry for the ages, and perhaps better than all the rest?
Nadal has his opinions.
“Is the combination of two different styles that makes the matches really special,” he says. “Is different way to play tennis. Both of us, I think, having a lot of good success with these two different styles. I feel that this rivalry go not only in the tennis world. People from outside of our world talks about this, and that's good for our sport. Is good that we are back there.”
Whether it be a fleeting aftershock or a semi-sweet shift in power that plays out over a full season, there is no denying the palpable energy that this improbable final has created. If tennis needed a shot in the arm, it got it this week in Melbourne.
The renewal of a once thriving rivalry, for at least one more time.