Roger Federer was quick to congratulate long-time rival Rafa Nadal for his Australian Open triumph on Sunday after the Spaniard overhauled Daniil Medvedev in a five-set thriller to clinch a record 21st Grand Slam title.
陳昭仁
蔡其達
太不可思議的比賽。已經35歲的納豆，在先輸2盤的情況下，竟然逆轉連贏三盤，經過5小時24分的艱苦鏖戰，最後比數是2：6、6：7（5）、6：4、6：4、7：5的不可思議大逆轉，擊敗俄國一哥梅迪耶夫（Daniil Medvedev），這不但是納豆相隔13年後再度在澳網奪冠，且生涯第21座大滿貫到手，正式超越球王喬帥和費德勒（Roger Federer）的20座，成為史上第一人。納豆去年8月美網之後，動刀治療膝蓋，而年底（12月）更驚傳確診，據說狀況挺嚴重，連他自己都擔心體能是否受影響。而今日的對手Medvedev近年對三巨頭的威脅漸增，所以我事前認為Medvedev奪冠的可能性大些。且今天前兩盤，各方大概都認定納豆氣勢已盡，沒想到來這麼場精采逆轉秀。近日澳洲網壇「壞小子」基爾喬斯（Nick Kyrgios）宣稱網壇向來聚焦「3巨頭」（費爸、納豆及喬帥），忽視其他好手，如今將為此付出代價。我實在不懂他講什麼？因為三巨頭的比賽就是特別有張力、好看至極，三人的經驗、智慧就是網壇最顛峰的表徵。祇能說三人幾乎壟斷十多年的大滿貫冠軍，確實影響其他有實力球員的勝出。像Medvedev截至目前，他贏得了13項ATP單打冠軍，包括1座大滿貫冠軍、1座ATP年終總決賽冠軍和4項ATP大師賽冠軍。若非三巨頭，他的大滿貫至少應該有三座。且看他今天表現，若非後頭體能不繼，很可能早早就將冠軍拿到手，且他完全把納豆逼到牆角，就實力而言，三巨頭之後就屬他，後勢當然可期。原以為一場歷史大疫會讓三巨頭稱雄的局面慢慢褪逝，但納豆告訴世人：他還很強，三巨頭時代還延續中。我們就跟著看好戲即可。
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身心俱疲的拉法·納達爾小心翼翼地走向澳大利亞網球公開賽球員健身房的運動墊，然後倒在上面。
An exhausted and emotionally drained Rafa Nadal walked gingerly towards an exercise mat in the players' gym at the Australian Open and collapsed on it in a heap.
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Nadal is triumphant after unforgettable Wimbledon epic
By the time it was over, at 9.15pm, it had become almost impossible to see the ball, yet all eyes remained riveted. There was, after all, an extraordinary afterglow, provided by arguably the greatest tennis match ever played.
Nadal Ends Federer’s Reign at Wimbledon
Rafael Nadal posing for photographers after his victory over Roger Federer in the men's final at Wimbledon on Sunday. More Photos >
WIMBLEDON, England — No man had beaten Roger Federer at Wimbledon since 2002. But in near darkness, one of the greatest tennis matches ever played concluded in the Wimbledon final Sunday with Roger Federer hitting a short forehand into the net and with a victorious Rafael Nadal flat on his back with camera flashes illuminating his drained and delighted face.
No one had beaten Roger Federer at Wimbledon or on grass since 2002. More Photos »
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Nadal had come the closest to ending Federer’s streak at Wimbledon in last year’s final, pushing his friendly rival to five sets before ending up in tears in the locker room as Federer equaled Bjorn Borg’s modern men’s record with his fifth straight title.
Last year’s emotional tussle immediately took its place among the best Wimbledon finals, but this five-set classic — played on a rainy, gusty day — was better yet.
At 4 hours 48 minutes, it was the longest singles final in Wimbledon’s 131-year history and did not finish until 9:16 p.m. local time.
“The most important thing is to win the title,” said Nadal, who won, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7. “After that, you think about winning against the No. 1, probably the best player in history or close, and the fact it was so dramatic. But it’s one of the most powerful feelings I’ve had in my life.”
By the end, as hard as it was to see, the top-seeded Federer and the second-seeded Nadal had produced so much brilliant tennis under pressure that it seemed the most normal thing in the world that Federer smacked yet another ace to get out of trouble or that Nadal hunted down yet another sharply angled ground stroke and ripped an off-balance passing shot for a winner.
The capacity crowd at Centre Court, which had not diminished through two rain delays, continually roared with delight or surprise and took turns chanting each combatant’s first name, which is not the way these things usually work at proper Wimbledon.
“Probably my hardest loss, by far; I mean it’s not much harder than this right now,” Federer said later, his voice muted and his eyes red.
The loss kept Federer from matching the men’s record of six consecutive Wimbledon titles set by Britain’s William Renshaw in the 19th century. Federer had won 65 straight matches on grass.
“I’m disappointed, and I’m crushed,” Federer said. “He played a super match, and I’m sure it was a great match to watch and to play, but it’s all over now. I need some time.”
Federer, 26, earned himself more time on Centre Court by saving two match points in the fourth-set tie breaker. He was later only two points from victory himself with Nadal serving at 4-5, 30-all in the fifth set. But Nadal, like his opponent, has a remarkable will as well as a remarkable topspin forehand.
And although Federer kept chipping and ripping away at Nadal’s service games, he broke him just once in the match, and that was early in the second set. In all, Federer squandered 12 of 13 break-point opportunities.
Nadal, a Spaniard whose serve was once considered his weakness, converted 4 of his 13 chances against Federer, none more important than the break that came when Federer, serving at 7-7 in the fifth, took a huge cut at a short forehand and knocked it just long.
Nadal, seldom short of positive energy, leapt with delight and hustled to his chair to prepare to serve for the championship. It was 9:10 p.m. in London when he walked to the baseline, and the light was so dim at the end of this intermittently rainy day that both players were concerned.
“I almost couldn’t see who I was playing,” Federer said, shaking his head.
Nadal agreed. “In the last game, I didn’t see nothing,” he said. “Was unbelievable. I thought we have to stop.”
Wimbledon’s organizers have pushed their sessions to the limit this year, with other matches finishing at 9:30 p.m. Not finishing on Sunday would have forced the tournament to extend to Monday, with all the logistical challenges that would have entailed.
“It would have been brutal for fans, for media, for us, for everybody to come back tomorrow, but what are you going to do?” Federer said. “It’s rough on me now, obviously, to lose the biggest tournament in the world over maybe a bit of light.”
But Nadal still had to hold serve one more time to get his hands (and teeth) on the gold-plated Challenge Cup. And although Federer did save a third match point at 40-30 with a bold backhand return that Nadal could not handle, Federer could not save the last, which came two points later.
As soon as Federer’s forehand hit the net, Nadal dropped to the grass as if he had been hurled there, his racket flying out of his left hand. Among those standing and cheering in the front row of the Royal Box were Manuel Santana and Borg.
Nadal, a 22-year-old from Majorca, joined them both on Sunday by becoming the first man to complete the grueling French Open-Wimbledon double in the same year since Borg in 1980 and also becoming the first Spanish man to win here since Santana in 1966.
After four straight titles in Paris, Nadal finally had a Grand Slam title on a surface other than clay.
Nadal wanted to share his victory with his family, and after shaking Federer’s hand, he climbed into the players’ box to hug his parents, Sebastian and Ana Maria, and his coach and uncle, Toni. Nadal then became the first Wimbledon champion to walk across the sloped roof of the commentary booths to the royal box —flashbulbs lighting his way — to shake the hand of Spanish Crown Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia.
As is his custom, Nadal did not strike a triumphant tone in victory. He has long been deeply respectful of Federer, even as he has built a 12-6 career record against him and beaten him in the last three French Open finals.
“He’s still the best,” Nadal said. “He’s still five-time champion here. Right now I have one, so for me, it’s a very, very important day.”
Federer, who had not dropped a set until the final, will still be ranked No. 1 on Monday, but this has clearly been Nadal’s season, with victories in two of the first three Grand Slam tournaments.
Federer came into 2008 hoping to match Pete Sampras’s record of 14 Grand Slam singles titles. He is still holding at 12, with his only tournament victories this year coming in minor tour events.
Federer certainly responded like a champion to Nadal’s pressure on Sunday, and he also dispelled concerns that — after winning just four games against Nadal in last month’s lopsided French Open final — he would be unable to stay with the physically imposing Nadal on grass.
But Federer said losing big on clay was a pinprick compared with the sledgehammer blow of losing by so little here. “There’s not even a comparison,” he said. “This is a disaster. Paris was nothing in comparison.”
Down by two sets to love, Federer worked his way back into contention, weathering an 81-minute rain delay late in the third set, and then controlling the ensuing tie breaker with four aces and a service winner.
In the fourth-set tie breaker, Nadal took control and led, 5-2, with two serves to come, but instead of closing out the match, he played tentatively for the first time, double-faulting and then hitting a backhand weakly in the net. “I got nervous,” Nadal said.
It happens, even to indefatigable Spaniards, but Federer showed no nerves on the two match points soon to come. He saved the first at 6-7 with another service winner. He saved the second at 7-8 with a magnificent, pressure-proof backhand passing-shot winner down the line, after Nadal jerked Federer wide with a forehand approach shot.
But Nadal hardly looked like a broken man as they headed to a fifth set. “How can you not be 100 percent concentrated with sky-high motivation?” he said.
The sky was still a problem, however. Rain drove the players off court once more early in the fifth set with the score 2-2, deuce on Federer’s serve. But while a Monday finish was looking increasingly likely, the skies cleared, the tarp came off and the protagonists resumed play 28 minutes after they had stopped. They were able to finish just in time for the changing of the guard to be completed.
Not that Nadal is prepared to see it quite like that. “I don’t feel like the No. 1,” he said. “I’m not. I don’t like to feel that I’m something when I’m not.”
But there could be no doubt as he cried on court for a very different reason from last year — that Nadal now knows how it feels to be Wimbledon champion.
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