Saturday, July 05, 2008

Rafa or Fed?

For the last month, Roger Federer has heard the talk "he's done," "his better days are behind him," "Nadal is the man to beat at Wimbledon"...after getting trashed at the French Open finals less than 5 weeks ago, Federer has a chance to shut up all his critics including Pardon the Interuption (PTI) co-host Michael Wilbon, who may have been his harshest critic....Wilbon flat out stated that Federer is "done" and questioned if he would ever win another major because of the mental beating he took at Roland Garros (6-1, 6-3, 6-0)...

Yes, Sunday's Wimbledon championship match between Federer and Nadal is a watershed moment in the current tennis world...Nadal needs this win to show the world that he is more than just the greatest clay court tennis player in the world...a win on grass, which is Federer's favorite surface, would mark a historic shift in tennis indicating that Nadal is now the best player in the world...

Over the years, critics have been waiting for Federer to fall...American Andy Roddick was supposed to overtake Federer only to never live up to the hype...James Blake?...the guy has never made it to the finals in any major....all the European wannabes were supposed to take over only to end up losing to each other...

In the end, Nadal has been a thorn in Federer's side of late...Rafa owns the overall series record 11-6...however, that number is very deceiving because Nadal is 9-1 all-time against Fed on clay surfaces...in all other surfaces, Federer has a 5-2 mark...

Sunday should be a great match...these two met for the Wimbledon crown the last two years....in 2006 Federer won 6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 and last year he took Rafa in a tough five setter 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2...

My prediction - Nadal will give Federer a tough battle, but in the end, Federer will make his critics eat their words by winning in four tough sets...

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