Rafa was unbelievable but Roger choked. He choked the 3rd set away, when Nadal was laboring physically and making mistakes, & he had all those chances, & then as Patrick McEnroe keeps saying, Roger just blew the 5th. It was not nearly as high quality a match as these two can play, because of Rafa's physical situation & Roger's mental. When has he served that badly in that sort of match? Part of it is the edge Nadal has over him, but a lot of it has to be that unlucky 13. But there it is. What is Rafa going to achieve? How long can he keep this up? Can he win the US Open? Can he win the Grand Slam this year? The only question I have is his longevity: how long can his body do this? While it still works on him, & he can dig this deep in major tournaments, what can't he do? Federer's genius has generated a new level of greatness, a whole new level of player; what will the world produce next to come along and beat Rafa?
The point that they keep showing, where Federer hits the brilliant squash shot recovery that you think has to be a winner, and Nadal somehow gets to it and puts it on the baseline, Federer picks it up with his backhand and puts it on Rafa's baseline, & the next Federer shot is an inside-out forehand & you think that ought to be a winner but Rafa is waiting on it and he takes it up the line with a forehand winner of his own, is an encapsulation of the whole saga, the whole situation. The most incredible tennis you can imagine, & Rafa just doesn't quit, and comes up with something unimaginable. His will is like no one else's.
Chris
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