[quote author=kingjulian link=topic=48359.msg1473187#msg1473187 date=1327848787]
What energy...late in to the game. They played more than 6 hours!
[/quote]
Got so annoyed at some of the commentary so I'm going to get it off my chest with some comments in here.
1) They didn't play 6 hours; they were on court for just under 6 hours and there was a 15 to 20 minute rain break in there which helped Novak even though commentators were saying it'd help Rafa.
2) Great match but these commentators saying it's the all time great; or Bruce saying "unprecedented; this has never been seen in the history of the sport". Get a grip. Borg / McEnroe in 1980 would still be hard to beat; Wilander / McEnroe in Davis Cup; Federer / Sampras at Wimbledon; Agassi / Sampras at the Aus open semi's; I've probably forgotten a couple with Lendl or Connors or Edberg or Becker etc but all these matches would be in front of this final for sheer quality. The duration of this one and the fact Novak seemed gone at the start of the 5th has made this one special.
3) Rivaly is great these days with Murray taking next level. That said, the rivalry is clearly not that intense in terms of victories; Federer looked unbeatable for several years then Nadal dominated followed by Novak. Compare that to the days of Borg/McEnroe/Connors/Lendl or Wilander/Edberg/Becker/McEnroe/Lendl then Edberg/Becker/Agassi/Sampras and then Sampras/Agassi/Courier/Edberg. The point on all these rivalries was that any one of those players looked capable and did win grandslams each year. With the exception of Wilander back in about '88 I don't think anyone won 3 slams in a year. Now we've had each of the current top 3 win 3 slams out of 4. They're great players but one has been clearly dominant at a time.
4) Federer is still the best player, IMO, on the tour but his perfect game runs into a problem with Rafa; he's worked out the flattening of the forehand to get him out of court but his classically produced backhand is produced all wrong to simply hit flat through the ball. This is why he's not managing to beat Rafa and probably can't ....... from the back of the court. He needs to go back to Roche (or someone) and take his net game up a level to do it. Rafa is as tenacious as you'll see and the new racquet to add some much needed sting to his shots will help him but this was his greatest possible chance to beat Novak and he couldn't manage it. Djokovic I'm still undecided on; his backhand is an amazing weapon and he serves well but his forhand looks suspect and his net craft is pathetic. Never seen anyone hit their returns so deep so consistently though and that makes it almost impossible to hold serve from the baseline. This year should decide if he's a legend or not.
5) Best return of serve ever; has to be a Swede - Borg, Nystrom, Jarryd; incredible - but I'd have to give it to Wilander. They were up against players like Roscoe Tanner (for Borg) and McEnroe; Kevin Curren, Becker, Noah, Sampras etc. Agassi was a bit of a freak; he seemed to have some ability to see the future to know where the ball was going - like a young jedi knight or something. That said, while his returns were out of this world they were more regard power to counter a baseliner as opposed to a serve - volleyer. He couldn't quite bet the ball down to the feet as with Wilander which is why he had such trouble with Sampras.
I feel better now.
Rod Laver was asked to do a series of articles on the greatest ever players during the tournament; tough for him since he didn't put himself forward despite many believing he's the greatest ever. That said, what would you give to see Borg, McEnroe, Edberg, Wilander, Becker Sampras, Agassi, Federer, Nadal and Novak in a tournament playing at their best? The surface at the Aus Open would probably provide the best compromise too - maybe the US Open. You could probably argue for a couple of others but that group were either outstanding in their time or showed they would have been if not for external circumstances.
