Dominance
‘Herculean’
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| Clay Court Source: Pexels.com |
“Their tennis is near to gods, no mortal can reach this level”, Commentators at the final of this years Australian Open.
Race to becoming the GOAT (Greatest of all time) is intensifying with each passing tournament. After a number of dominating seasons between 2005 to 2015, Roger Federer (37) has been considered as the greatest to have ever held a tennis racquet. 20 Grand Slam finals is not something you can just mention about anyone. It takes years of sweat and blood to win your first slam; we are here dealing with 20 and might see him adding a few more before he finally quits.
But this article isn’t about Federer’s achievements. Instead we look at those who threaten his crown for the most number of slams. Rafael Nadal (32) and Novak Djokovic (31). Nadal looks the closest and favourite to dethrone Roger having won 17 grand slams and still has age (in comparison to Roger) on his side, while Djoker recently surpassed Pete Sampra’s 14.
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| A photoshopped image of (from left) Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer imitating The Beatles Source: Google |
These three have dominated tennis for a while now. Their stars illuminate brighter than anyone else on their day. There have been contenders, serious ones who have faded away with time. Andy Murray’s hip injury curtailed what looked like a dominant career in the making; As I recall, spaniard David Ferrer held on to his top 5 spot beautifully; Swiss Stan Wawrinka came out of Federer’s shadow and beat the top 10 consistently in the recent past; Tsonga, Monfils, Dimitrov couldn’t live up to their potential; young guns like Tsitsipas, Dominic Thiem, Zverev, Shapovalov are yet to go through the same grind as the heavyweights mentioned above.
Nadal and Djokovic had been out due to serious injury woes in the past 12 months. Recently the latter won his 3rdsuccessive grand slam post his comeback. Novak was operated exactly an year ago. There were concerns about his discipline on and off the field. Boris Becker, his former coach, questioned his commitment towards the game and doubted his hunger to return at the level he is playing currently.
Well he has obviously silenced the critics. Victories at the All England Club, the Flushing Meadows and the Rod Laver Arena are ominous signs for his counterparts. But the way in which he demolished Nadal was a rare sight for all tennis fans. Many were talking about the new Rafa serve, winning 80% points off his first serve. He had an astounding 66 service holds in this year’s Aus Open with an average speed of 115mph as compared to his 110mph at the U.S Open last fall.
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| Winning the big points Source: Google |
But Novak demolished it right away. He was bossing the points in his bid to lift the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup seventh time in his career. Considered as the best tennis athlete with an immaculate defense, equally strong backhand and forehand game complementing the accurate service games, Djoker had the final laugh. Rafa didn’t help himself either with a number of unforced errors but also had no luck going his way. Not only did he play bad, he couldn’t find the fire going in his passing forehand’s as well as the serve. He has had his share of injuries too. In the post game award ceremony he stated that he couldn’t play professional tennis since last September up until early January. So to see him standing there with a runners-up trophy and claiming to see the fans next year imparts hope. It isn’t good news for his fellow players. We can only wonder. If a broken Rafa reaches the finals of a slam, imagine what a fit Nadal would achieve at his second home which he has conquered 11 times- The French Open at the Roland Garros.
Tennis is so much about match ups. The galactic level at which these top 5 players play is inexplicable. But these two champions have shown the upcoming generations what resilience and hard work can do to you.
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| An animated image of the Big Four Source: Google |
TRIVIA:
3 different players, 3 different Championships
Celebrate the era we live in:
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