I’ve neither the patience nor the capacity to write a blow-by-blow analysis of the match, but I do have the energy to say this: My mom, future-sis-in-law (naks!!! Go kuya!) and I were sitting at the edge of the bed (doon kami kasya) and shrieking at every break point. We held our breaths in the loooong rallies and jumped out of our seats when the point was won. We let our overly-opinionated and know-it-all selves give critiques of what each player was doing wrong—perfectly aware that actual execution is much harder than it seems—simply because we couldn’t keep our emotions from pouring out. We loudly shared our “WHOAS!!!” at Federer’s amazing placements and Nadal’s shocking volley points. We gripped our sheets as Rafa sprinted from baseline to net (and to every corner of his side of the court!), and as Roger delivered his powerful ace shots that just left Nadal staring into space.
Cut the long story short: It was a breathtaking, sweat-breaking, heart-racing match, and regardless of who I rooted for, it showed me a fabulous time.
vamos, rafa!!!
Post-match was also great for me, because I was able to access the interviews with these fantastic players. And though Rafa won this match, my utter respect goes to both of them. Because it’s not about who won today, but about what you are as an athlete. And they are BOTH commendable athletes for their skills, discipline, attitude and passion.
Here are some excerpts from the interviews, which just made my respect for them triple in intensity:
Rafa's respect for opponent
Roger's respect for opponent
Rafa's humility
