Opinion Federer needs to change his game

Deepak Narayanan<br> I remember desperately wanting Nadal to challenge Federer for the top spot in 2007,even though he himself kept saying,and still does,that the Swiss superstar was the best the game had ever seen.

Deepak Narayanan

February 5, 2009 06:05 PM IST First published on: Feb 5, 2009 at 06:05 PM IST

I sat across the table from Rafael Nadal at the 2007 Chennai Open as part of small group of journalists invited for a special interaction. Between large mouthfuls of a post-match plate of pasta,he spoke in endearingly broken English (sprinkled with Spanish when at a loss for words) of how he loved being world No 2,how that made him want to get better.

I remember desperately wanting him to challenge Federer for the top spot then,even though he himself kept saying,and still does,that the Swiss superstar was the best the game had ever seen. Those were the days when No 1 aspirations bordered on the ridiculous,even though Nadal seemed to have the upper hand on the clay courts around Europe. Federer,with 8300 ATP points,was miles away from anyone else.

For the next 18 months,the underdog fine-tuned his game. While Federer was winning three Slams a year,Nadal was working on his serve and his volley. To counter the magical,whipped backhand,he put even more revs on his monster forehand. To match Roger’s style,Rafa added steel; Federer’s game was always better rounded than his,Nadal just decided to win it in the mind.

In 2008,he butchered Federer at the French Open and stole Wimbledon from him. One month later,he was world number one. Now,he’s got the Australian Open that’s three Slams out of the last four,on three different surfaces. Mission accomplished.

And yet,watching Federer break into tears on Sunday,I realised I wanted him to start winning again. Over the last two years,as Nadal chased him down as he does every almost-winner around the court,the rivalry had grown to epic proportions. When they stepped out to play,you couldn’t tell who would win.

People talk of Sampras vs Agassi,but Sampras always held the upper hand there; though they were a respectable 20-14 head-to-head Agassi’s wins almost always felt like upsets (and I say this having always rooted for his flamboyant forehand). The Becker-Edberg-Lendl rivalry might’ve been closer there was a time,between 1986 and 1990,when anyone could’ve beaten anyone. Of the battles before those,I’ve only heard stories and watched reruns.

Nadal and Federer have taken it back to the same level. They’ve not just made it a habit to play five-set slugfests,they’ve manage to get the world hooked.

Nadal did this by finding answers to Federer’s unquestionable genius. The 27-year-old’s greatest strength,since he first came to the spotlight by beating Sampras at Wimbledon,has been how easy he has made the sport seem. But his method,a clean,scientific exploration of space and angles,always drawing maximum impact from minimum effort,just isn’t enough anymore. He needs to get his hands dirty,he needs to reinvent himself; he needs to find new ways because,for the rivalry to survive,he needs to start beating Nadal again.

For the next three years,I’d be much happier not knowing who’s going to win.

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