New Skool vs Old Skool

What a match! Best match I have ever watched. Woke up and was able to watch it until dinner time. It can't get better than that. How did Fed drop the first two sets? I understand him dropping the first set. He had one bad serve game that allowed Rafa to take the first set 6-4. Did Roger not realize he was up 4-1 in the second set? He ended up losing that set 6-4. Talk about the Fed choking. He dropped 5 games in a row. Finally after that the rain delay knocked a little bit of sense into him. Fed remembered that Rafa can't win a tiebreak EVER. All Fed had to do was hold serve and take him to a tiebreak. Fed is unstoppable in tiebreaks. That is why he won sets three and four 7-6, 7-6. Then the inevitable happened. A tiebreak cannot be played in the 5th set at Wimbledon or else it would have been a different story, so Fed must have known he was screwed. He chokes on break points like he was paid to do it. I'm afraid to even check the stats on that one. We all know that Fed probably was not going to EVER break Rafa, and couldn't. Fed actually looked tired late in the 5th. He was dumping forehands into the net the WHOLE match along with cake volleys but moreso on the easy forehands, it was just sloppy. Not Federerlike.

Next time I am at tennis camp and someone hits an easy forehand into the net I am going to call it a "Federer." Fed lost and he is no longer the best in the world. He may still be ranked number one, but us tennis experts know the truth and Rafa will take over the number one spot sooner than later and is now the best. It was a battle of old school verse new school. Youth verse experience. Rafa is the first to win Wimby and the French back to back since Borg in 1980, and the first spaniard to win since 1966. Impressive kid!

Here is what I really wanted to talk about. I dont think Fed will break Sampras' record. I dont know how he will win another Grand Slam. I think Rafa and Novak are too dangerous in Slams and there is usually another scrub (i.e. Tsonga) that will start eating up all these slams. I just can't see Roger breaking the record of 14 Slams anymore. I don't know which ones he will win. It makes me sad. I was rooting for him the whole match, but it was hard to root for someone who just continuosly dumped forehand after forehand into the net. Congrats Rafa on your first Wimby. Still, after all the trashing I just did on Fed's game it was still the best match I have ever watched. I think that is because Rafa won, or else it just would have been another stat for the Fed.

PS What does ESPN's headline turf lore mean?

Fed Rafa
Aces 25 6

Unforced Errors 52 27

Break Points 1/13 4/13***

Wimbledon 2008

Roger Federer 4 4 7 7 7

Rafael Nadal 6 6 6 6 9W

Wimbledon 2007

Roger Federer 7 4 7 2 6W

Rafael Nadal 6 6 6 6 2
Wimbledon 2006

Roger Federer 6 7 6 6W

Rafael Nadal 0 6 7 3