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by Philipina A. Marcelo
The cavernous stadium in Flushing Meadows was filled with raging adrenalin to the brim! And it spilled over the four corners of the planet in every tennis fan's TV/computer/mobile phone - what a championship match, AWESOME!!!
The #1 in the World, Novak Djokovic, battled the #2 in the World
Queens has a new King...
and it's a Djoker!and defending US Open champ, Rafael Nadal, for a first US Open title, amidst an extremely riotous crowd that screamed, yelled, clapped, woot-wooted, joked, stomped their feet, jumped in celebration of extra-ordinary moves shown on court, whined loudly over squandered opportunities, jumped to their feet in appreciation of an incredible point won - it was a "mob" gone mad! And theirs was an apt response, too, as rubber squeaked on the court loudly and the ball flew back and forth with blistering zing through the electrified New York air! The two incredible champions of men's tennis battled relentlessly with pure testosterone cursing through every single polymerized material in the strings of their rackets, smashing the ball with brute force as if there was not going to be tennis balls tomorrow - or ever again! And the whole tennis world erupted in glorious cheers as the Arthur Ashe crowd's loud celebration was echoed from Queens, NY throughout the world! Woohoo!
Yep, I am actually saying these things - from the bottom of my heart - and I'm a HUGE Roger Federer fan... from the bottom of my heart, too! :). I guess, as far as rackets and balls are concerned, I'm a tennis fan first, and an RF fan, second. :)
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Don't let the numbers fool you
I know the scoreboard said 6-2, in favor of Novak Djokovic, in the first set, but none of the men were actually "murdered" - it was a close affair, with one fierce wallop returned with another fierce wallop at every point. Boy, if those balls could talk!
The first four games were played like they were the last four games in a championship match. The men stepped into the court with their big games... it felt like we saw every single "exhibition shot" ever invented in tennis out there from the Serbian and the Spaniard champs... a slice with a topspin here, a sharp power forehand there, a both-leg-stretched return here, a turn-around shot there, a blistering corner winner here, a cute volley there... Aaah, you name it,
Novak Djokovic faded out the Nadal force with
incredible focus and almost superhuman talents.they did it all! Whew! Too exciting and too blindingly fast, there was hardly time for an apt reaction. And, the champs were obviously feeling the heat... Rafa Nadal approached the chair umpire to complain with a "bitch face" - now, that's a first... and Djoker pleaded for the crowd to please, please, pleeeeaase be less riotous when points were being played! Aw, gosh!
At the end of the first set, one of the men were stunned in incredulous surprise for being overpowered... and the other, exuberant with relief and... yeah, incredulous surprise, too, for having overpowered the other! :) I don't think any of them were paying very close attention to the score... I think they were simply trying to win every point - it's the only way to play a "2 against 1" match, I think. But, it is true, too, that Rafael Nadal didn't look like he was the strongest warrior on the tennis court like he used to... fading a little bit in a spectacle that was the on-fire Djokovic.
The second set was played with even greater intensity... more exciting shotmaking from the incredible men, who seemed to have gained some superpower overnight when they found out that they were playing each other. One trying to protect a precarious, hard-earned but totally
The defending champ, Rafael Nadal, battled
fiercely with the Arthur Ashe crowd behind him.sweet one-set lead, the other, defiant to defeat until the very last point, trying to go even on sets won, rally after freakishly long rally! Dang, too awesome!! Nadal took it to 2-0 early on with a break of the Djoker serve. But, alas, it was a deceptive tide of awesome energy... Djoker broke back through a Nadal double fault after a "forever" of deuce-advantage-deuce-advantage saga! Aw, gosh!! Nadal sat mumbling and glaring at the chair umpire during the break... and then went back on court seeming distracted, making huge mistakes - costly mistakes, mostly through vulnerable, highly assailable serves that have been failing him tremendously, and that weak backhand that exposed him to attack... and Djoker smartly took advantage - attack, he did! And then, just when it felt like Djoker was going to sail through, Rafa broke the Djoker, 4-4! But, Djoker broke right back - in a truly, truly incredible fashion, too - via a fly ball return from Nadal of a spinning high-velocity ball! Dang! With a crazy margin, one was overmuscled by the other... and the score was 6-4 - in favor of the #1 Man in the World from Planet Krypton, er, Serbia!
The third set was played with incredible brilliance from both men - it was unbelievable! Down two sets, the ultimate fighter from Majorca regrouped and broke through the Djokovic serve at 2-2. The overly enthusiastic NY crowd went wild! And then... Djoker broke back! And he did so in just about 5 minutes or so, despite the massive wall of NY tennis mob-reinforced Spaniard resistance! Whew! The intensity of the match showed by the seesaw of break of serves, like both men were on their attacking game, not wanting to be on the defensive end, engaging each other in lengthy rallies (31 shots at more than one point) - where variety of shots, stamina, athletic moves, speed and focus amidst the noise of the New York crowd were displayed by both - too awesome! It went on like that until the scoreboard showed 6-6, with Djokovic
"2 against 1"... two awesome champions clashed, and
pure energy flooded the tennis world. Thanks for the
"championship special" treat, guys!looking to call a medical timeout in between to loosen a tight lower back, but never did until the fourth set. Nadal, for his part, soothe frayed nerves. In the tiebreak, the Spaniard went on ahead, kicking to a higher gear that, I suspect, he didn't know he had - until today - with two points... and prevailed eventually with the slimmest of margin! Woot-woot! The crowd erupted, of course! On to fourth set - game on!!! Woohoo!
In the fourth set, Djokovic resumed with tight back from the previous set that limited his mobility... and Nadal was showing tight nerves. But the Djokovic medical timeout seemed to have cooled the Nadal adrenalin. Djokovic pulled away with a 3-0 lead against the visibly exhausted Nadal. It was curious how Nadal's fitness (did he gain weight?), volatile temper, and nerves were issues in this match. He struggled to push himself to apt speed to keep up with Djokovic, to power his shots with the right velocity to match the Djoker power, to keep positive vibes and decisiveness on key moments - he kept going for the backhand when all he was getting in return were punishing pounding from the Djoker forehand. But the New York crowd willed the Spanish warrior to fight on... and he did - out of pure adrenalin! But Djokovic found another full tank of red-hot pure energy in his stamina reservoir, and kicked to a higher gear - full throttle!. And he just unlatched the brakes and pushed forward with nothing else but winning in mind! He was such a slithering ribbon of
The fiery Serbian eyes look to breaking many
records soon. All the best, Djoker! But, ahem,
time your medical timeouts "better" next time, ok?uncontainable energy. Even the string of his racket snapped when he unleashed a huge forehand to punish a Nadal topspin. Next to crack under the crushing energy was the Spanish defense wall, and the energy ribbon went slithering its way through, burning the wall to ashes as it did.
In the end, Nadal just couldn't keep up with the speeding Djokovic no matter how hard he tried - and he tried mightily hard! Djokovic was absolutely incredible, it's no joke! Therefore, Queens annointed its new King - and it's a Djoker! Nevermind that he walks with an annoying swagger - for now - he deserves to have his time... to savor it. He redefined brilliance in tennis out there, and it's... yeah, no joke!
Congratulations, Nole! Oh, and nice touch with the FDNY effects at the awarding. :) I say, that made up for that NY crowd "quiet,
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Tennis saves sanity as God saves lives
I had to deal with an emergency today. It's too crazy that even my own "medical timeout" on my free day from work had to take the backseat. Tennis gave me a break from the insane incident. Therefore, thanks, Nole and Rafa, for the much-needed break - from the bottom of my heart! :) Thank God, for another miracle sent my family's way - we're His big fans! And we're big fans of Our Lady of Manaoag, too. Woohoo! :). Thanks for taking care of us, Apo Baket!
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Photo credits: All photos were grabbed from the Zimbio website - thanks!
