Fedex delivers five in a row

There are days when we feel really fortunate to be alive. Today is one of those days.

Iam talking about the Wimbledon final of course.

It was simply brilliant.
I haven't been totally convinced in the past about Rafa's promise to challenge Fedex especially at Wimbledon. But today changed that completely. He not only matched him point-for-point, he showed a steely resolve and confidence that I have not seen in a player since Agassi, who, in my opinion, had an unflappable temperament, atleast in the second half of his career (the first half's a totally different story of course).

When you match that kind of a temperament and the kind of superhuman strength and speed that Rafa has, with Fedex's genius, you have the perfect recipe for a great match.

And this was a truly great match. It is definitely one of the best matches that I have seen, and I have seen a LOT of matches.

It was a bit sad (and a little funny too) to see the great Borg sitting in the player's box - either way he was going to see one of his long-time records being tied - must have been a little embarassing for him perhaps? And at the end, all he got from Fedex was a casual "Thanks for coming".

The first three sets were closely fought, but the fourth set was weird. Rafa played brilliantly to go up 4-0. Federer got pissed with the Hawkeye, and it was funny to see McEnroe getting excited about someone else getting atleast 1% as angry as he used to get in his playing days.

The genius of Federer was visible nowhere better than at 2-3 in the fifth set on Rafa's serve. I had briefly gone to the kitchen but I come back and find Rafa down 0-40.

And at 15-40, he comes up with this amazing backhand crosscourt slice and follows it up with this forehand down-the-line winner like only he can do, at such a key juncture on such a big stage. And then he follows it up with a superquick service game. I think that just broke more than Nadal's serve. It might have also broken his self-confidence.

I just put on my commentator's hat by the way.

Anyway I felt Rafa was the better player today overall, although Fedex just used his Wimbledon edge to deliver the goods. It would have been one of the greatest matches ever if the fifth set had been closer than it was. But it was a great match to watch nonetheless.

I still think the US Open 2001 QF between Sampras and Agassi is the highest-quality match that I have watched. The Becker-Sampras 96(?) Masters Cup final would probably come second in my book, along with the Federer-Agassi US Open final in 2005. And this match would be fourth on my list.

Its amazing how these two have created such a huge gap between themselves and the rest of the field. The gap was evident in this tournament. While Roddick struggled against Gasquet's incredible backhand, Fedex simply played to Gasquet's weaknesses and won quite easily, although Gasquet wasn't helped by the scheduling.

Iam going to venture a couple of guesses now - I think Nadal is going to win Wimbledon next year. He's definitely a champion player. I also feel he is going to overtake Federer at the No.1 spot within the next 1 or 2 years.

Ok, I think I might have just written too much, I have this habit of going overboard when it comes to tennis.

PS. Too bad Bartoli lost, was kind-of rooting for her, she has a very interesting game. And by the way, why does Fedex have this really strange habit of wearing a Ramarajan costume at Wimbledon?