Roger Federer has won his 18th major title by beating Rafael Nadal 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to capture the Australian Open, reports the AP. Federer was down a break early in the pivotal fifth set, but came back to break the Spaniard in the sixth game to level the set at 3-all. The crowd cheering wildly with every winner he hit, Federer then broke Nadal again in the eighth game to go up 5-3. Nadal had chances in the next game, but couldn’t convert on two breakpoint chances and Federer closed it out on his second match point.
This is why you don’t ever want to count out Roger Federer, ever. Just when you think the Swiss machine is becoming human, he spits out yet another Grand Slam. For the last 2 years Novak Djokavic has been all the rage in tennis, and rightfully so. The Serbian has been as dominant as any male tennis player ever has been. There was also talk of Andy Murray’s rise after he captured Wimbledon. But sitting there in the background while all critics started talking about his demise, Roger Federer never stopped working.
All of a sudden Djokavic started to struggle, Nadal may in fact never be the same again, and Murray might just prove to win only a handful of grand slams in his career. But at age 35, Roger Federer is doing the impossible in tennis. He just won his 18th grand slam. While he didn’t do it in dominant fashion, isn’t it even more special this way? 35 is considered ancient in tennis and only the likes of guys like Andre Agassi and Jimmy Connors have been this dominant past the age of 32.
If I had to compare Roger Federer to anyone right now it would be Tom Brady. You just can’t count this guy out of any match, ever. The real question is if Federer can keep his fountain of youth going for a 20th grand slam. I think the collective tennis world is rooting for him, as am I.
Photo via AP
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