The event of the season is upon us! Yep, the men’s final at the French Open. This is just a quick post for the heck of it because, well, I have been a life long tennis fan (and even played some competitively as a junior); and, out of the blue, Ms. Wheeler is suddenly into the gig. So a tennis post was in order!
Now Roger Federer and Raphael Nadal have a rich history and storied rivalry together. That part is well known, what is not as well known is that they are also friends who work together to support charity playing bookend matches in each others home country; Zurich Switzerland for Fed and Madrid Spain for Raffa. Good stuff from a pair of good guys.
The men’s final at Roland Garros is somewhat unexpected as the conventional wisdom was that Fed could not make it past the blazing hot, and so far this year nearly invincible Novak Djokovic. But Fed was the Roger of old and took it to Novak in the semis in what was a simply outstanding and exciting match even though it only went four sets. That set up the unexpected surprise of yet another Nadal-Federer final in the French.
Nadal has had an uncharacteristically off clay court season so far:
This has not been an easy clay court season for Rafael Nadal who has to beat Roger Federer in Sunday’s French Open final at Roland Garros if he is to maintain his No. 1 ranking. A loss to Federer would mean that Novak Djokovic, beaten by Federer in that fantastic semifinal on Friday, would take over.
Nadal could have no complaints if that happened because Djokovic has beaten him in four ATP Masters Series finals this year with two — Madrid and Rome — being played on clay, the surface on which Nadal has reigned supreme. We still do not know the full effect these losses have had on the Spaniard but if his demeanor in the press conference he gave just before the women’s final began is anything to go by, his recent struggles are taking their toll.
I am pulling for the old man, Fed, to pull off a win for the geezers. I have a sneaking suspicion Marcy has her eyes on Nadal. So who you got?
Live coverage of the French Open Men’s Final is on NBC at 6 am EST and 9 am PST.