Sport - Tennis

The stakes have never been higher

LONDON: Federer vs. Nadal III, coming soon to a grass court near London.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are headed to Centre Court for their third straight Wimbledon final, with one trying to extend his amazing winning streak on grass and the other attempting to win his first Grand Slam title on a surface other than clay.

The final will be the sixth time the elegant Swiss and the muscular Spaniard have met in a Grand Slam final, bettering the five played by Mats Wilander and Ivan Lendl, and then Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi in the 1980s and 1990s.

Federer has won two on the grass of the All England Club in 2006 and 2007; Nadal has claimed three on his beloved Roland Garros clay in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Never have the stakes been higher.

In Sunday’s final, Nadal will be trying to become the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year while Federer will be trying to surpass Borg by winning a sixth straight Wimbledon title.

The only man to win six in a row was Willie Renshaw in the 1880s, and he had to win only one match to defend his titles.

“He was in the finals every time, so it was a little bit easier for him to win six in a row,” said Federer, who has won 65 straight matches on grass. “A little different for us.”

Federer has beaten Nadal in the last two Wimbledon finals, but the second-ranked Spaniard made it close last year, pushing the match to five sets before finally succumbing.

Nadal may have humbled Federer in the final at Paris but he doesn’t necessarily think that makes him the favourite on Sunday.

“Right now, I know have on the other side of the net the best player of the world — Roger Federer — but I will try my best and we will see,” said the Spaniard, who is on a 23-match winning streak. “I feel I have to play very well if I want to have chances to win. I know he’s playing well, but I’m playing well, too.”

Nadal has a 11-6 career edge over Federer, but the top-ranked Swiss star leads 5-2 on surfaces other than clay.

“I enjoy the challenge,” Federer said. “Rafa is a great competitor. He’s got a winning record over me. Every time I play him, I want to beat him. He’s now become so good on all the other surfaces that he’s a real threat on anything.”

“If I win here, probably one of the most important wins in my career,” Nadal said. “If I win Sunday, my career is changing a little bit more.”

He would become the first Spanish men’s champion since Manuel Santana in 1966.

“For me, Roger is the best in history,” said Nadal.

The Paris annihilation, coupled with Nadal taking Federer to an epic five-set final here in 2007, has led many to suggest that the era of the Swiss superstar’s dominance is at an end.

He may have been World No. 1 for 231 weeks, and can lay claim to 12 Grand Slam titles compared to Nadal’s four, but many argue that Nadal, especially with a first grasscourt title from Queen’s tucked under his belt, is really the world’s pre-eminent tennis talent.

“If I have the title on Sunday, then on Monday I’ll continue to be the No. 2 but I’ll have more chances to become the No. 1 in the next months,” said a cautious Nadal.

He may boast 11 wins in 17 meetings with Federer, but nine of those have come on clay.

“That final is out of the picture. I hardly remember it. It went so quickly,” said Federer, who remains fulsome in his praise of his tormentor.

“I’m not going to draw anything out of that match because Rafa plays so different on clay and grass. He plays so much closer to the baseline that I have to draw from my two previous Wimbledon finals. — Agencies

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu