Roger Federer set the bar for contemporary tennis. On the backs of the giants that came before him, he built a legacy that elevated tennis to new heights. He evolved the game. Rafael Nadal propelled the sport even further by finding ways to defeat Roger Federer. And now Novak Djokovic takes tennis to a stratosphere it has never been before.
Perhaps we are too quick to declare a present day event or player as the "Greatest of All Time". But, in the case of what we witnessed last night in Rod Laver Arena at the Finals of the Australian Open, it's nearly impossible to resist the label. The match set the standard as the longest Grand Slam Final ever played at just under six hours, with Djokovic defeating Nadal 7-5 in the fifth and deciding set. Those are the numbers. But, as always in sports, the story goes much deeper than the statistics. We saw two perfectly-conditioned athletes, who have trained their entire lives for the moment, break through boundaries and ceilings to discover new limits to their immense potential. Both champions were forced to confront their limitations, then find solutions to the problems created by those limitations. The mind, the body, and the spirit were each put to the ultimate test. On display for the world to see, these men of men plunged the depths of their souls to mine reserves they never knew they had. Together, they redefined what was possible. They transcended tennis.
One may read this spiritual analysis of a tennis match with cynicism and say it's only a game. I contend it was far more than that. Combining the skill of the classic Borg-McEnroe encounters with the will and determination of the John Isner-Nicolas Mahut marathon at Wimbledon last year, this Djokovic-Nadal match will stand the test of time as a vivid reminder of why human beings compete against each other. In short, to see what they are made of.
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What gives, are you going to keep this up to date or what?
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