There is no better way to depict these two fabulous tennis players, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal!

On one side Roger Federer the 'perfect English man', in a tea party attire, will refuse to get dirty, plays a full match of tennis in Spain, without sweating! Wants to win but, does not want to show he is fighting. Gets to the end of a two hour match and his hair is still in place, his clothing do not have a bit of clay on them and his socks do not even show signs of battle!

On the other side Rafael Nadal the 'Miura bull', like in a bullfight arena! (A Miura bull is a Spanish fighting bull bred from the lineage of the Miura Cattle Ranch (Spanish: GanaderĂ­a Miura)

The fight has not even started and he is rearing to go! The excitement and expectation of a battle with his archrival are palpable, the adrenaline is pulsating through his veins like lava from a volcano rolling down the side of a mountain, his eyes are focused and determined, the sweat is starting to appear through the shirt in the middle of his chest.

The public, the commentators, the ball girls can not help themselves but focus their attention on Nadal's every moves.

The coin is tossed the choices are made and Nadal takes a short sprint towards the baseline and there bounces on his toes side to side, while Federer has not yet made it to his baseline.

The warm-up a 5 minute formality, is a world of contrasts, Nadal moves his feet constantly, spits on the ground and steps on it, picks his rear a couple of times, his hair contained 'a la Cochise' under a bandana starts to rebel out on the sides.

Federer at the other end barely moves his feet, fixes his hair, makes sure his shirt is not out of place front and back, hits the balls in his usual relaxed faction.

A fierce battle ensues but, you can not tell if Federer is involved except for the close score and the 40-0 service wins one after the other on the first set.

Nadal on the other hand is all there! He struggles, he sweats, he runs, he spits, he scrambles, he gets wounded several times by piercing stabs from Federer and he bleeds, he falls, rolls on the red clay immediately gets up and still tries to get to the next ball! Vamos!

A remarkable thing about Nadal is that in spite of his incredible determination to win, he remains fair and respectful of his opponent.

On several occasions throughtout the match Nadal walked up to controversial marks and swiped them with his shoes and signaled o.k. to the umpire, acknowledging the point was his opponents.

Nadal's fairness is unusual and Federer proved to fail in that test.

In a highly contested very important game in the second set, which potentially would have closed out the match in Nadal's favor, a huge point is played and ends with an out call on the backhand tramline of Federer.

Even neophytes in tennis can tell the difference between a ball that hits a line and rapidly moves on and a ball that hits solid ground!

Roger Federer at close range from the bounce, our 'English Gentleman' the epitome of the squeaky clean image, professional tennis player for twelve years, who had benefited for 3 or 4 ultra fair Nadals calls, lifts up both arms and mumbles something to the umpire like 'I do not see the mark'! Come on Roger, I could see the mark 2000 kilometers way!

Sure enough the umpire caught by surprise did not fix the mark, walks up to the line and asks the lines person if the mark he was pointing at was correct. The linesman at a distance says yes. Out. Point for Federer!

The miracle of modern technology 'Hawkeye' shows the replay of the shot (by the way the players in this case do not see the replay but the world sees), the ball was dead on the line! No comments.

This spiked Nadal and if his determination was already strong, it doubled!

The Spanish crowd, one of the most knowledgeable in the tennis world and appreciative of true talent gave credit to Federer's 'matador' like efforts but, they came to see the raging bull from Manacor leave the arena intact, ears, tail and all, exploded in joy, Olé Rafa!

Observing these two marvelous players one thought plays in my mind, what if one day a young player will combine the skillful tennis of Federer with the heart of Nadal?!

Video Courtesy Dr. Calvin Nii Copyrights www.tennisspeed.com

Hope you enjoyed! Keep improving your tennis!

Sergio Cruz

Back from Madrid Open - British Tea party or Bullfight at six? to TennisCruz Articles Main Page

Please login or register to add comments