Rafa

[Ben Kenobi]

Love it. Still waiting for the highlights up here.

Now the road is open for Federer.

[Arrian]

I like Nadal, but his dominance @ the French was so ridiculous at this point that it's good he got beaten.

Federer is the one I've never really liked much, though if he wins good for him. You know, of course, that him winning the French after someone else took out Rafa will not be viewed the same way as him taking Rafa out in the Final (ala what Rafa did at Wimbeldon).

-Arrian

[Lorizael]

You know, of course, that him winning the French after someone else took out Rafa will not be viewed the same way as him taking Rafa out in the Final (ala what Rafa did at Wimbeldon).

But it will mean that Federer still has one thing over Nadal, which is the fact that Federer has been to just about every Grand Slam semi-final since the fall of the Roman Empire. That kind of consistent high level play is very impressive.

[Ben Kenobi]

But it will mean that Federer still has one thing over Nadal, which is the fact that Federer has been to just about every Grand Slam semi-final since the fall of the Roman Empire.

If he makes the finals he'll have the second longest streak of consecutive finals, behind only himself.

[Kitschum]

Söderling marches on. He demolished Davydenko yesterday. And Gonzalez bumped off Murray which was kind of expected. The women are interesting this time around. Serena and Sharapova out and Safina in wobbly form.

[Ben Kenobi]

Kitschum, do you like Soderling over Gonzalez? I think Fena should win.

[Kitschum]

I would honestly never have believed it. I thought Söderling wouldn't get past Davydenko, let alone win against Gonzalez over five sets.

The final was a brief affair as reality caught up with Söderling. He looked tired and his serves were very poor. Considering he could also hardly threaten Fed in his serve games he had no chance. First set just flew by which I'd put down to nervousness. I hope that Robin will be able develop his game further and that he is not satisfied with this his first Grand Slam final, but he really needs to be mentally stronger and more consistent.

The crowd has been extremely biased (for Fed) in the entire tournament which annoyed me slightly. But congratulations Roger, you lovable Swiss cuckoo.

[Ben Kenobi]

The man lost 3 times as the runner-up. Understandable that they'd cheer for him over Robin.

Roger was serving over 80 percent 1st serves. It was the best he's served in years.

Career slam!.

[Arrian]

I figure we don't need a new thread...

5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14.

So Federer gets his 15th Slam and the "best ever" tag from many. He is phenomenal. He does everything so well, including staying healthy. I could do without the fancy "RF" monogrammed clothing and all that, but if that's what I've got against him I don't have much.

Meanwhile, Roddick plays the best match of his career and loses anyway. OUCH. He'll remember that 2nd set tiebreaker for the rest of his life. I'm glad the crowd gave him his due.

It wasn't as great as the '08 final, but it was pretty awesome in its own right. Pretty surprising, considering how Fed has dominated Roddick.

-Arrian

[Cort Haus]

Even as a Federer fan I felt sorry for Roddick. AR bottled it in the second set tie-break and ran out of strength at the end. That was the only difference. RF was playing somewhat below his best, and his strategy of slicing his backhand deep all the time seemed to deny him his rhythm and let to a lot of errors. This was frustrating as we couldn't see his magic in full flow, but he ground out the result in the end.

Murray can maybe take some consolation that he lost his semi to a man who could take the best right to the wire. As for the absent Rafa - has his strategy of pushing his body to the physical limit backfired on his career? We'll see.

[Ben Kenobi]

Gutted for Roddick.

He played extremely well.

Glad Federer won though, it was an exhibition of serve worthy of Sampras / Ivanisevic.

[Maquiladora]

As for the absent Rafa - has his strategy of pushing his body to the physical limit backfired on his career? We'll see.

I expect Nadal's form will deteriorate quite fast once he loses the phyiscal edge, unlike Federer.

[classical_hero]

I do feel sad for Roddick, since he only lost his serve once in the whole patch and he had more games won that Federer. But that is the nature of tennis, unfortunately.