While the superbowl was exciting, it paled in comparison to the amazing Australian open final that played out earlier in the day.
Granted being a Giants fan is probably part of the reason didn’t have much of an interest in the superbowl matchup, but even if I did, the  Australian open final between Nadal and Federer was definitely the best final I’ve seen since last years Wimbledon finaland took the  honors for the sports event of the day.

Nadal and Federer have become the most exciting rivalry in tennis. More so than Agassi/Sampras and maybe even Borg/McEnroe. Any grand slam matchup between  these two is pretty much guaranteed to be an epic. And this one surpassed expectations. Nadal came in as the underdog given this was his first appearance at a hard court final and he had just played a grueling 5-setter against countryman Fernando Verdasco. Federer on the other hand had had 2 days of rest and was playing… well like Federer.

At a completely packed Rod Laver arena, Nadal managed to reveal all his gears, coming up with unbelievable shots time and again. His ability to constantly improve his game, pull out winners under the most difficult circumstances and run after every ball like his life
depended on it led him to finally pull away in the 5th and completely demoralize Federer. This may be a sign that Nadal will be the #1 for a while as it seems like he’s gotten into Federer’s head. Federer just doesn’t play like himself when he’s facing Nadal, partly because Nadal forces him to change his game and partly because he seems at a loss for finding a winning strategy against him. I have never seen a player play the game like Nadal. While everyone was writing him off early in the match, he was able to become more energetic and focused and mentally crush Federer (not an easy thing to do). He’s now won on clay, grass and hard court and hes only 22!

What a great way to start off the 2009 tennis season. I look forward to seeing if Federer can bounce back this year from two crushing defeats and win a grand slam.

Update: Found a couple of quotes from both the tennis players that I thought were worth sharing. Nadal on asked what makes him run after ever point said ““I love the competition in all aspects of life. When I compete, I love to be there and fight for the win…. maybe I like more fighting to win than win.” And maybe this is why he still has so much respect for Federer. When presented the trophy, he wrapped his arms around a crying Federer and offered him to finish his speech before he took the stage. Federer, when asked about his emotional break down during the tropy presentation responded by saying, “In the first moment you’re disappointed, you’re shocked, you’re sad, then all of a sudden it overwhelms you. I love this game. It means the world to me, so it hurts when you lose.”