Roger Federer couldn’t stop sobbing as he lost the Australian Open 2009 final to his arch-rival and good friend, Rafael Nadal. The article is a recount of the encounter between the two in the land down under.
Roger Federer was trying to equal Pete Sampras’ record of 14 Grand Slam singles titles, while Nadal was on the verge of winning his first Grand Slam title on a hard court. This would have also been the Spaniard’s sixth Grand Slam title. What unfolded was an iconic match between two of the greatest tennis players that have ever lived.
In a hard-fought match that went on for a marathon of 4 hours and 22 minutes, Rafael Nadal defeated The Swiss Maestro in five sets with a score of 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2. The match was tied with both players playing evenly until the final set, each winning a pair of sets.
Roger admitted that he played poorly in the last set and regretted his performance.
“Maybe I should have never been there, you know, in the first place. I think he played well. I definitely played a terrible fifth set, you know. I kind of handed it over to him.”
The Australian Open finals were an emotional moment for Roger, and he was certainly overwhelmed by the results. He couldn’t control his tears and as a result, wasn’t able to speak at the post-match conference. In a later interview, he expressed his true emotions from the outcome of the match.
“Not really. I mean, honestly, no. I mean, it’s more like, you know, in the first moment you’re disappointed, you’re shocked, you’re sad, you know, then all of a sudden it overwhelms you.”
“The problem is you can’t go in the locker room and just take it easy and take a cold shower. You can’t. You know, you’re stuck out there. It’s the worst feeling, you know. So, I don’t know, it’s rough.”
Roger Federer gets his redemption at the 2017 Australian Open Finals
Fate wasn’t going to let the rivalry end without giving Roger Federer, a final chance to redeem himself at the Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne.
The Mighty Swiss clashed with Rafael Nadal once again at the same venue in the Finals in 2017. But, the results were not the same. The 17th-seeded Federer defeated the 9th seed, Rafael Nadal in 5 sets scoring 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
Federer had lost their previous three encounters, and this was the first time Federer defeated Nadal at the Australian Open, making it his 18th Grand Slam win.
Roger still reminisces of this memory as one of his most valuable ones and among his career’s best.
