Wimbledon

I'm not much of a tennis expert, but I know the basic rules of the game. I also know the storied rivalry between World No.1 Roger Federer and World No.2 Rafael Nadal.

During a sweltering summer stay in Taiwan, I was basically locked in a house far from the urban nightlife of Taipei. But I had everything I needed: food, water, a swimming pool and basketball court, and, of course, cable TV.

That was last year - when I started following the classy and elegant play of Roger Federer, and the emotional yet smooth play of Rafael Nadal. It was last year that I watched Federer trade sets with Nadal in the Wimbledon final before claiming his championship in five sets. And it was yesterday that I watched Nadal enact his revenge in what is possibly one of the longest tennis matches in history - dethroning the five-time champion and World No. 1, becoming the first man to win both the French Open and Wimbledon consecutively since Bjorn Borg in 1980, and showing off his signature "bite" on his winning trophy. Nadal deserved this win, as Federer stated after last year's final. But he, like the rest of us, must have not expected the Spaniard to win so suddenly.

Nadal seemed to come out of nowhere in the 2005 French Open, showing his dominance on clay for the years to come. He was limited to his clay courts and had a weak serve, critics said. It was expected that the even younger and crowd pleasing Novak Djokovic from Serbia would supersede Nadal in 2008, but with his left handed play and athletic ability, the young Spaniard proved them wrong. Shortly after his first French Open win, Nadal became one of the youngest tennis players to be ranked World No.2 - a title he has not yet relinquished. Since then, he has built up his reputation and reaped the awards - being the only player to be able to play and beat Roger Federer consistently and keeping the Swiss star from achieving a career grand slam in the French Open finals the past two years. And to that list of achievements, he added yesterday his first win against Federer on grass, breaking the World No.1's sixty five game winning streak on the surface and casting an ominous cloud on the security of Federer's rank atop the sport.

Yesterday night was Rafael Nadal's night, yet Federer took his runner up's trophy with dignity - exactly like how he handles all the rumors of his reign on tennis coming to an end. His talent, poise, and records are unquestionable, and only an ignorant spectator would doubt his ability to continue his game. After all, he is only twenty six, and champions like him - Borg, Agassi, Sampras - have continued well into their thirties. Nadal will be happy to hear that Federer will be around for the years to come, and, after this particular Wimbledon final, we will be expecting more dazzling and spectacular moments from this storied rivalry.