Top 5 pivotal moments in Men's tennis in 2012

Here are the top 5 moments that defined men’s tennis in 2012. Had the events occurred a bit differently at these moments, we could have had a different 2012 from tennis perspective.

5. RAFA MISSED IT

All tennis fans, analysts and critics entered the new year with one and only one question. Could the Lion hearted Serb repeat 2011? The first response to this question was on the finale night of Aussie open. In the 5^th set, Nadal was leading by a break and needed just one more winner to consolidate his lead but he missed it. What next? The Serb came back roaring to break Nadal in the same game and followed it up by another break of serve a few games later to win the epic thriller. Nadal’s misery continued.

4. THE COIN FLIPPED

Nadal had lost last seven consecutive matches against Novak before the beginning of the 2012 European clay court season. Only one question in the mind of everybody. Could the greatest clay court player be humbled and humiliated by the Serb on the Spaniard’s beloved clay? Then came the sad news of the death of Novak’s grandfather. Novak, a brutal assassin on court, was completely shaken but somehow he managed to get into the final of Monte Carlo Masters, but lost to Nadal in a lackluster way. It was the trigger point. A loss to Nadal! Somehow he lost his mojo, his self belief and what was the result? So many semifinal and final losses to top 3 in the future.

3. THE FAILED SMASH AND LOB AT THE SEMIFINAL OF WIMBLEDON

The Swiss maestro had already lost against Djokovic twice in 2012, including a humiliating straight sets defeat in the Roland Garros semifinal. Here, each man had one set. The score was 5-4 with Djokovic serving at 15-30. Djokovic played a great point, forcing Federer to hit a weak shot that could have be smashed by Djokovic even with one of his hands tied. But what the hell happened? Novak hit the ball out. Now Federer had two break points. Novak saved one break point. In the second break point, Federer approached the net and sent the ball to Novak‘s galactic backhand with Novak having plenty of time to think and react. Novak looked to find a spot to hit the passing shot but his confidence dipped. He doubted himself, whether he could hit a good enough passing shot and ended up trying to lob Federer. A mediocre lob and Federer was not going to repeat the fault that Novak made. He pounced on the ball and hit an overhead winner and took the set.

2. THE SUN SETS BUT THE MAESTRO SHINES

At the cathedral of tennis aka Wimbledon with the scores level at 1-1. It was a clash between the English superman and the superman among the supermen of tennis. The lights started fading. Murray, who was so brilliant till the penultimate game of second set, was left dumbstruck by the Swiss magic as Federer won 4 consecutive points playing some insane tennis to take the set. As the roof came over, there was a break for about 45 minutes. For the Swiss, the indoor conditions were favorable, but what followed was pure magic from the “Wilson” wand of the magician. Andy gave his best but was blown away. Soon, Federer got his 17^th one and regained his world number one title.

1. ROSOL IS THE MAN

All the previous 4 moments talked about how a minute or two of play changed the course of the game and defined tennis of 2012, but how would you describe if you are exposed to something unearthly for about an hour? Anyone who saw Rosol beating the hell out of Nadal in the fifth set in the 2^nd round of Wimbledon would very well know it. 2 sets each. Rosol rose above his standard to push the 11 time Grand Slam winner to a deciding set. Nadal had won the fourth set and the script as seen by everyone was that Rosol was unable to hold his nerves and that Nadal would raise his standard of game to win the fifth set. But wait! Nadal failed to win a single point on Rosol’s serve in the last three games. Aces zoomed past Nadal’s ear, winners hit from both wings with unimaginable depth, power and accuracy and return winners hit at 97 miles an hour. Nadal was humbled and it somehow helped Murray reach the final. Even though he lost it, it was a new beginning for him.

Here are some which were close but missed the list

1. Play stopped during the 4^th set of Roland Garros final due to rain while Djokovic had the momentum. But I still believe that Djokovic couldn’t have produced such effective hitting for 3 consecutive sets, and either in 4 or 5 sets Nadal would have been the champion.

2. Nadal’s sore knee sidelined him for a long stretch, giving other guys a better chance. But what happened with Nadal is not totally unexpected. His intense playing style is bound to create such situations sooner or later.

3. Djokovic losing against his nerves in semifinal of Olympics. In each of the sets he failed to hold his serve in the penultimate game to lose the match 5-7 5-7. It might be due to the crowd fanatically cheering for Murray but it was mostly because Djokovic had temporarily lost his mojo and impenetrable mental strength when he lost to Nadal at Monte Carlo.