An open letter to Rafael Nadal - Confessions of a Federer fan

In fact, you were able to win three Grand Slams in a row on three different surfaces in 2010, starting from the French Open. As a Federer fan, I ran short of reasonable points to rate him above you during arguments. I was totally frustrated and dejected, so to say. I kept on praying for your loss all the time, fearing that you would displace Roger Federer as the all-time record holder in Grand Slams one day. So, when Novak Djokovic started owning you in 2011, dismissing you in seven straight finals, the last of which happened in Melbourne 2012, I was totally elated thinking that you were to going to have a taste of your own medicine. When you yourself admitted that the Serb had gotten into your head, I was totally convinced you had become his ‘bunny’. Little did I realise that there was no word called “quitting” in your dictionary. Showing no signs of your previous debacles against him, you came back strongly, winning three matches in a row on clay, including the 2012 French Open final. Just when I started worrying a bit upon seeing you at the top of your game, I saw you making an early exit in Wimbledon, having been beaten by a 100th ranked individual called Lukas Rosol in the second round. It is hard to describe in words how excited I was on seeing you disappear so early from the tournament.

Then when you finally quit the rest of the year due to injury, I am ashamed to say now that I was jubilant. Instead of viewing you as a sportsman who was fighting for his own survival to earn his daily bread, I was looking at you as some sort of a villain. Is it not a crazy thing to do? Yes, it was and I fully knew what I was doing. But still my love for Roger’s game drove me to think so. I thought tennis was synonymous with Federer and he was playing it better than anyone. The grinding game of yours hardly impressed me and I thought extracting unforced errors from the opponent’s racquet was not the way to win matches. I was too adamant to look beyond Federer’s game. When you finally came back this year after a seven month lay-off only to taste your first loss in the final in Chile at the hands of Zeballos, I presumed that you were done and you were never going to be the same. But you surprised me by reaching the finals of all the tournaments which you had contested so far, winning six of them.

And what you did yesterday was completely unbelievable. Though it was the first ever Grand Slam semi final you were playing after your brief sabbatical and that too against the best player in the world, I could sense no signs of rustiness in you. When you were totally down and out in the fifth and final set and Novak was serving for a 5-3 lead, you did the impossible by breaking him. What sort of mental stamina do you have? Some mind blowing shots were played by you yesterday. You took everyone by surprise by playing scintillating forehand winners off the deep returns of Djokovic with which he used to trouble you before. Finally, you showed tremendous character by breaking your ‘best buddy’ again and winning the set 9-7. You are now into your 8th Roland Garros final in nine years and for obvious reasons you will be the overwhelming favourite going into the final this Sunday against your compatriot, David Ferrer.

Now, I understand one thing. It is not fair on my part to throw tantrums any more, degrading your efforts. You may not be as gifted as someone like Federer but at the same time you have done so well with whatever resources you have. Your mind is so strong that you can come back to win any match and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Instead of honoring you for your killer instincts and never say die attitude, I was unnecessarily finding faults with you, criticizing you for the way you play and develop injuries.

It is not going to happen anymore. I have started admiring you nowadays and am beginning to like you better, particularly after yesterday’s match. I do not have any hard feelings against you and even if you overtake Roger Federer in the Grand Slam count, it will not affect me. It is not that I have become your fan suddenly. I am very much a Federer fan even now but your victories are not going to bother me as much as they had before. You win matches because you earn them. If at the end of the day you finish your career so well that people call you the greatest of all times, who am I to dispute that? If you are called better than Roger Federer by someone, I am not going to enter into an argument with him. You deserve every eulogy you get.

I wish you all the best for a wonderful and safe career, Rafa.