Champions know when to lift their games. Their ability to sense the right moment is what makes them champions.
At the much-talked 2017 Australian Open final, the eventual winner Roger Federer did exactly that against his greatest nemesis Rafael Nadal that took the match away from the ninth seed.
The 2009 titlist, who held a 23-11 head-to-head record over the Swiss prior to this match, once again had the upper hand as the fifth set began. He drew first blood to go an early break up and cruise to a 3-1 lead.
As the Federer fans around the world were settling for yet another gut-wrenching defeat, their idol used his ultra-aggressive game to break back and put the set back on level terms. It goes without saying that brought back the confidence in Federer’s game and the spring in his steps.
At 3-4 deuce, while Nadal was serving, the 17th seed pounced on his opportunities. A stupendous 26-shot rally ensued that became the turning point of the match and very much fortunes of the two legends involved.
That was a point where Federer pretty much out-Rafaed Nadal as he took control of the rally from the baseline. The Spaniard returned almost everything like he usually does but it was Federer’s resourcefulness that struck the deadly blow from which the southpaw never recovered.
He pushed his rival far to his backhand wing to open up the court and then came up with a stunning stretch forehand down-the-line winner that surely sent a knife right through Rafa’s heart.
The despondent look on the 14-time Grand Slam champion’s face after that said it all.
Federer broke Nadal in that game and served out the win to get to his elusive Slam No. 18 that he had been chasing since the 2012 Wimbledon Championships.
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That spectacular shot, that will remain one for posterity, was later on deservingly selected as the ‘Shot of the Day’ by the Australian Open TV.
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