Tennis: the old guard versus the new

Some time back when I used to enjoy watching tennis, Roger Federer was an unstoppable force; the Swiss Juggernaut kept on rolling with no sight of an immovable object posing any sort of threat to its motion. In came Rafael Nadal, the man gifted with those envious pair of fresh legs – or so we thought- and gave the maestro a run for his money.

Rafa was invincible on clay and Federer was not a human when he stepped on grass. The rivalry grew into one of the biggest present day competitions in sports. Stories were sold across the globe; the two were going to dominate the world of tennis with little intervention from the potent yet human competitors.

There were times when guys like Andy Roddick, whose only sin was being a contemporary of Federer, conjured an upset but he was never quite capable of upstaging the operating forces of Federer and Nadal in the long run. Andy could only create a stir in the crowd for his big serving skills on the court; off the court, Miss Decker certainly is the only accomplishment and reason he will be remembered for some time.

Then began the phase of a rusting Federer. The greatest player of all time, according to some, was found wanting of energy in major clashes as Nadal turned into his nemesis. Nadal had clearly figured out the genius, but the Swiss maestro was clueless as he faced the Spaniard time and again in Grand Slam Finals ending up on the losing side. The ball finding the back of the net, the magical volleys not quite dropping short of the opponent followed by a dejected wipe of his face was the picture associated with Federer.

And just when everyone thought Nadal was going to chase down all the records in the history books, he was brought down by an injury which restricted his participation and affected the quality of his play. Enter the opportunist – Novak Djokovic.

At the outset, the man promised nothing but good mimicking skills; a flash in the pan was what he appeared to be. But gradually, the man raised his game and soon he was towering above the rest; and with the way he is going about playing and enjoying his game, there are enough clear messages to the rest that he is here for the long haul.

For a long time – read a few seasons – tennis remained a sport dominated by this triumvirate; Andy Murray was consistently making it to the semis, but he, as everyone would see, was there making the numbers like the current world number 4, David Ferrer.

Andy’s arrival in the top league is a great story in itself, starting off with an Olympic Gold medal and then ending a nation’s 76 year wait for a male Grand Slam champion made sure that glitz was never missing from his life.

And that’s how the big four in tennis stand at the moment, but my mind makes me believe that the things won’t stay the same for long. Federer no longer has age on his side. It is not a pretty sight being on the wrong side of thirty in men’s professional tennis; as for Nadal, coming back from an injury makes sure that you are never quite the same player again. If he pulls it off and wins at the Roland Garros, it will be nothing short of a miracle. There is less likelihood that he will chase down Federer’s 17 titles; but if he does then there is no doubt in my mind that he will go down the best player in history.

According to me, we are witnessing a new rivalry building up – Murray and Djo will fight it out for some time. The old guard looks to have been cleared out to make way for the new; but someday, not too long from now, they will gradually become the old and be cleared away and the game will continue to grow new champions.