We walked out on an epic
What kind of a dolt would leave in the middle of the epic Djokovic-Nadal match, the longest men’s final in slam history?
Raise hand.
There’s only one flight to Manila on Monday and it leaves at 0030. We had to retrieve our bags from the hotel and get to the airport by 2230. So shortly after the Djoker broke his racquet and changed shirts from white to black, we got out of our wonderful front row seats and lurched out of the stadium.
We weren’t alone. At the airport lounge, huddled around the TV, were people who had to abandon the live epic to catch the flight, including the president of PAL and Lance Gokongwei.
It looked like it was going to end in the fourth, and we heard ourselves thinking, “Finish him off Djoker, we’re boarding soon!” Yeah, we’re a Djokovic fan now, though in our vestigial heart, Forever Federer. But blasted Nadal (Mas OA pa siya sa personal, tatayo lang sa silya intense na) is a great clutch player and as we were boarding the plane it seemed momentum had swung to the matador.
Fortunately the Djoker is now an even better clutch player, despite the recurrence of the breathing problem. Remember when he would quit matches he was losing, citing various illnesses? Those days are over. As we were landing the pilot announced that Djokovic had won the Australian Open.
Seventh time in a row he’s beaten Nadal. So Djokovic is to Nadal as Nadal is to Federer.
Our full reports will appear in the Philippine Star, watch for them. We have to thank our editor for sending us to Oz, and the sponsors, Lacoste and Store Specialists Inc.
Meanwhile, here’s a summary of the women’s singles final in which Victoria Azarenka shackled Maria Sharapova.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
January 31st, 2012 at 11:09
First three and a half sets were fugly though. Nadaan lang sa drama sa dulo. Not a fan of the repetitive, endless, grinding rallies. Give me Federer-Safin ’05 Aussie Open SF any day. Blistering winners and actual shot making!
Do you think that tennis is slowly becoming a battle of endurance rather of skill? They really need to stop homogenizing the surfaces, making it all slow as ass.
January 31st, 2012 at 12:43
I had to chuckle a bit when you mentioned that Gokongwei flew PAL.
January 31st, 2012 at 14:21
I am reading this in the Social Sciences section of Gonzales Hall (aka my real home in Diliman) and I had to stop myself from laughing while reading this line:
“Mas OA pa siya sa personal, tatayo lang sa silya intense na.”
It’s a good thing I wasn’t drinking anything, or the library staff would have evicted me.
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I ended up following the men’s final on Twitter, complete with live updates from The Guardian and the official Australian Open site. Twitter pa lang, tense na; people were posting in all-caps all over the place all the way until midnight. My friend and I – both Federites – could not resist making side comments about Roger watching the game and laughing like a fiend after Rafa ran out of challenges in the second set.
And all the while I kept thinking, “Kamusta na kaya si Jessica?”
February 1st, 2012 at 00:34
I turned on the TV on my way out to hear mass and it was the middle of the first set. When I got back home (after mass and a quick trip to the grocery), aba ay nasa 2nd set pa lang sila! I thought Rafa was a goner by the 4th set tiebreak at 5-3– but he spectacularly fought his way to the promised land point by excruciating point. Sus, pandemonium in Rod Laver arena. At this point I thought if I were Djokovic and I lose this match, I would forever rue all the missed chances in the 4th set. Just when it looked like the Spaniard’s vaunted mental toughness would carry him to victory in the 5th (leading 4-2), the Serb simply raised his game. Novak looked like he was running low on fuel but whether that was reality or strategy it was enough to give him the edge in the last minutes of the match. Up to the very end, it could have gone either way (and Djokovic did acknowledge that it was down to a bit of luck and maybe wanting it more than the other guy). Josko, napagod ako. Oh and if Nadal was OA (he looked pissed when telling the chair umpire that it had started to rain), medyo high-strung din ang girlfriend ni Djokovic haha. I too kept thinking surely you would not have missed this thrilling final even if the Fed was not in it.
February 1st, 2012 at 03:49
I never liked Nadal. Too goody-goody for an emotional, intense person. I don’t like Novak either. He thinks he’s funny but he’s not. I can’t get past his whiny loser phase.
I hope the Nadal-Federer feud will pump up The Fed to win more grand slams.
Oh, and that’s the perfect summary of the Women’s match. If you close your eyes while the game is on it can pass off as porn (with applause).