I thought this match was great--it was played well, both men carried themselves very honorably, and there was even a shocking interjection when a "jester" ran onto the court and waved stuff in Federer's face before being tackled and hauled off the premises. And Roger won (can't you tell I'm a fan?), and as expected, gave a tear-laden (and bilingual!) speech to top it all off.
As much as I enjoyed the match and the fact that my pick scooped up that last grand slam to put himself in the history books, I felt so badly for Mr. Soderling. He was doomed the moment he stepped out onto the clay. And everyone knew it. The whole world was rooting for Federer at this point--the crowd knew it, and said so with each chant, and the commentators went on and on about how Federer was a "peaceful warrior" and so forth. At one point they said something to the effect of "usually the crowd wants a good match, a close match, but not today." Everyone knew Federer had to win this--even from the moment his rival lost in the quarterfinals.
I am very happy Federer got to join my 2 favorites of all time (Sampras and Agassi) with his achievement. But I am also happy that Soderling's play didn't reflect that the world was not on his side. His demeanor was never dejected, and he continued to play the way he might against any other opponent. His joke at the end, that nobody beats him 11 times (Federer has beat him 10), to me, said, "Keep bringin' it, Rog."
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