IMAGINARYBAND
Do, or do not. There is no try.
“Why can it never go my way against this enemy, Master Yoda?”
“Predict the future, you can? Hee hee. It has not happened yet, remember this, young apprentice. Patience. You need to accept it and fight back, play to your strengths. Things may still not go your way. But if you focus on your strengths, you give yourself a fighting chance. Use the force.”
The players have just completed their short warm-up after the rain delay – the skies are clearing slightly overhead, it’s lighter. Nadal pops off court to grab a quick swig of his drink, keeping Federer waiting on court to serve. When Nadal arrives back at his receiving spot, the crowd is hushed, expectant. They know there isn’t a bookie in town who would back Federer if he loses the first set against Nadal in Roland Garros…
He goes down the middle at Nadal’s forehand with his first serve, but faults. Second serve is a high spinner up to Nadal’s backhand, a rally ensues, pleasing to the eye. Nobody is quite sure why but it appears Federer has loads of time to get to each ball, and finally he moves Nadal to a corner and comes into the net to put the volley in the opposite corner, in classic finishing play.
Again he serves down the middle, fast, yet Nadal’s backhand response is that difficult off-return again, a conspicuously confident shot. It is just wide, not through lack of effort. Clearly Nadal was attempting an outright, demoralising winner and Federer wouldn’t have reached it, but with a little luck he’s now up 30-0. A relatively gentle serve out wide has some real kick, and almost tricks Nadal, but he places it back in with a cross-court backhand, so there’s another rally from the baseline. Nadal is powering every ball back with the massive flick of his wrist and accompanying grunt, while Federer’s strokes look calmer and sound much softer although they loop quite high and land deep, splaying the white lines in the clay. He wins the rally when Nadal nets it. Nothing spectacular and slightly lucky. Seems like one of two things – either Federer’s bored and running out of motivation to play already, or he has surrendered himself to serendipity and is playing loose. Whatever, he serves a steady one down the middle from the ad court yet again – it throws Nadal slightly but a rally ensues. Yes, Federer is striking the ball well, gracefully moving Nadal from side to side until he manages to set up a killer angle, and there’s a love game as dividend. Surprising really.
As always against Federer, Nadal’s thinking is crystal clear. Despite his apparent supremacy over this man he never makes the mistake of underestimating him. He will never allow Federer a mental edge, so when he returns from the break at the change of ends, he does not simply intend to hold his serve, he intends to bludgeon Federer with a hold to love.
So, after the break Nadal takes his time preparing to serve for the set. He faults on the first serve. But the second is quicker than usual and out really wide at Federer’s forehand – he is there ready though, and slings it straight down the line. Nadal apparently didn’t like the call, and challenges immediately. It is out. Watching the screen, Federer is a touch crestfallen, because in that moment felt and looked just like a rosy start. But his thinking remains positive. Nadal faults. Crowd murmurs expectantly. Second serve is very good, it comes right to Federer’s body. A voice in his head says determinedly, “Do, or do not! There is no try”. He skips out of the way of the ghostly little green man as well as the ball, and takes the forehand, straight down the line again. This time it is clearly out. 30-love.
“Master Yoda, am I just too relaxed against this guy? Am I wrong to just keep biding my time until it runs out. Is he playing me for a fool every time I play him? Why can’t I make two returns in a row off his second serve?”
“Stop thinking young one. Be in the moment, trust your instincts, feeel the force flowing through you!”
Nadal serves fast, it’s in first time this time, straight at the body again, after all it worked well last time. Federer sidesteps it and flicks the ball with his topspin forehand across court to Nadal’s backhand for a short ball, and Nadal is forced to come into the net to return the ball, which Federer loops high over Nadal’s head into the deuce court. Nadal runs backwards and not only gets to it but batters it with an impossibly brutal cross-court backhand deep to Federer’s forehand. The swiss reaches this in good time though, and with adroit touch sends a short, down the line half-volley. Nadal’s got to run again but makes it, and luckily for him Federer has moved slightly to the centre of the court so he goes down the line, but Federer flips direction and just reaches it, putting it away with a less-than-crisp, nerve-wrackingly long volley. 30-15. The next point, Federer’s return is comfortable though, and there is a rally, several shots traded during which nobody looks a winner, then as Federer moves to take the fifth or sixth consecutive backhand, he hits over the high ball with massive topspin but a gentle touch, pushing it down-the-line on Nadal’s backhand side, and short. Nadal rushes to the net taking it as a half-volley quite low on the bounce, gathers it up over the net and sends it back to the middle. Federer again loops a lob over him onto his backhand side. In an almost identical sequence Nadal reaches it and sends a savage cross-court backhand, but Federer anticipates it well, collecting it mid-court with a stupendous volley to the ad court, well out of Nadal’s reach. 30 all.
A viciously spinning wide serve from Nadal is then met by a wily cross court short ball – again, bringing Nadal in – again, although he gets it back and starts running back to his backhand side. But this time, this time Federer sends an exquisite down-the-line drop shot to the ad-court and Nadal is forced to make a rapid directional change. He makes it, just, and attempts a delicate slice-drop-shot across court, but it hits tape. Slight frustration at 40-30. This isn’t how Nadal wants to play, these little pattering shots around the court. His next serve is solid, down the middle at Federer’s backhand. The crisp response is a sight to behold, sending the ball to Nadal’s backhand, yet somehow very short. A very low percentage shot, like Nadal’s similarly incredible off-kilter return earlier in the match to break Federer’s serve for the first time. Providence? This shot drops abruptly though, where Nadal’s had gone deep, and for the third time this game Nadal is running furiously into the net on his backhand side. He reaches it of course and his backhand is stunningly quick and extremely angled cross-court to Federer’s forehand side, but apparently Federer has discovered his own on-court time machine to transport him to the ball and simply tap it down the ad-court line once again. He’s not been the most creative of players in this game, the purist in him laments. But with a willful and single-minded ploy carried out three times in succession he has taken Nadal by surprise and broken back to 3-5. More to the point, Federer feels like he knows what to do to win. He’s got that look. At 5-3 down in the first set of the 2009 Roland Garros final, Federer actually looks like a winner. And maybe, he thinks to himself, it all just comes down to execution.
Tennis Planet 
