Federer – Nadal, ten years of a masterpiece – Wimbledon 2018 – Tennis

At the time of the hashtag "genius" all three tweets, the runaway all-out, superficiality of emphasis to fill the void of thought, our era has the masterpiece easy. She spoils him. A masterpiece, however, does not come from anywhere, does not happen anytime, and does not emanate from anyone. In short, it is not anything.
      

But what exactly is a masterpiece? " To define the work of art is to impose a convention on it ," said George Braque. Everyone will see what he thinks he finds there. Like certain phenomena of nature, the masterpiece still needs specific and concomitant conditions. When they arise simultaneously, it is the rainbow that appears, the thunderstorm rumbling.
      

In Criticism of the faculty of judging Emmanuel Kant distinguished, him, the sublime beauty. Unlike our current language, which places the first above the second, Kant does not differentiate in degree but in nature. The beautiful is the aesthetics of the measure: a pretty flower, for example. The sublime, it evokes the excess, like a wild ocean. The sublime siderum annihilates our understanding and, by its amazement, provokes exaltation.
      

On July 6, 2008, on the central court of Wimbledon, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have, between storm and rainbow, gathered all that requires a tennis miracle: fullness of expression, aesthetics, dramaturgy, emotions . The 18th of their thirty-eight duels, completed at dusk, left us banned. With the instant conviction of having lived a moment out of the norm. It could have been only beautiful. It was sublime.
      

I – 28 days later

The triumph is absolute, the total debacle. For the fourth consecutive year, the fate of Roland Garros rested in the hands of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. If their first duel, in 2005, was a semi-final, no one really doubts that the title was played there. Then there were these three finals of rank, from 2006 to 2008. Four victories of the Spaniard on his Swiss rival. Implacable tetralogy. But on June 8, 2008, Nadal did not just beat Federer. He destroyed it. Tensively and psychologically.
      

Although he had never seen the victory closely, Federer had delivered a real opposition in their first three games in Paris, lost each time in four sets. There he took only four games. 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. An incredible slap. Everyone understood that day that, without doubt, Roger Federer would not be able to beat Rafael Nadal at Roland-Garros. This evidence also generates a presentiment: the Majorcan is ready to extend his reign, which is then limited to the Porte d'Auteuil. Yes, even at Wimbledon, it's time to take the plunge. Even in the garden of Federer, rimmed barbed wire for the competition.
      

The idea has almost something absurd . Federer is undefeated on grbad since 2002 and a defeat in the first round of Wimbledon against Mario Ancic. In London, he is five times title holder. And, after all, he had already lost in the Roland Garros final against Nadal the last two years, before taking his revenge at Wimbledon. But the Parisian humiliation of June 8, 2008 sheds a different light on the relationship between the two champions. Last year, Toni Nadal confessed to have found Federer " weird " during this final of Roland Garros 2008. As if he was resigned.
      

The situation has changed, as if their rivalry has reached a point of no return that nothing, not even Wimbledon, can curb. " Federer Is Dead? " title, provocative, the Daily Mail the day of the Wimbledon draw. A living dead, anyway. In the wake of the carnage of Roland, the Basel has put the ideas in place by winning at Halle, without losing a set. But Nadal is riding an irresistible wave. On the night of his fourth coronation at "French", Rafa took the Eurostar, heading for London and Queen's, where he won his first grbadweight title.
      

At his press conference before Wimbledon, Nadal is asked if he feels Federer more vulnerable this time. His answer, tinged with an irony that does not look like him, is on the verge of annoyance: " Yes, clearly, he did not lose a single set in Halle and remains on 59 matches without defeat on grbad, frankly … "
      

Symptomatic, Björn Borg, at once king of France and former master of Wimbledon, delivers a small, almost provocative, bombshell badysis before the tournament. " I see Rafael Nadal win the tournament ", slips the Swede. He goes (much) further by relegating Federer to the third position of his personal hierarchy: " After Nadal, my second choice is Djokovic and then Roger ."
      

Borg's badysis is submitted to both parties. " When Björn speaks, everyone listens, smiles Nadal He's an important person, I can just thank him for his words, but you know, Björn does not is not a magician, and he does not decide . "
      

Federer is titillated. Shared between his deference to the tutelary Nordic figure, whom he seeks to overcome with a sixth consecutive consecration, and a certain consternation at what he must consider in the end as a lack of respect, he replies: " I do not can not control what others say or think, but sometimes some people talk a little too much . "
      

Six months ago, after his defeat against Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the Australian Open (while he remained on ten major finals), the Swiss had evoked this " monster that he had created. A creature so voracious that when it no longer triumphs, everyone is offended. Six months ago, no one allowed him to lose. And now, the same ones forbid him to believe in victory. " The wind is turning fast ", smiles, a little yellow, the world's number one. " I'm not disappointed by Björn's words, but let's say I find it surprising he explains. For me, I'm still the big favorite to win Wimbledon . "
      

But not everyone agrees with Borg. Pat Cash had a dog trouble to consider another outcome than a sixth Federer's coronation, as he told us. " For me, it was simple: Federer = turf, explains the winner of the 1987 edition, consultant for Australian TV in 2008. It was hard to imagine anything else. does not mean that I did not believe Nadal could win, but I really thought that Roger would eventually find the way to victory, that was home . "
      

For Mats Wilander too, it was inconceivable not to consider Federer as the man to beat. But he nuance: the real sensation, for him, was not a possible victory for Nadal in 2008, but the way the Spaniard, a year earlier, had pbaded so close to the title. " In 2007, realizing how close Rafa was to Roger, even on grbad, it had been a shock, he tells us I thought 'wow, that's it, he's at Federer's level on grbad. " Still, he too was struggling to apprehend an end of reign: "Until I saw Rafa beat Roger on grbad, it was difficult to make him a favorite . "
      

Two weeks later, Federer and Nadal are at the rendezvous. Nothing and no one could hinder their common march towards the final. The Majorcan only dropped one run en route against Ernests Gulbis in the second round. After that he went on a rampage, choking the ambitious Andy Murray in the quarter-finals (6-3, 6-2, 6-4). Roger Federer has never spent more than 2:10 on the court and has not conceded a single set. Do the accounts: since his sinking in the final of Roland Garros, he has won 11 matches and 28 consecutive sets. He's unbeaten since 65 games on grbad.
      

Marat Safin was the last victim of Helvetia before the final. He did not feel like facing a downhill champion. " Roger had made … of Roger today remembers the Russian, beaten 6-3, 7-6, 6-4. I did not feel like doing a bad match, but every time, in the important moments, he had a big margin, he knew it, and so was I. It was the sign of a very confident player, not a player who doubts . "
      

However, questioned after his defeat on the outcome of the final, Safin did not discard anything: " Roger has more lived on grbad than Nadal.But Rafa plays at such a level … He just won at Queen's and the turf is slower at the end of the fortnight, it's an advantage for him, Roger will really have to play his best tennis to win . "
      

At the bottom, more important is not whether Federer was a favorite of the media, observers or other players. The important thing is what Nadal thought himself. He described in his autobiography "Rafa", released in 2011, how much his mood had changed before this 2008 final:
      

His defeat in the Wimbledon final in 2007, during which he had had break points at the beginning of the 5th set, experienced Rafael Nadal like no other. " She had completely demolished me did she blossom in her book. I cried without stopping for half an hour in the locker room, tears of disappointment and anger against myself, I had fought myself so much as Federer had done . " Uncle Toni, usually so demanding with his nephew, had wanted to console him. In vain: " I told him that he did not understand, that it was certainly my only chance to win Wimbledon ."
      

This 2008 final is the story of a double bruising to be erased. One year old for one, 28 days for the other. Only one of these two wounds can heal this 6th of July. The other will be even more gaping.
      

II. The grip

It is 2:23 pm when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the second preceding the first, enter the Short Center. Rain, the best supporting role of the day, delayed the appearance of the finalists by almost half an hour. The BBC filmed their long procession to court.
      

Just before getting there, they lend themselves to the pbadage of the interview on the English channel, at the microphone of Sue Barker. They speak mechanically, their minds are already elsewhere. In this brief string of bbadities, we still remember the premonition of Federer: " With the rain, it may be a long day ". He has no idea.
      

          
             TO BE FOLLOWED TUESDAY …