Roger Federer’s late surge did silence critics and rivals alike

In this ever-changing world, nothing is constant. Well, almost... Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer proved they are still peerless. The rest either wallowed in mediocrity (Andy Roddick, Nikolay Davydenko), underachievement (Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray) or obscurity (Juan Martin del Potro). A few (Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer) managed to grab the headlines, if only fleetingly.

Amid all this, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut battled it out for 665 minutes in a first-round match at Wimbledon to rewrite history. American Isner eventually prevailed 6-4 2-6 6-7 7-6 70-68 on Court 18 of all places! The match turned out to be the longest in history in terms of both time and games (186). It shattered every tennis record — most aces, longest set, most points et al.
Back to the two who really matter.

If the ‘Majorcan Pirate’ reopened the ‘Greatest of All Time’ debate by becoming the youngest ever to complete a Career Slam after capturing his maiden US Open trophy and ninth Grand Slam title overall, the Swiss was awe-inspiring in Melbourne and London where he won a mind-boggling 16th Major cup and record-equalling fifth World Tour Finals (WTF) crown, respectively.

Nadal’s season, though, was as bright as his fluorescent shades despite suffering one of the worst starts. If his parents’ break-up wasn’t enough, his knees threatened to crackle yet again. A quarterfinal loss to Andy Murray at the Australian Open did prompt many to write him off, but Nadal fought back, and how!

In his comeback stage, he won titles in Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid (beating defending champion Federer), the latter giving him a record-breaking 18th ATP Masters 1000 title and the No 2 ranking he’d lost earlier in the year.

Then came Roland Garros — the very arena where the turnaround had all begun in 2009. Federer, the defending champion, was in his way. But Robin Soderling, the man who inflicted misery on Rafa the previous year, chose to ruin Federer’s Paris dream this time. He faced Rafa in the final but choked once again in the final. Rafa stormed into the Wimbledon final with a straightforward victory over British hope Andy Murray.

Federer, conversely, after starting the year with the Australian Open title, ran into a rough patch. He lost to Tomas Berdych in Wimbledon. Many thought, not for the first time, that this was the beginning of Federer’s end. Nadal wasted little time in beating the Czech to clinch his second title in the leafy suburbs of London.
Nadal then won his first title at the Flushing Meadows, beating Novak Djokovic in four sets over two days, thanks to the rains. He also became the first player since Andre Agassi to complete a ‘Career Golden Slam’, which, of course, includes that precious Beijing Olympics singles gold. Nadal’s victory also clinched him the year-end top spot.

Though Federer impressed in Toronto (lost to Murray in the final) and Cincinnati (beat Mardy Fish), he couldn’t quite go all the way.

The five-time champion held two match points against Djokovic, but the Serb was in no mood to allow Federer to play his seventh straight final in New York.

It is exactly at this time that Federer took one of the most important decisions of his career. He appointed Paul Annacone — former mentor of Pete Sampras — as his coach. Federer conjured up a 31-4 win-loss record since that Wimbledon loss. He won back-to-back titles in Stockholm and Basel, the latter taking him past Sampras’ 64 and fourth on the all-time list behind Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe. The critics were baying for his blood yet again, this time after Federer wasted five match points before losing to Gael Monfils in the semifinal of the Paris Masters. The WTF was a different story. Federer didn’t drop a set until the final and also bagged 1,500 ranking points.

Among women, Serena Williams bulldozed her way to victory in Melbourne and Big W, thereby taking her Grand Slam singles tally to 13. However, a bizarre foot injury kept her out for the rest of the year. Francesca Schiavone (French Open) became the first Italian woman to win a singles crown, while ‘Supermom’ Kim Clijsters retained her US Open title in style. However, it was Dane Caroline Wozniacki who came up with consistent performances throughout to become No 1. Her failure to win a Grand Slam, though, led to several calls for a revision of the WTA ranking system.