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The flashbulbs came back today. It was 6th July, 2008 again.

I was standing with my


face hidden in my palms - not being able to digest the fact that Federer was serving a
break down, facing a championship point - staring down the long barrel of defeat at his
spiritual home, the Wimbledon.
The dominance came back too. 2008 Roland Garros final flashed by my mind. A boy
who was learning to dream faced a mighty Roger Federer who was playing at his best.
Federers silent screams were vivid in my memory after all he was handed a pasting
that day, his worst final ever - 1-6, 3-6 and a staggering 0-6. The emperor was
vanquished that moment, the legend of Federer had started fading that day.
2009 Australian Open was fresh in my mind too. The best tournament Rafa ever won
an undying testimony to his inhuman mental and physical strength. That match will
never grow old the nerve-racking third set tie-breaker and the final set where Rafa
broke every bit of Rogers mental resistance and won the fifth set with a scary ease a
4 hour final triumph after the longest semi-final in Australian Open history against
Verdasco (5h14m). That was a fairytale victory that words cannot ever describe.
It all came back today...
A boy who had never thought of winning a single grand slam whose only dream was to
play at Wimbledon someday that wonder boy has come a long way indeed.
Tonight was the night of the crown prince of tennis, tonight was the homecoming of a
legend - a sportsman whose life has been weaved into the clay of Roland Garros.
Yes, todays match wasnt excellent. Rafa wasnt at his best, neither was Novak but
tonight was hardly about the tennis. Tonight was a celebration - a culmination of all the
kilometers ran, of all the fluids lost, of all the returns made possible and, of all the
energy spent in that all-consuming steel of his.
Tonight he touched Pete.
Tonight he won his 14th.
Tonight you, Sir, took me back in time a 16 year old boy watching an 18 year old boy.
Yes Rafa, on 3rd June, 2005, mens singles semi-final Roland Garros the impressions
you left on my tennis-loving heart were deeper than the furrows you left on the clay of
Philippe Chatrier. Since that day, you have been a constant inspiration, a constant love,

a constant symbol of effervescent excellence.


I wish you all the luck as you bludgeon your way towards a legacy nobody will dare
touch - a legacy of inhuman stamina and indomitable spirit, but most importantly, of
that tremendous hunger to win a point that nobody can ever emulate.
VAMOS!!!!
The way you deal with your victories remains sweeter than ever.
A life-long fan.

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