‘The Joker’ & ‘The Gentleman’ Brought Cheers to Wimbledon
~ Amy Lignor
Leo and Lenny – the beautiful twins of Roger Federer and his wife, watched Daddy hold the second-place trophy above his head. They clapped, they smiled, and they showed pride in their father…they wore exactly the same faces as the rest of the crowd at Wimbledon just moments ago.
Federer brought his game. He fought with everything he had, yet it was just not enough. Although the game was basically in Djokovic’s favor most of the time, Federer kept going. He made the winner work for it, not letting up for a moment and causing the match to go into 5 sets when it looked like it had no chance of going over four. It was a slim win, not a blow out, and it truly brought excitement to an event that, thus far, had only seen winners lose and the ‘best of the best’ drop out, leaving fans very little to watch.
Djokovic (AKA: The Joker) and Federer (AKA: The Gentleman) offered up a stunning battle. Their rivalry brought tears to the eyes and cheers from the stands. Federer has nothing to be ashamed of, and this sporting rivalry has lived up (once again) to the hype.
Talk about close…this all came down to the very last point. Federer had only lost one Wimbledon final going into this match and was working hard to achieve a record 9th title. What must be taken into consideration, however, is the fact that this was the very first time Federer had to face his ultimate rival on the final day. The two have met thirty-four times, with Federer claiming victory 18 of those meetings and Djokovic 16. Out of these meetings, according to both professionals and fans, five-set thrillers occurred. This is what they’re good at. No offense, but take away the seventh game in basketball; take away the frosty encounters in hockey; you can even take out the NFC and AFC Championship, because this year it was these two men who set the sports world on fire and increased adrenaline both on and off the court.
Both shed tears, with The Gentleman looking happy with his performance, yet regretting that one point – that one moment that went wrong after working his way back up to provide a truly thrilling end. The Joker was happy and crying and grateful, yet always gave Federer the accolades and respect he deserved.
To get here – to climb the Wimbledon ladder – Federer took on and won against: Milos Raonic, Stan Wawrinka, Tommy Robredo, Santiago Giraldo, Gilles Muller and Paolo Lorenzi, dropping only one set the entire time until today.
Djokovic had to work even harder, dealing with two weeks of gritty, tough players that included; Grigor Dimitrov, Marin Cilic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gilles Simon, Radek Stepanek and Andrey Golubev. He lost a total of four sets, and even though it looked very much like he was about to be bested by a rejuvenated and determined Federer in the fifth set today, either an angel was on his shoulder, or he received a very lucky error by Federer at just the right time.
Tennis used to be that sport without humor or cheering. People sat as quiet and peaceful as the Queen, herself, looking as if they were either bored or asleep. It is this rivalry, it is the heart and soul of these two men inspiring one another that brought the fans to their feet. The smiles, the clapping, Wimbledon was as loud and excited as the Super Bowl stadiums when Djokovic fell to his knees and Federer shed a tear for a comeback victory that would have been one of the most amazing in the history of the sport.
But both of these men are winners. They are the fan favorites and will remain so for a good, long time to come. The runner-up smiled at those beautiful faces of his twins and the winner dedicated his victory to his future wife and future baby. (Yes, ladies, he is out of circulation), and now facing the far more nerve-wracking job of becoming a first-time father. Once he begins that path, Wimbledon will seem like a walk in the park.
Congratulations to both men. You made Wimbledon more exciting than it’s ever been!
