Nadal has announced that 2024 will be the last year of his career, and one of the best eras in tennis history may be coming to an end.
Once upon a time, I thought the time of the Samshin was the best. Sampras's signature serve and seven-win Wimbledon feat and 14 Grand Slams seemed like yesterday, which seemed out of reach at the time. Another player with fond memories is Agassi, the once long-haired, dashing and unruly man of the 90s. The San'a showdown was what tennis fans were most looking forward to at that time. Also, Sanshin and Agassiz were both sunny and handsome when they were young, and although Agassi had fewer Grand Slams, the lace news off the court was enough to attract attention and attract huge attention, whether it was Brooke or later Graf. It's a little off topic here, but this is also a peripheral to tennis events, which can bring a lot of traffic to tennis attention. Okay, so let's get back to business.
After several years of starving for a true king, it was not until 2003 that the real leader of the golden age of tennis began the next 20 years. It must be clear to everyone that this person is Federer. At that time, there were several people of similar age and level, in addition to Federer, there were Hewitt, Ferrer, Safin, Roddick, Nalbandian and other hopeful stars, and the slightly ahead of the results at that time may be Hewitt. Federer did not show strength beyond others at first, even when he won Wimbledon in '03, he only joined the group of 1 title at most, after all, several of the people with his name have already reached Grand Slams. But since this buddy won the Australian Open in 2004, it is different, because he won Wimbledon and US Open that year, won three major tournaments in one year, and shocked the world at once! The '04 season was a season for Federer that really rose to prominence, a season that was perfect.
After losing to Safin in the classic Australian Open semi-final of the '05 season, Federer's path to the French Open was generally not optimistic, and no one expected anything from him, after all, he had two first-round trips in the first three years, and the other only reached the third round. This time, however, he advanced to the semifinals without losing a set in the first five rounds, tying the best French Open record that his predecessor Sangshin could achieve. Compared to Sanjin, Federer won much easier, and he proved to the world that he was fully capable of winning the Musketeers' Cup. However, perhaps even he himself could not have imagined that in the years to come, he would leave tears of sadness again and again on this red field, swallowing the bitter fruit of failure after failure.
1:3, the man who bestowed on Federer defeat was a young 19-year-old Mallorca boy – his name was Nadal. This should be their first Grand Slam meeting and they are not familiar with each other. Although Federer lost, it was not a big surprise, after all, clay court is not his strong point, since playing in this tournament in 1999, he has achieved the last four in seven attempts, he is only 24 years old, and the future is promising. On the other hand, it was somewhat surprising that the opponent he lost to, the little-known kid, was participating in the French Open for the first time! A real dark horse! That year, Dark Horse finally had the last laugh and held the Musketeer's Cup for the first time.
Perhaps at the time, no one realized that the two protagonists of one of the best times of tennis had appeared. After all, in those years, genius teenagers and future stars gave people too many imaginations, and when fans placed more expectations on them, they crossed the sky like shooting stars, fleeting.
Federer's first two Grand Slam tournaments in '05 didn't win the next Grand Slam title? While everyone hesitated to look at Federer, who had just risen the year before, at Wimbledon and the US Open, Federer showed unquestionable determination and great strength beyond his contemporaries, and brought home two trophies without bloodshed.
In terms of quantity, although Federer in '05 won the Australian Open less than the previous year, the huge progress of the French Open is enough to make up for the regrets of the Australian Open. What's more, the real strength of top players is reflected in consistency, and the loss to Safin at the Australian Open was only a millimeter, which was also the latter's final glory. No, at the Australian Open '06, Federer returned, won the title again, and he began to show his kingly dominance in the sport.
Having won seven Grand Slam trophies in less than three years, three consecutive Wimbledon titles, two consecutive US Open titles and two Australian Open titles, Federer's speed in winning trophies is simply amazing. You know, the generation of legendary Agassiz has only 8 Grand Slams in his entire career. Since the feat of winning three Grand Slams in a row since Wimbledon '05 has been achieved, the next thing fans are looking forward to is whether they can achieve the great feat of winning four Grand Slams in a row. The world is focused on the upcoming clay French Open.
It has to be said that after Federer's rise, he crushed almost all his opponents of his time, and those who were once tied with him gradually moved away from people's sight in repeated defeats, and only one can fight on red clay. And with the advantages of hard grass solid, the weakness of red soil is quickly compensating. Since winning the final four of the French Open in '05, Federer is honestly a top player on clay, and this can also be seen from the French Open process in '06, when Federer stood in the final of Roland Garros for the first time after winning six opponents like chopping melons and chopping vegetables.
However, who would have thought that the person on the opposite side was the Mallorca kid who made him break in the semifinals last year. This is because the French Open has always been an unpopular event, and the three-time winner Kurten can be crowned king on clay, not to mention, last year's 19-year-old boy has some luck in the eyes of many people, and there is no shortage of precedents in the history of winning titles at a young age like him, but many hindsight are just a flash in the pan.
Federer and Nadal, the greatest pair in tennis history, began their second split at the French Open!
6:1, when Federer easily won the first set, the audience thought that great moment was coming. It is impossible to know which side the crowd supported more at the time, but in terms of confidence and experience, Federer was undoubtedly the more advantageous side, based on the experience of not missing a single shot in the previous seven Grand Slam finals. However, "the undying" Nadal showed his amazing running ability and strong willpower, he proved to the world that last year's championship was not all based on heaven's love, and after winning two sets, the fourth set entered a white-hot battle, the two sides went back and forth 6-6, and finally Federer lost in the tie-break.
3:1。 Nadal defended his French Open title at the age of only 20!