French Open Outrage

So what the hell happened to Roger Federer in the French Open final? I certainly don't know... do you? What I do know is that he committed 60 unforced errors in 4 sets. 60. He had 10 break points in the first set alone, and had he converted only 3 of them, he would have won the first set 6-0. In the second set, where according to NBC announcers he played "beautifully", he committed 20 unforced errors, and only barely consolidated his break of Nadal's serve after a multi-deuce service game. Oh yeah, he served below 40% in the first two sets. Overall he converted only 1 of 17 break point opportunities. 1 of 17. On two occasions in the 1st set, Federer was up love-40 on Nadal's serve, only to lose 6 straight points (once by committing 6 straight unforced errors, something I have never seen before). It was the worst performance from Federer in a Grand Slam Final in years. I would have thought it would be the story of the match.

Alas no. Apparently Nadal was just too much for Federer, played immaculately, served impeccably... Nadal's brilliance was the story. Bullshit. I call bullshit on that. You know after the match Federer is not going to say "I really fucked the dog on that one", even though he obviously did. Quite frankly, that the match was as close as it was is perhaps the most remarkable thing about it all. Nadal's first serve percentage was impressive, but it never really threatened Federer. Nadal basically just spun in his serves, rarely putting any real pace on them at all. Roger had 17 break point opportunities after all. 17!!! In 4 sets. And 60 unforced errors. UNFORCED errors. My interpretation of unforced errors is that they are not forced by the opponent, they are simply mistakes made when none are expected. So if Nadal won basically 60 free points on mistakes made by Federer, and still only won the match with 3 breaks of serve, why will nobody talk about that? 60 free goddam points, and all people can talk about is how great Nadal is and how tough he is and blah blah blah.

Look, I don't know what happened to Federer on Sunday. He didn't appear to have any game plan to deal with Nadal's heavy topspin and Michael-Chang-like scrabmling. He basically just hit high backhands back and forth until he hit it out or in to the net. In chunks he basically served and volleyed, with great success, but didn't keep it up throughout. His forehand completely deserted him from start to finish. He looked like an entirely different player to the Federer we have all witnessed prior. He didn't even look as good as he had in his past matches with Nadal.

I'll grant that Nadal is a special player on clay. That I cannot and will not deny. His ability to run down virtually every shot is fantastic, and he can hit some outrageous winners from the backhand on the run well behind the baseline. The guy is strong and fit and passionate and plays to win every single time he steps out on the court, regardless of surface. There is much deserved praise heaped upon him.

But let's be honest with ourselves here. What happened on Sunday was Roger Federer losing the French Open Final to an inferior player by way of poor serving and committing 60 unforced errors, many of which came on the biggest points of the match. I have been watching and playing tennis for over 20 years, and I can't remember the last time I was so at odds with the general perception of how a match unfolded.