The Death of Beauty
Titanic tiebreaker:
This Sports Illustrated article sums up accurately, and rather emotionally, what Rafael Nadal’s win over Roger Federer at Wimbledon, so often called “the cathedral of tennis,” meant to Roger’s fans. His reference to an old New York Times article, Federer as a Religious Experience, also brings nostalgia to all who were left in awe by his five-year run on the lawns of the All-England Club.
Some excerpts from the first article:
On July 6, as I watched Federer lose a four-hour 48-minute five-set match to the up-and-coming Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal — a match that John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg both described as the greatest ever played — I felt a creeping realization as the duo battled into twilight that I was witnessing something more profound than my hero losing a tennis match: I was witnessing the death of beauty.
For as much as even his own fans admire his play, there is nothing lithe, elegant or graceful about Rafael Nadal, oh he of bulging biceps and perennially itchy butt. A spectacular athlete, Nadal has risen to the top of men’s tennis with strength and determination. He’s a bruiser (case in point: on Sunday, he directed 25 percent of his serves to Federer’s body; Federer chose that aggressive line only four percent of the time).
Eben Harrel, Si.com