I clapped, rejoiced and revered yesterday evening at the every point that the winner has made or the loser has not made in the True Bounce Academy's tennis tournament for Under-14. But, at the back of my mind, I knew that there were more to be mesmerized with the world's two top rankers fighting it all on the red clay of the Roland Garros! I returned home only to be disappointed to see the first set of the final in favor of Rafael Nadal a.k.a. Rafa.

It is a fact that Nadal is an indisputable champion on the clay. It is also a fact that Federer is an indisputable champion of the game. More than Nadal, for Federer it was not just another Grand Slam final; it was an instrument to create a record as only the third man in the game's history to clinch all Grand Slams in the open era at the same time. (It should be noted that Federer won Wimbledon four times, US Open three times and Australian Open too three times.) I like people breaking or creating the records in any field. Given in that context, Nadal is the Nemesis, for Federer Failed once again!

It is a widespread perception that Nadal is almost always unbeatable on clay. And this simple perception spread like a virus and reached Federer's mind too! Some of the channels for this spreading of this perception are the harping and reinforcing media and now, the enormous amounts of resources on the Web. I wonder whether this perception really intimidated Federer before he started playing the finals at the Roland Garros. Nowadays, the players are not insulated from the often-dangerous (mis)perceptions spreading channels!

Nonethelss, it was disheartening that Federer was an uncharacteristic error-prone player that evening and those errors proved costly to him. He was not in his best minds with his shoulders drooping after losing the first set. It was not because Nadal had played his best tennis that made him have the crown, it was because Federer had made more mistakes in the game. Finally, I feel now, Nadal did not win. Federer only lost! I wish you all the best of Fortunes for the next year, Roger!