During his comical and emotional speech at Dartmouth University, located in New Hampshire, United States, the former Swiss tennis player Roger Federer presented his three “tennis lessons” applicable to life, taking the opportunity to exemplify one of them through his historical final before the Spanish Rafael Nadal (264°) in Wimbledon 2008.
“I tried not to lose, but I did, sometimes big. For me one of the most important defeats It was the final at Wimbledon 2008 against Nadal. Some call it like best match of all time. With all due respect to Rafa, I think it would have been much better if I had won“, began the former world number 1, who faced the left-handed Manacorí 40 times, who took control of the head-to-head match 24-16.
In harmony, the owner of 103 titles, who won the British Grand Slam eight times, once again highlighted his love affair with the competition: “Losing at Wimbledon has been a big deal, because winning at Wimbledon is everything. I’ve played in some awesome places, but once you get on center court, in the tennis cathedraland you end up as champion you feel the magnitude of the moment. There is nothing like that“.
“In 2008 He was going for the record of six consecutive titles, he was playing for history. I won’t go point by point because we would be there for hours, almost five hours precisely. There was rain interruptions and the sun disappeared. Rafa won the first two sets, I won the next ones tie-breaks and we meet tied at seven in the last“said the 42-year-old born in Basel, who at that time had already won 53 trophies, 12 of his 20 Majors.
Consequently, the double Olympic medalist revealed his feelings during the unforgettable matches in it All England: “I understand why people focus on the end: in the last few minutes it got so dark I could barely see the grass. Looking back though I feel like I lost the first point of the match. I looked across the net, saw a guy who a few weeks earlier had crushed me in straight sets at Roland Garros and thought: ‘He has more ambition than me and finally understood how to play me‘”.
“It took me until the third set to remember that I was the five-time defending champion and that I was on grass, where I knew how to do it. But it was too late, Rafa won deservedly. Some defeats hurt more than others, I knew I would never have another chance to win six titles in a row.. I lost Wimbledon and the number 1 rankingwhile people said that they had had a great streak and now the leadership was changing,” he exclaimed under the watchful eye of the 11,000 people present on campus.
Finally, Federer, who would later consecrate himself in 2009, 2012 and 2017, shared the learnings incorporated in that fateful final: “I knew I had to keep working and competing. In tennis perfection does not exist: I played 1,526 singles matches during my career and won almost 80%, while only 54% of the points disputed. No matter what you play in life, be it a point, a match, a season or a job, sometimes you will lose. It is a roller coaster with many ups and downs. Becoming a master at overcoming difficult times is the sign of a champion to me.“.
