Tennis has always had its special taste among the other sports, but the latest Australian Open was, by a long-shot, quite surreal. Federer and Nadal made their way back to the professional tennis circuit in the most spectacular fashion.
It was a triumph of nostalgia filling the Melbourne Park up to its upper limit. Watching the final it was like going back in time when Nadal and federer used to have the whole stage for themselves only.
How they figured out a way to unlock the rusty mechanism of an ancient rivalry is something beyond the common power of understanding.
The bottom line is that they succeeded on their enterprise against all odds.
Professional athletes from top to the bottom
For those who want to take off some of the credits these athletes fully deserve it's quite easy to state that they benefit from Djokovic or Murray being defeated early in the competition. But this is merely an incentive as both Federer and Nadal gave a true sample of their value on the tennis court.
Overall, their pace during the Australian Open was nothing but the raw emanation of their skill and commitment to the sport.
The hardest part was that of fighting with so many uncertainties. Both had a poor season back in 2016 marked with lingering injuries. That kind of burden is not easy to bear and to deal with.
With so little time spent on the tennis court prior to the Australian Open, the doubt or the fear of failure could have been a natural consequence.
Eventually, they chose not to hide behind the excuses allowing their best tennis to be played.
Everyone could learn something
The younger generation of tennis players seems a bit fragile.
Despite having some high-skilled athletes in its ranks, the expectations were never met. Whether it was about Kyrgios, Thiem, Raonic, Goffin or other ATP rising star, the issue always revolved around their lack of consistency or motivation in some cases.
Same goes for Djokovic or Murray. The first one lost his intangible aura in the mid of 2016 following the breakthrough on the French Open's clay.
About Murray. once he reached the highest summit of the ATP ranking last autumn, some level of self-sufficiency seems to emerge.
So, to have Federer (18 Grand Slam singles) and Nadal (14 Grand Slam titles) as the current trend of men's tennis is great for them but somehow bitterish for the others.
