Match of the Year/Quote of the Year 2010

Ladies and Gentlemen, right under the wire – but slightly above the net post, here is the winner of the MOY 2010 (For the uninitiated, MOY is not the shtetl way of saying: “Oy, Mame, I just got buggy-whipped by a Nadal topspin forehand!)

And the winner is… Andrew Murray vs. Rafael Nadal Parera, 6/3  7/6  3/0 ab. – Australian Open Quarterfinals 2010! Gentlemen, please come up to the stage to accept your award!

Murray, looking up from his PlayStation: “Who, me?”
Nadal, with raised eyebrow: “This is my favorite awards espectaculo, no?”

AM, on stage: “Well, this is certainly a surprise. I’d like to thank my team, Miles…I mean… my mum, Alex Corretja, Dani, my manager, my physio, my hitting partner, my conditioning coach – I owe him these biceps, take a look at these babies! – my sparring partner, Ricky Hatton, my nutritionist, my hot blond girlfriend, and the new cast of Miami Vice who will be in my box throughout the year to help me get over the hump.”

Thank you Andy, thank you. We’re sure you’ll be back again next year. You’re too great a player not to win a Slam very soon. A word from Rafa?

RN: “Well, thank you veri much everybody, no? It’s a pleasure to be here. First of all, I want to congratulate Andy for his great season, even though I beat him at Wimbledon when it really mattered and at the end of the year in London too. Andy, you are a great player, and I’m sure you gonna win a Slam very soon. I also want to thank my box, Tio Toni, Carlos, Rafael, Benito, my hot brunette girlfriend, Shakira, the Prince Felipe who is here today, and the World Champions of fútbol. And Kia Motors and GE Money, who make this awards possible. And the Canarias Islands, which have the best fishing in the world. And Steven, who watches all my matches, even in the middle of the night. Steven, I want to congratulate you for a great season, and I sure you gonna be back here very soon. So thank you veri much everybody, and I gonna see you next month, no?”

Thank you very much Andy and Rafael, for these moving speeches. Let’s give them a hand, Ladies and Gentlemen. Just one hand, Rafa, please, the left one…I mean, the right one. Andy….Andy, can you hear us?

So to venture a quick analysis of this match…All right, it could have been longer. But as a personal experience, there is nothing like waking up at 3:00am in the New York winter to watch a match between two players whose matchup might be the most exciting in the game today. The blue court in Rod Laver Arena shimmers like a translucent lagoon in which the pure joy of sport appears to be greater than at any other tournament. On this day, Nadal and Murray are absolutely ON FIRE from the very start. The first set in particular is spectacular, with both players going for broke on almost every point, hitting winners on the run, dropping delicate touch volleys, spinning perfectly measured lobs, all while criss-crossing the court like hares at the first hint of  springtime. The 6/3 first set score is deceptive. Nadal goes up a break in the third game of the match, to see his advantage immediately erased in the next game by Murray, who ends up winning the set by holding after breaking at 4/2. Rafa wins his share of spectacular points, but in very un-Nadal like fashion, fails to convert on crucial break points later in the set.

The second set is  also played at a very high level, but one gets the feeling that much like Sysiphus rolling the boulder up the hill, Nadal can’t quite clear the peak, with Murray acting as its ruthless guardian. Like the Australia Day fireworks  that provided a slight interruption early in the set, his serving is absolutely brilliant, leaving Nadal no chance whenever he has the slightest opening. 2nd set to Murray in a tiebreak.

The third set’s play comes as an anti-climax. Somewhat mysteriously, Nadal tweaks his knee in the first game while routinely catching up to a ball, and although his level is still high, his demeanor appears dispirited. He abandons with the score stuck at 3/0. Game, set, match, Murray. It is a masterful performance.

In the outcome of this match, even greater than Murray’s brilliance perhaps, is the sense that Rafael Nadal’s career might have been permanently impaired by a body suddenly reticent to the almost superhuman efforts imposed upon it by its master. What might have been if his health was equal to his talent? Will he ever win another Slam, or even another tournament? What a shame one of tennis’ brightest lights should be dimmed so soon! As we all know, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open told a very different story. Beyond the outstanding play and the dramatic twist of this Murray/Nadal Australian Quarterfinal, this match now stands out for a very intriguing reason: unbeknownst to Nadal at the time, the Grand Slam was within his reach…

Quote of the Year 2010:
Andrew Murray, Australian Open Awards Ceremony, following loss to Roger Federer: “I can cry like Roger, it’s just a shame I can’t play like him.”

Commentary: Very funny, but nobody cries like Roger. Like his versatile game, he has mastered all the variations of the crying game as well. Tears of joy, tears of sorrow, record-breaking tears, tears at seeing the Australian greats who are there no doubt to see him cry, tears of frustration at not winning the French all those years…

In conclusion: if Andy Murray had played against Roger as well as Roger had cried against Rafa the previous year, he would no doubt have beaten Roger, since Rafa had beaten him, and he had beaten Rafa, who has not cried against either of them. It’s a simple mathematical problem that, once resolved, should finally enable Andy to win a Slam.