Battle for supremacy brings out best in champions

It has already been billed as the greatest game of all time and yesterday’s Wimbledon men’s final is destined to be mentioned in the same breath as Borg v McEnroe in 1980.

It had everything, talent, drama, emotion and, above all, heart.

But one man who may not have enjoyed the epic four-hour battle was Andy Murray.

For all his rhetoric about his belief in his own ability and confidence that he could actually go all the way, this match was a reminder of just how far away Murray is from challenging the game’s top two.

The Scot was humbled by Nadal but against Federer the bar was raised even higher as the Spaniard showed just how hard you have to push him to even come close to victory.

The two men were simply playing in a league of their own, far beyond anything any other mere mortal could cope with as two true champions with iron will clashed head on.

For all the doubts going into the tournament, Federer reached his own supreme best in this tournament and, after struggling early on against Nadal, he recovered and brought his ‘A game’ out in the final as well.

But Nadal is a different man from the one Federer defeated in another showpiece final 12 months ago.

He has adapted his game for the grass surface and, to add to his relentless power, fitness and energy, he has added a desperate addiction to winning to match that which runs through Federer.

These both men are both so possessed with victory that they find an extra level time and time again when threatened with the unthinkable possibility of defeat, that is the true nature of a sporting champion.

This was mentality was shown in spades by Federer, like when he was 5-2 down in the fourth set tie break or his outrageous passing shot when match point down.

It was of course ultimately futile and such is Federer’s mentality that the fact he battled so hard and came so close will not prove any consolation, nor will the knowledge that he participated in one of the great sporting contests of recent years.

Never has a man proved himself a champion so many times in one day and still came out a loser.

But this is what we are blessed with, every so often in individual sports we get two ‘once in a generation’ players who push each other to ridiculous heights.

It is one thing to watch one player dominate his sport, Sampras-style, for years and leave all opponents trailing in his wake.

But even better is to see two greats constantly meeting in gladiatorial combat and forcing each other to move their game forward to keep ahead of their rival.

I hope the ‘Rafa’ and ‘Rog’ story continues for years to come, Novak Djokovic has made a game effort of leading the chasing pack but these two are on a different plane to the other pretenders and are taking tennis to scary new heights.

This is the difference between having two greats as opposed to one, the game is constantly moving forward, as the protagonists constantly pose questions of each other.

Rog was the undisputed number one, then Rafa raised the bar with his destruction of his rival in the French Open, Rog responded by looking every inch the five-time champion on his way to the final, only for Rafa to clinch the showdown.

Now the ball is back in Rog’s court and he has to try and add something extra to his already immaculate game to hit back at Rafa.

The perfect riposte would be to do what the Spaniard did to him at SW19 and beat Nadal at his own adopted home of Roland Garros next year before claiming back his Wimbledon title.

This idea of great champions pushing each other to new heights is why the best sportsmen are measured not just by how many titles they win but by who they beat and how they react to defeat.

Mohammed Ali is widely accepted as ‘the greatest’ heavyweight boxer of all time, but he was defeated five times in 61 professional fights and lost his heavyweight crown in the ‘fight of the century’ in Maddison Square Gardens against Joe Frazier in 1971.

His raw statistics compare poorly to Rocky Marciano, who had a perfect record in his 49 bouts and retired as an undefeated champion.

But Ali is regarded to have fought in the golden age of heavyweight boxing and it is the character he showed in fights such as the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’, when he regained his title in 1974 against George Foreman, that make him stand out.

We marvel at the exploits of Sampras, Tiger Woods and Michael Schumacher, but sadly we are forced to compare them to heroes of the past in a hypothetical contest to judge how good they are because noone in their eras comes close to challenging their supremacy.

They may have won less titles, but it would be interesting to see just how much better these champions could have been if they had someone of a similar ability to challenge their dominance.

There was talk of a ‘changing of the guard’ at the Centre Court on Sunday, with Nadal now set to embark on a Federer like reign over the coming years.

I am not so sure as I have no doubt that Federer will not let Nadal retain his crown without putting up an almighty fight.