At the end of the Italian open, it is 5-1 head-to-head, Nadal. The match was a classic.
I am reminded of what happened more than 20 years ago. McEnroe, after winning his first two matches against Lendl, went 0-7 against his nemesis. Then, Mac changed it around and had a streak himslef and the thing settled at 14-14 after some time. Finally, towards the end of their careers, Lendl won many more in their famed duels and ended up much positive against Mac.
Lendl started out a clay courter, became unbeatable on hard courts and came down from disdainful "tennis on grass is for cows" to longing for the Wimbledon trophy.
I see much parallel between Lendl and Nadal. I see common strains between Federer and McEnroe (am I going to be crucified for this!). Let us hope Nadal and Federer give tennis fans what Lendl and McEnroe gave in their times - unadulterated thrills.
Raghuram Ekambaram
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