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The showdown between world No. 1, Swiss Roger Federer, and 7th
seeded French newcomer Gael Monfils, provided the crowd with
everything you could hope from a top seeded grand slam final
Fast action, quick reflexes, blistering passing shots, and all the
clichés you come to expect from the best of tennis kept the fans on
the edges of their seats |
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| A mostly-packed centre court at the Khalifa Tennis Complex, erupted in a thunderous ovation as the finalists of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2006, world no. 1 gun, Roger Federer of Switzerland, and 7th seeded French teenager Gael Monfils emerged from the players room. I say mostly, because a great many of us fans, myself included, began a tennis match of our own off the court, when we were sent back and forth between stands, being refused access to the many remaining seats that dotted the crowd.
When finally seated… separately from my wife (who was recovering from the insane crush for last minute tickets just prior to the match), I settled back to indulge in my great passion for all things tennis.
And did the sparks fly! The rising French star took the early break in the first set and consolidated a 3-0 lead in what promised to be a thrilling set. Monfils seemed to have the Swiss’s number, as Federer struggled to find his rhythm, but a few vital errors and a rallying charge from Federer took the wind from the Frenchman’s sails, and he lost the next 6 games to drop the set 3-6.
It seemed then that Federer would stroll away with back-to-back open titles when he broke Monfils at the beginning of the second set, but the 19-year-old, buoyed by the majority support of the capacity crowd showed us why he’s the 7th seed in the tournament when broke back to give his fans a nail-biting neck-and-neck race for the second set. He was on the verge of tying the match, before finally succumbing to Federer’s experience to lose 5-7 in the second set tiebreak.
Federer was delighted to begin his 2006 campaign, by winning his 45th straight hard-court match. “It’s nice to win back-to-back titles. It was a great opening week for the year, a beautiful start,” he told reporters after the game.
Monfils was by no means disappointed by his performance. “I’m happy that I reached the final,” he said. “The match against world number one was a great experience. There were lot of positives for me even in today’s loss,”
Apart from the huge ticketing and seating confusion (we ended up getting tickets as they were letting people in at the gate, so my wife’s internal organs were battered needlessly), we enjoyed a great final, and look forward to next year’s open with much anticipation. |
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