CAMELOT FANTASIES

Oh my. I thought that match was horrible on both ends, from the beginning. About ten minutes I knew the end result even though Fed wasn't playing good either. I thought Rafa had no intensity or determination from the beginning. He didn't seem to have the same mindset that he'd had all tournament long. His body language was terrible from the onset. He didn't look tired to me, he looked like he was on automatic pilot, just going through the motions.

Federer seemed anxious and nervous from the beginning. It was a lackluster effort on both sides. Rafa played some great matches this week, his form was the best against Gasquet. Gasquet played a heck of a match and had Rafa played Richie with the same lack of effort Richard would have gotten his first win. That match couldn't have a highlight reel because there were no good points that I remember. It was a dud like many finals. I was extremely disappointed, above all I want to see a good match, and this match was anything but.

I didn't think yesterday that Rafa would be able to rise to Federer's level, but that was not the case. In one of the games he had an opportunity to get a break, it was towards the end and he hit something crazy that gave Federer the upper hand.  I thought Federer's form was awful and Rafa could've easily had taken that match. Maybe I'll have to look at it again, because I don't see anything that you guys saw. You all are making me feel like I was in The Twilight Zone cause it was worse than the last dud that I remember.

Having said that, I wasn't disappointed in the end result. Rafa didn't need that title he needs to worry more about getting into form, so in that respect the tournament did that for him. It would've been awful if Fed had lost that match, it was in his backyard, he had been so successful there, and his H2H with Rafa would have dealt him a psychological blow. I also never want to see one of the top guys have a  bad turn that can affect them negatively. I always want Rafa to win, but this was a case where Federer needed to win, so I'm OK with the loss.