Postcard booooooooom! Here ya go: By Brett Connors.

Written by: Staff on 24th January 2014

Postcard booooooooom! Here ya go: By Brett Connors. |

Photo by Brett Connors Photography

So, the story was an all Swiss final, it’s staring us right in the face, right? Stan’s already in and Feds’s got a new coach, new racquet, and is playing great, already having beaten Tsonga and Murray both former finalists down under. Plus Rafa’s got that blister that everyone’s talking about, so it’s Swiss cheese references and being on time like a clock headlines, right? Nope, sorry. This is still the same story playing out, you know the one where Rafa owns Fed head to head and is now 9-2 against him in grand slams, never having beaten him on a grand slam hard court. Ya that one, be careful not to get to close or caught up in the story everyone wants, as opposed to being witness to the story thats actually being told. Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer in straights sets Friday night in Melbourne, 7-6 6-3 6-3, and as close as that first set was, it still would have been a decisive win for Rafa. Once you knew the first set was going to take over 45 minutes to be played, you knew Nadal had him, even if he had to give up the set. There was no way Federer was going to be able to play sets that long at that high of a pace for a whole match. He needed shorter points, so he played aggressive trying to attack the net, but for Nadal it eventually became target practice, passing shots off both sides from all over the court. Game over. So instead of the story everyone wanted, we are left with the one everyone should have been paying attention to, that being, Rafael Nadal is the best player in the world right now. And Sunday night, on Australia Day down under, Nadal will beat the nice story that is Stanislas Wawrinka for his 14th grand slam title. Tying him with the man who will present him the trophy, Pete Sampras. Duh who didn’t see that coming?