Here’s the concluding chapter to our series of unforgettable sports stories.
3) Goran Ivanisevic vs Patrick Rafter – Wimbledon (2001)
It is extremely risky to bet on someone who is a wildcard entry to go past the first round at Wimbledon. Goran, however, ranked 125 that year, went all the way, and in doing so, became the first and only wildcard entrant to win at Wimbledon. He beat Patrick Rafter in an emotional final in five sets, and thus finished a tale of heartbreak with the sweet success of victory.
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Losing a final is never easy. Losing the final more than once at the same event is even harder. Goran had lost Wimbledon thrice. In 1992, to Andre Agassi, and in 1994 and 1998 to Pete Sampras. Blessed with a bazooka of a serve, the lanky (and cranky) Ivanisevic always came with a self-destruct button. In a game like tennis, which perennially requires the highest amounts of mental strength, patience and calm, Goran would give examples of how you could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Breaking racquets, abusing himself, following odd superstitions, looking like a bunch of nerves when under pressure – none of these habits helped. They cost him 3 Wimbledon titles.
Which is why, during that final in Wimbledon, even though Goran had taken out Britain’s own son Tim Henman (who never made a final), most of the neutrals rooted for him. They couldn’t bear to see him heartbroken again. They just wanted him to win it this time. I’m sure somewhere deep down, Pat Rafter too shared the same emotion.
And when Ivanisevic went down on his knees after finally winning it, there were just two emotions the whole of Wimbledon was going through – joy and relief.
2) Roger Federer’s record equalling 14th title – French Open 2009
Roger Federer was already, arguably, the best tennis player ever. But after the French Open in 2009, there was no argument. He had conquered clay, and in doing so, become just the sixth man in history to complete a career Grand Slam. He also equalled Pete Sampras’ record of 14 slams, and Ivan Lendl’s record of 19 slam finals.
Statistics aside, all of Federer’s impressive skills – his flawless, mesmerising groundstrokes, the elegance of his movement, the cool-headed way in which he handles crucial points – were on display that afternoon in Paris. For more than a couple of years, between 2004 and 2008 Federer was a record-breaking machine, the epitome of consistency, and the pinnacle of excellence. The only thorn in his way was Rafael Nadal and that conspicuously missing Roland Garros trophy. This time, the Federer script did a full circle, and he won that elusive clay title at Paris. By doing so, he had accomplished something that the Sampras story didn’t have (Sampras never reached the final of the French).
1) Liverpool v/s AC Milan – Istanbul (2005)
It was the mother (and baap) of all comebacks. Liverpool and AC Milan squared off on that historic night in Istanbul in what was decidedly the biggest match in Europe that season, and played their parts perfectly to whip up a classic.
Destiny said it would be Liverpool’s year. They had barely managed to get past the group stage, courtesy of a Steven Gerrard wonder goal against Olympiakos in the dying seconds of the match. Then came the semi-final, where they pipped Chelsea (who under the charismatic Jose Mourinho, were firm favourites to progress) by virtue of the infamous Luis Garcia ghost goal. And now they were within touching distance. However, they had to overhaul a strong Milan side containing the terrific trio of Kaka, Crespo and Shevchenko, and as with all the legendary Milan sides, this one was as mean in defence as ever.
Right from the word go, Liverpool was put to the sword. Milan were 3-0 up at half-time. It was getting embarrassing. All the Kop hoped for at that stage was damage limitation. Fans were already planning the long trip home.
Enter Steven Gerrard. The man, who time and again had resurrected lost causes, popped up with a brilliant header in the 54th minute to restore same parity. Then came the turnaround. In a span of 6 crazy minutes, the scoreline was 3-3. Suddenly, as it happens so often, the tide had turned. Liverpool genuinely started to believe that this was going to be their year. Perhaps Milan thought so too. After the otherwise erratic Liverpool keeper Jerzy Dudek miraculously denied Andriy Shevchenko twice in extra time (and people still don’t know how Shevchenko didn’t score), the game went to penalties.
Luckily for the faint of heart, there wasn’t the drama of a sudden death and Liverpool won the shootout 3-2.
It was one of those moments when everyone wished he was a Liverpool fan. The lucky ones said they didn’t have words to describe the feeling. To win is one thing, but to win when the chips (and everything else possible) are down, when you have no hope whatsoever, on the biggest stage of them all, is obviously a whole other thing. Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez summed it up well by saying “My problem is that I don’t have words to express the things that I feel at this moment”.
As for Milan, the loss knocked the stuffing out of them. It must have taken them a long time to recover. Defeats like this can be extremely painful. And to perhaps ease some of that pain, this story once again did the full circle.
Two years later, in the Champions league final, Milan faced Liverpool. They went on to win the far less dramatic match 2-1.
Here are a few more scripts that just missed the cut:
Usain Bolt took the world by storm, sprinting his way to the world record for the 100m race, clocking in at 9.69 seconds, and thus becoming the fastest man on the planet. He subsequently bettered his feat, and his record time stands unmatched at a staggering 9.58 seconds.
The Sampras- Agassi rivalry – One of tennis’ greatest rivalries until a certain Swiss maestro and a ruthless warrior from Spain came along concluded in an epic match at the 2002 US Open, where Sampras defeated Agassi and put paid to the long lasting rivalry by bowing out of tennis and having had the last laugh. Sampras leads Agassi in their 34 meetings, 20-14.
P.S. If and when Sachin Tendulkar makes it to a hundred centuries, most of the occupants of the list would move down a rung.
