Long Live Rivalry, a befitting tagline for the documentary, ‘Strokes of Genius‘ which celebrates the rivalry between the most successful men in the history of sports – Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The tennis documentary focuses on the epic 2008 Wimbledon final between these two players. The thrilling contest between the sweet rivals went on to create history in the tennis world.
With Roger Federer‘s recent announcement of retirement, the documentary becomes the right pick to reminiscence back on the fiercely competitive days on the grass courts. Here’s more about the greatest tennis match of all times and the documentary “Strokes of Genius‘ that captures this monumental battle.
Strokes Of Genius: A Emotional Rollercoaster
The documentary begins with settling up the match. This was the third consecutive final at Wimbledon where Roger Federer was meeting his rival Rafael Nadal. Though Federer had won the previous two, Rafael had obviously given a scare to his opponent the last time. Nadal had also won the French Open in 2008 prior to Wimbledon. Thus Wimbledon finals were a nerve-wracking game.
All the tension can be sensed in the documentary as it stitches together the match highlights with the reflections of the two opposing tennis players. There is countless footage of both these sports celebrities from their junior days to what they had become by 2008. The film also digs deep into the legendary rivalries between Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova and between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, which opens up a new way of looking at sports rivals. The understanding is that it is the rivalry between two players that bring the best out of their potential. The background score and the one-line statements also add excitement to the 90-minute experience.
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Wimbledon Finals 2008
No one would ever forget the game. The two finest tennis players, Federer and Nadal met for the 18th time on the ATP Tour. Up until then, the rivals stuck to their pattern where Federer would win on the grass while Nadal would have an upper hand on the clay courts. But this time, Nadal had different plans. This ultimately led to the Spanish star taking home the Wimbledon finals after a match duration of four hours and 48 minutes. Federer claimed his first Wimbledon in 2003 and went on to win the tennis title for consecutive years up until 2008. With the defeat to Nadal, he lost the chance to break Bjorn Borg’s record of six straight wins. But still, the Swiss player with 8 Wimbledon titles has the all-time record of the most wins.
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