Tennis World english 39 Tennis World EN 39 | Page 14

The Fall Of The
Fab Four?
by Giorgio Giannaccini
At
the
ATP
World
Tour
Finals
this
year,
we
were
all
treated
to
an
unusual
sight:
the
simultaneous
absence
of
both
Rafael
Nadal
and
Roger
Federer,
the
two
men
who
have
defined
men’s
tennis
for
more
than
a
decade.

Between
the
two
of
them
they
have
re-written
dozens
of
records
and
played
some
of
the
most
extraordinary
matches
the
tennis
world
has
ever
seen.
Their
rivalry
is
equaled
only
by
clashes
between
McEnroe
and
Borg.

Their
absence
from
the
Finals
cast
a
somber
tone
over
the
whole
event,
and
also
had
the
effect
of
lowering
the
overall
quality
of
the
matches.
With
Federer
and
Nadal
no
longer
able
to
play
as
well,
or
as
often,
as
they
used
to,
domination
of
the
Tour
has
more
or
less
defaulted
to
Novak
Djokovic
and
Andy
Murray.
Of
course,
players
like
Stanislas
Wawrinka
spoil
their
party
every
now
and
then,
but
at
the
moment
it’s
very
much
a
two-horse
race
for
control
of
the
men’s
circuit.

Nadal,
thanks
to
his
extremely
physical
game,
is
no
stranger
to
extended

injury
layoffs.
But
his
latest
series
of
setbacks
seem
to
be
a
bridge
too
far
even
for
him,
and
he
has
not
been
the
same
since
returning
from
a
wrist
injury
suffered
at
Roland
Garros.



Federer
is
even
older
than
Nadal,
but
thanks
to
his
more
efficient
style
of
play
has
not
suffered
nearly
as
many
injuries.
That
being
sa