just to recap:

10. Dent-Navarro
9. Soderling-Nadal
8. Isner-Roddick
7. Gonzalez-Gasquet
6. Roddick-Murray
5. Del Potro-Federer
4. Nadal-Federer
3. Nadal-Djokovic
2. Federer-Roddick
1. Nadal-Verdasco

What a match it was!! in recent memory, only Wimbly 2008 (greatest match of the decade in my mind) beats it in terms of the quality of tennis.

nando-rafa ao SF and rafa-fed wimb 08 right up there for me too.

but just wanna add that imo safin-fed ao SF in 2005 was a pretty amazing also. i love safin so was great to see him fight til the end and take that match from one of the greatest players.

Yes Ricky, you get my vote for this match as the no.1 match of 2009. It was a tense and exciting match. I was so tensed as I really wanted Rafa to win, not because I didn't like Vesdasco, but because Rafa was being stopped twice previously at the AO by hot streak players, in 2007 at the QF by Gonzo and in 2008 at the SF by Tsonga. It would be devastating for him to be stopped once again by another hot streak player for the third time in a roll. I still remember in the last set when Rafa was serving in the ninth game when the score was 4-4, Rafa was 0-30 or 0-40 down, I sighed and shaked my head and telling myself maybe it was not meant to be; maybe a SF was the best Rafa could get. Had Rafa lost his serve then, Vesdasco would be serving for the match and given how well Verdasco served that day, it would be over for Rafa. Once again, our beloved Rafa shown us what he was made of, by serving and playing his way back to win the game, and it was Verdasco who double faulted and lost the match. It's a shame that the match was lost by double faulting and I really felt sorry for Verdasco, though I wasn't complaining then as Rafa won in the end. What a match, and I'll remember it a long long time, I think both Rafa and Verdasco would too! (I've even bought the DVD for this match). It is after this famous defeat that Verdasco gains both in stature and popularity and many people starting to take him seriously. Vamos to both of them for their future!

err.. that should have been in the decade section not 2009 but anyway...

I've been around on this earth for some time. I watched live the Borg v MacInroe final at Wimby way back when the internet was an alien word. So believe me when I say that the match between Rafael & Fernando has got to be the best match I have ever seen. Top quality tennis from both men. It's just sad that there had to be a winner & a loser.
I think we can all agree they were both winners in our eyes

I watched short interviews with Spanish tennis stars at the New Year?s Eve of 2008 with journalists asking them a simple question: what is your greatest wish for 2009? Fernando Verdasco responded: I wish to beat Rafa in 2009! It was his true wish; his desire to win was so present in their match at the AO! They both played great tennis! I was astonished and amazed with the way Nando played and fought to the very end. And such an emotional moment for fans to see tears of happiness and relief in Rafa?s eyes when he was so close to wining! I stopped breathing for a while and could not believe that the match was finally over! What a stress and a nerve breaking match, and in the same time a wonderful tennis! As soon as it was over, there was no time to celebrate the victory and enjoy such outstanding performance of those two players. I was immediately worried for Rafa?s fitness and his ability to play finals. And then, he showed up and played the finals in five sets as he had days to rest! What a great athlete and strong, persistent, magnificent tennis player our Rafa is!

What a great athelete and strong,persistent, magnificent tennis player our Rafa is!"
He is indeed, infact I would go as far as to say that Rafael Nadal is my all time favourite player ever! there is no one like him! and that match, I have never been so emotional since the Wimbledon final 2008! great stuff, the energy and excitement that Rafa has brought to tennis is unmatched.

By far my favourite match of 2009! It just never stopped, the level of tennis being played was outstanding and the spectacle as a sporting event was stellar. That it lasted so long was just a bonus!

I 100% agree. Nadal-Verdasco was totally ridiculous. I've never seen a 5 hour match played at such a fast tempo the whole way through. Both guys were in the zone that night and played like they were from another planet!

Totally agree Ricky...what a match indeed!..What's even more amazing tho' is how Rafa played + reduced Fed the goat to tears in the following match..Rafa did the impossible!!...Those two matches have to be paired in order to truly appreciate the greatness of both...They score 1 + 2 + then Wimby 07 + 08 as all time wonders.

I already said in part 1 that this match should rate way up... and I'm not surprised it ended as the favorite. The quality of tennis was staggering, the intensity unbearable and the sheer determination of both contenders, incredible.
Great pick!

I still get palpatations just remembering the tension of this titanic match.
And btw Ricky: The TT team are forgiven now for including that 'other match' in the Match of the Year list!

I would say that was the best match ever at the AO with Fed/Safin '05 a close second. What I remember about that match was thinking Verdasco looked dead on his feet at the beginning of the third set and thinking there was no way he'd be able to keep the match competitive. Then I remember the commentators saying Verdasco must have had some good gel to keep his hair in place and he was a walking endorsement for energy bars and bananas since they seemed to revive him. That fourth set tiebreak was the best of his career and I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head when he got to set point. What really was a shame was that Nadal won the final without Fed even making him play his best. By comparison, the final was anti-climactic. What also was a shame was that Verdasco never approached that level the rest of the year.

Yes the way Verdasco played that 4th set tie break! He was scarily good, Rafa almost got a 0-7 in that tie-break (the final score was 1-7)! I think Verdasco had suffered a stress fracture to his ankle after the AO and he missed a few tournaments. Its a shame that Verdasco could not maintain that level of play throughout the rest of the year. Can you imagine if he could do that 50% of the time, he may even be ranked within the top five! The way he played at the AO, I think only Rafa and a Fed at his peak were able to live with him.

this match was... incredible. i took the day off uni and stood up all my friends after so i could stay in and watch it. i screamed my head off when he finally managed to win it. think i actually enjoyed it more than the final

shame that nando hasn't been that good since. but there's always next year :)

I echo just about everything everyone wrote here about that match. I hated the fact only one had to win - you'd wish some strange rule would apply in this case. For example, a round robin for these two and the finalist from the other half of the draw.

I certainly didn't expect Rafa to go on to win his first grand slam on hard court (albeit a slower kind) after so little rest.

Interesting that out of the 10 matches of 2009 listed here 4 include Nadal. I don't think this is due to a TT bias, but due to what we've all come to know about Nadal: that his play makes for many exhilirating matches.

chlorostoma - I think it would have been a huge buzkill if it had ended in a tie!!!

Definitely the way Verdasco rose to the occasion was mind-boggling. I certainly did not expect he would sustain the level over the 5 sets. But I guess, Rafa Nadal's rise is resulting in a new breed of players who do not give up at any stage and believe they have the capability to make a comeback at any stage. Like Ferrer proved against Stepanek.
Rafa is the best thing that happened to tennis.
Vaaaaaaaaaaamos

Rafa is the best thing that happened to tennis.
Vaaaaaaaaaaamos

vmk1 , 12/18/09 9:36 PM


i couldn't agree with you more! Before Rafa came along, players were resigned to their position in tennis, not trying to beat people they thought they couldn't beat, and generally accepting their journeyman role.

Rafa came along and changed all that. He deserves a special award for making tennis interesting.

Vamos Rafa!

Rafa is the best thing that happened to tennis.
vmk1 , 12/18/09 9:36 PM

truer words were never written

Correction: Roger is the best thing that happened to tenis...

for me, Rafa is the best thing that happened to tennis for sure....

Fully agree with people here. Until Rafa came along, tennis was dead boring with no competition.

No need to argue - both Fed and Rafa are the best things that happen to tennis. Without one of them, tennis would be boring, as the other may dominate the rest of the field without competition. Fed had already shown his dominance on grass and hard, and before he could dominate on clay, Rafa came along. Rafa has dominated on clay since 2005, won his first Wimbledon and AO; he may dominate on grass one day when Fed gets older and if Murray couldn't live up to expectation on grass. Rafa is also getting better on hard courts, nobody knows how far he can go on hard courts, only time will tell, though competition is keen esp on the hard courts.

Hi Ricky..just watched DVD of this amazing match but wonder why Rafa was warned of being coached and yet Nando wasn't....Can you offer in your humble opinion an explanation? To me it was uncalled. Tnx