French Open Tennis

Yes, I know, Roger Federer suffered the most lopsided defeat probably in the history of Grand Slam finals 1-6, 3-6, 0-6. Rafael Nadal is just so far above the competition on a clay surface - it was painful to watch my sports hero get absolutely manhandled. It was even more painful to see his body language, language that displayed resigning defeat well before the match was over. Come on, Roger, true champions fight all the way to the end. One aspect of Roger's game I do have great admiration for is the way he treats victory and defeat. Post championship interviews are treated by Roger the exact same way whether he wins or loses. Nadal even noted this. Roger's demeanor changes so little making his emotional control remarkable. It was Kipling that said in that overly-quoted poem,

"If,"... If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same ...

I also noticed that both Roger and Rafael addressed the crowd in multiple languages, Roger in French with a little English (he's fluent in 4 languages) and Nadal in Spanish, French, and some English. What happens if an American wins the French Open? We tend to not bother learning alternate languages even in these sorts of situations. Personally, I view someone who takes the time to learn English very respectful of what American has to offer. I wish Americans would do more of that. Maybe some other countries just need to create an economy so strong that it forces us to learn their language. Hmm.. maybe it's time to start cracking open a Chinese textbook?