Grand story of one match, two champions

Documentary: Stokes of Genius

Streaming on Discovery Plus

Rating: 4/5

In this age of social media, the term 'classic' or 'Greatest Of All Time' have become oft used superfluous words. Thrown into the mix willy nilly, they have lost the gravitas. But the Discovery plus documentary Strokes of Genius tells the story around a single sporting encounter - the 2008 Wimbledon final - which will live on in the pantheons of sporting lore as one of the greatest matches ever.

The Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal clash, while a gripping five-set thriller, was also one of those generation-defining contests. The aristocrat of tennis against a Spanish matador who wanted to extend his dominion beyond the red clay of Paris.

It was a contest that convinced millions, and Federer himself, that he had an adversary in his quest for greatness.

The narrative heading into the Wimbledon final had it all. An unstoppable force in Federer gunning for his sixth straight title at the grass-court Slam facing Nadal who twice fell short in previous years. A graceful artist for whom time seemingly slows mashed against the violence, heart, and roadrunner-feet of Nadal.

The documentary is based on one match but takes us through the formative years of the two champions. From the outside they look poles apart right from their playing style to personalities on the court but as the documentary dwells deeper into what makes the two tick, it's easy to see the similarities. The hunger to win, the growing pains, their quest for perfection.

There is also Federer talking about the doubts in his head after his embarrassing loss to Nadal at the French Open and Nadal, after failing to convert four Championship points, stressing that 'Federer can win, but I will not lose'. It's a window to the mindset that goes into deciding a sporting contest at the highest level, the fickle nature of it, the ebbs, the flows, doubts, euphoria, and heartbreak.

The documentary does a fine job conveying the whole cornucopia of emotions with the words of John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Martina Navratilova, and Chris Evert among others adding the weight of their experience to it.

Like Borg-McEnroe, Navrathilova-Evert or Sampras-Agassi, this too is a rivalry that defines a generation. The action is wrapped smoothly between interviews, confessions, and stories with a violin score adding to the ambience.

For a sports lover, it’s an entertaining watch, re-living a great contest between two generational talents. It’s instructive to hear the two stars speak of a clash that would define their careers, both individually and with regards to each other.

As you look back more than a decade later, it’s staggering to see that the two continue to remain at the top of the sport, a mountain of achievement behind them. And perhaps just for the romantics, there is always the hope that there might just be another chapter to this epic rivalry.