We were so tantalizingly close.
Just a couple of easy wins away, really. The long-awaited, elusive matchup in New York at the US Open, the only major they'd never faced off in.
Roger Federer versus Rafael Nadal, perhaps the two greatest players in the history of the game, to meet in the final at the ripe old ages of 38 and 33. And still playing spectacular tennis. Both in great health.
This was going to be the year, finally.
The road was as clear as it's ever been. As it probably ever would be.
Excitement was building around the grounds. You could hear whispers among the press corps. But people were nervous: Nobody wanted to jinx it.
What could possibly derail their encounter? No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who owns a winning record over both Federer and Nadal, and has captured four of the last five majors, was out of the picture.
In Roger's half of the draw, he was a combined 33-3 against the remaining players. Federer came in a perfect 7-0 against his quarterfinal opponent, No. 78 Grigor Dimitrov, the Swiss's longtime practice partner. The Bulgarian had only won two of the 18 sets they'd played.
After the first few rounds, both Federer and Nadal appeared to be coming into peak form.
Roger's fourth-round match against David Goffin was a 79-minute blitzkrieg, where he lost just four games to the No. 15 player in the world. Nadal was also cruising, looking ominous. He crushed Cilic. And crucially, he was in great health, nary a sign of tape on the knees.
Besides Federer and Nadal, no one remaining had ever been to a Grand Slam final.
This was all lining up perfectly—perhaps too perfectly. Fifteen years since Roger and Rafa first played, and about the same since they won their first slams, they would finally meet in New York for the crown.
It was a dream.
And then late on Tuesday night, it was dashed.
The ageless Federer called for the trainer, a rare sight. His back had gone wonky and a previously slumping Dimitrov shockingly stepped up, claiming his first victory over the man he had modeled his game after.
Roger was done, and so was Fedal, just like that. Yet again.
"Never happened. NEVER will!" exclaimed John McEnroe.
Like most of us, Mac was dying to see these two giants face off on his home turf.
We'd been here before. Back in 2013, Federer got "Robredoed." Roger had only to beat the Spaniard Tommy Robredo, a player who'd been his whipping boy in all 10 of their matches, to set up a meeting with Nadal in the quarters. I convinced a Federer-loving friend to pony up big bucks for a courtside seat. No way it wasn't going to happen.
Except it didn't. Robredo pulled a miracle out of his hat and beat Federer for the first and only time. (Nadal went on to win his second US Open.)
It was weeks before my friend would speak to me.
I've been covering the Open for usopen.org since 2003. That first year, I remember gawking at a teenage Rafa in his first Open, the strapping swashbuckling Spaniard in pirate pants and muscle tees. And I was onsite for Federer's five consecutive US Open crowns.
Federer-Nadal never seemed to be in the cards, but like lots of fans, I kept hoping. As long as these two great champions kept playing—and kept winning majors, and remained among the Top 3 players in the world—it had to happen, right?
After all, Federer and Nadal had met 14 times in the other three majors, going back to 2005. They'd won a combined 38 slams. Roger had beaten Rafa for major championships. Rafa had taken titles from Roger.
They played what is universally acknowledged to be the greatest match of all time, the 2008 Wimbledon final.
What did Melbourne, Paris and London have on New York?
It seems like a nasty quirk of tennis history that these two spectacular stars have never played each other in Flushing Meadows.
I admit that I spent more than an idle moment or two this week dreaming of a Sunday "Fedal" final in Flushing. It would be the biggest event ever here. Bigger than Sampras-Agassi. Bigger than Super Saturday in 1984, when Mac, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Pat Cash, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova all went the distance, leaving fans exhilarated and exhausted.
Like that lineup, it would be historic. But more so.
Come Sunday, though, history will have had something else to say.
Yes, Rafa has played Djokovic more times. And Djokovic owns a winning record against both Rafa and Roger. But it is the Federer-Nadal rivalry that has most captured tennis fans' imaginations.
If we just closed our eyes, we could imagine the thrill of that encounter, at last, in Arthur Ashe Stadium—the biggest court in the world for the world's biggest match. We could imagine the thunderous introductions. The first crack of a forehand. The squeals for a screaming backhand.
Roger going for a sixth US Open, more than a decade removed from his last. Nadal, seeking a fourth win that would put him just one behind Roger's total of 20. Toe to toe, the two greats.
It would be the culmination of their 40 matches, played over 15 years.
Now open your eyes. Once again, it's just out of reach.
Nothing is a sure bet in sports. Exultation is possible. So is heartbreak.
