The blog is being posted at the same time as India are going down to Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup finals and Federer is 2 sets down at the Wimbledon finals.
Thereby being unsure of the fate of either match, what I would like to comment on is what makes "the best" tick in pressure situations, which I think is a safe bet to comment on, the point of contention being subjective enough.

So as I speak, to be able to compete with best involves a lot of things, but the most important of all, according to me,is belief. If you lack the belief in yourself, I guess you are as good as done and dusted. Past records, overwhelming opposition, weather conditions et al are just another set of statistics which just can be brushed aside if you believe that you have the matter to compete and be the best you can on the given day.
Federer as I saw him standing against Nadal on the clay courts of Roland Garros, had none of that in his eyes or his actions. Nadal on the other hand, had tons of it. The source of such belief though a debatable topic can be surely agreed upon to have its origin in the person himself. It may be his perseverance, his luck, his optimism, his hard work, or even his persona. But finally whatever it is, it belongs to him. So now the whole point is, why can a particualr person have it on a given day and at the same time the other person lacks it, although both are pitted against each other due to their ability to beat the best in the business and are the owners of their own beliefs. Well, that's what separates the best from the rest. On certain days, the rest just give up the ownership of such a source and hope for something to happen. And there ends the story.


Federer my boy, India my country, please o please, start believing. Rest will follow.