Sixth time is the charm

Lukas Rosol hails 'miracle' Wimbledon win over Rafael Nadal - Wimbledon - Sport - Evening Standard

He loses in the first round of the Wimbledon qualifiers each year for the past 5 years, not Wimbledon, the tournament to win a wild card into Wimbledon.

He comes back (2012, June 28) to defeat legend Rafael Nadal, in 5 sets.  He had never played in the tournament before, he had never been on Centre Court.  He went out to get the "feel" of it before his match.  He was hoping just not to lose 0, 1 and 1, he said.

He had "the eye of the tiger," though, a powerful hunger to win, and an insane self-confidence, and went all out on his shots.  Taken together, it was enough for the no. 100 player to defeat the no. 2 player.

A "miracle?"  Maybe.  Certainly a stunning comeback to the site of his former defeats, failures, frustrations.  As commentator John McEnroe said, an inspiration to every player on the challenger circuit (the minor league of tennis) that dreams can and do come true.  Rosol himself turned to soccer for a metaphor;  he said it was like a Czech "B" team defeating Real Madrid.

We saw it 'live,' unforgettable.