Roger Federer – The Emperor of Tennis World
At 35 years, Roger Federer became the oldest man to win the singles title
in the Open Era. He is, without a doubt, the tennis equivalent of a
world-conquering emperor.
2009’s Federer won the French Open and Wimbledon Championships in quick
succession, a feat accomplished only by 2 players in a 29-year timespan. He did
so with a gameplay not much distinct from 2008’s Federer. Yet, many
commentators seemed to have ended his dominant era in July 2008. But he was
resurgent in 2009.
Federer’s 2010 Australian Open victory was super. He appeared as hungry
as he did coming into his first Wimbledon final 14 years ago. This time, it was
the same man, if only a wearier, more layered version of his past. If there is
a mentality- measure we can reasonably make, it is a measure of what happens to
most ageing athletes under match-pressure. And Federer seems to have defied the
trends observed with practically every other player in the past, including the
likes of Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, and indeed Bjorn Borg.
He wanted to create a kind of aura that if people played against him, he
was not going anywhere mentally and physically. That took him years to build
up. Only when he started to win consecutive Grand Slams, and he was able to
show that tenacity week in and week out, that’s when he felt like the locker
room was actually starting to respect him. Before that, maybe he had that image
[of mental inferiority] sometimes.
HIs mental toughness has always been overshadowed by his virtuosity, his
shot-making, his technique, his grace. That’s why when he loses, it seems like,
“Oh, he didn’t play so well.” And when he wins, it looks so easy. He had that
already when he was a little boy. Stuff like “Why don’t you try harder?” .He
tried everything that he possibly could. Just because he doesn’t sweat like
crazy and I doesn’t grunt, he doesn’t have this face on when he hits the shot
like he’s in pain, doesn’t mean he’s not trying hard. It’s just how he plays.
Roger Federer, in essence, does represent a player bereft of mental
conditioning swings for pretty much the entirety of his career. Analysing Federer’s longevity begs us to
analyse a number of matches he played being the most ‘Federer-ish’ he could be.
Many others will choose a few of the legendary Grand Slam Finals he has been a
part of: the 5-set Sunday evenings spent at the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Wimbledon
Championships, the 5-setter at the 2009 Australian Open Final, or even the 2009
French Open Final against Robin Soderling, his maiden Roland Garros victory
lending a special tone to the match. Two years before he won his maiden Grand
Slam Championship, at Wimbledon in 2003, he was already touted as a ‘rising
star’, a compliment showered mainly due to his titanic upset of 4-time defending
champion Pete Sampras at the 2001 Wimbledon.
Federer’s gameplay in this time and era is absolutely grounded on the
Serve & Volley paradigm laid down by the best of the 1990s, a field of
players led by his legendary opponent in this match himself.
No comments:
Post a Comment