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August 24, 2003
The Interview Roger Federer: Farewell to the boy with the bright future, welcome the rounded man of the moment;
Triumph on the lawns of Wimbledon transformed a great talent. Ronald Atkin hears how New York could be his proving ground.
By Ronald Atkin, Independent
The post-Wimbledon furore has subsided and Roger Federer, proud owner
of a Swiss cow called Juliette presented to him by the people of his
homeland, is honing mind and body this weekend in readiness for the
season's last Grand Slam, the US Open in New York.
As second seed and, by a distance, the most popular non-American in
the field, Federer treads the path into Flushing Meadows content with
his new status, the corollary of that Centre Court triumph seven weeks
ago. "Before Wimbledon I was just a good tennis player," he said. "Now
I am a celebrity."
He is more than that, of course. As his coach, the Swedish former
touring pro Peter Lundgren, pointed out: "Everybody wants to beat him
now. That's how it is to be a top player. But that's the only
difference between Roger now and Roger as he was before, so I think he
can live with that. It will be tough to win Grand Slams back to back,
but I think he has a good chance."
This opinion provokes no disagreement from Federer. "I know now I
can win every tournament I play, no matter what surface it is on, as
long as I prepare as thoroughly as possible. But I won't be able to
play here in New York as I did at Wimbledon. I will have to show
patience, be ready for 20- or 30-shot rallies."
Federer's 2003 results bear out his assertion that "this year I
feel much better on court". His 58 singles victories (against 12
defeats) already equal the total for the entire 2002 season. The five
titles collected this year are on the sport's four surfaces: Dubai
(hard), Marseilles (indoors), Munich (clay) and the grass of Halle and
Wimbledon. As explanation, Roger offered this: "I have found my inner
self, really, and I am playing consistently well, which is something I
have been trying to do for a long time."
Not too long, since Federer only clocked up his 22nd birthday
earlier this month. But expectations, from the Swiss nation as well as
Roger himself, have been Matterhorn-high since he won Junior Wimbledon
as a 16-year- old in 1998. Earlier than that, actually. "I remember
always loving to play against the cupboards and doors at home, with any
kind of ball," he recalled. "My mom got fed up because it was bang,
bang, bang all day long."
At 14, Roger was dispatched by his parents, the Swiss-German Robert
and the South African Lynette, from their home at Munchenstein, near
Basle, to live at the Swiss junior training centre at Ecublens, where
homesickness and frustration manifested themselves in bad behaviour.
"I used to bitch a lot at line calls," Federer admitted. When new
backstop material was installed on the centre's courts, Roger was the
first to put his racket through it, incurring a fine and court-
cleaning duties at 7am. "That was very hard for me," he said, "because
I hate to wake up early."
Anger-management classes, self-discipline and the input of Lundgren
and the Australian Peter Carter, the two coaches assigned to their most
promising junior by the Swiss Tennis Federation, eventually eradicated
the problem. Someone who acknowledges: "I used to carry on like an
idiot" now claims: "I think it's funny when somebody freaks out."
However, having joined the pro tour at 17, Federer struggled to
adjust. "People were coming up to me after I won Junior Wimbledon and
telling me I was going to be the next great player. But at first I
wasn't mentally strong enough, and I found myself getting frustrated
when things didn't go my way. I was always expecting to do well."
If anything, that part of his career became worse in 2001 following
his sensational Centre Court victory which terminated Pete Sampras's
31-match Wimbledon streak. "People started calling me `the next
Sampras'. I know we share the same star sign and we are both relaxed on
court and have the same technique, but it was a bit hard on me at that
age."
Federer had landed his first title, Milan indoors, four months
before overturning Sampras, and in 2002 the maturing process was
accelerated, not least when he had to cope, for the first time, with
death when Peter Carter was killed in a car crash. By then Lundgren was
well installed as his sole coach, and three ATP Tour titles established
Roger as a young comer.
Praise continued to cascade on to those broad shoulders. He was
bound to win a Grand Slam, people said. He was certain to become No 1.
All this tended to leave its mark. "I used to think I only wanted to
play well in the Grand Slams, but I made up my mind I would play every
event to win. People used to tell me how easy I made it look, so I kind
of felt I had to live up to this and play miracle shots, the
crowd-pleasing stuff. But I decided what I wanted was to win the match,
not hit the best shot of the tournament. That was a big step for me
mentally."
In Lundgren's opinion, the key to his man's accession to fame lies
in Federer's eventual acceptance that it was necessary to learn how to
lose before he could win. "Roger has been playing really solid for a
year now, on every surface," said Lundgren before setting off for
practice from their Park Avenue hotel. "He is such a complete player,
and it is good to have watched him improve consistently since I started
working with him in 1997. He is natural and funny, easy to work with,
really nice off the court, has a good lifestyle and a good relationship
with the fans."
The manner of Federer's Wimbledon win boosted all those virtues a
thousandfold. Boris Becker, Roger's childhood idol, called him "the
complete package, poetry in motion, someone who is ready to take over
at the top for a long time." What pleased Federer as much as anything
was that Becker's son, Noah Gabriel, watched all his matches and told
him he had played like a god. John McEnroe also weighed in, praising
the Swiss as "someone who comes along in tennis every 10 or 20 years;
if you want to be a tennis player, model yourself on Roger Federer."
"It is incredible when you get those sort of compliments," said
Federer. "It makes me very proud, but I also want to say it was about
time for me to prove how well I can play. I worked hard on it."
His Wimbledon semi-final victim, Andy Roddick, praised his
conqueror "for putting it together upstairs", while Todd Martin,
himself a nice guy, said: "I don't think being a nice guy should
inhibit you in anything. Because somebody is polite and friendly does
not mean they are not competing to be the best they can be."
The good burghers of Gstaad would endorse that comment. Having
promised to play in that minor clay-court event in his homeland,
Federer flew there straight from his Wimbledon win, albeit by private
jet, landing to the strains of Tina Turner's "Simply The Best" and
meriting a two- van police escort to the tennis. Once there, he was
presented, perhaps on the principle of clay-court cynics that grass is
for cows, with the seven-year-old Juliette, and commented that at least
he was now guaranteed free cheese for life.
Although admitting afterwards that his legs felt as if they were
"cast in concrete", Federer delighted hosts and fans by reaching the
Gstaad final before taking a long-overdue break, watching Wimbledon
videos to see exactly how he had done it and putting in place the new
company, Hippo, which will manage his blossoming business affairs,
which include a soon- to-be-released Roger Federer perfume. Working for
the organisation are his parents, his Slovakian-born Swiss girlfriend,
the former women's tour player Miroslava Vavrinec, and Lundgren.
Having played in the Masters Series events in Montreal and
Cincinnati in preparation for the US Open, without winning either,
Federer says: "This year I have achieved everything I could have
wanted. I won a tournament on all four surfaces, I am unbeaten on
grass, and very few junior champions manage to win Wimbledon as adults
as well. A dream came true there.
"The level of fan interest has really gone up. I'm well known in
Switzerland, and I was getting more recognised abroad this year. People
came up to me in Thailand and the Maldives. Now it seems to be all
around the world.
"A lot of people tell me I'm their favourite player or that they
are going to come and support me, which is nice. But I have always had
high expectations on my shoulders, so I'm used to that.
"Now it is time to set new goals," said the world No 2. "I want to
become No 1 next. I'm not going to push it, but without goals nothing
happens in life."
Biography
Roger Federer
Born: 8 August 1981.
Height: 6ft 1in. Weight: 177lb.
Year-end rankings as a pro: (1998-2002) 302nd, 64th, 29th, 13th, 6th.
This year: five-time ATP Tour winner, including Wimbledon. Others
were Marseilles, Halle, Munich and Dubai. Has compiled 58 singles
victories in 2003, the number he won all last year. Career record: 216
wins, 105 defeats.
Titles won: nine singles, five doubles for $5.8m in prize money.
General: began playing at eight. Idols were Boris Becker and Stefan
Edberg. World No 1 junior in 1998, winning Wimbledon Boys singles and
doubles. Mother is South African, father Swiss. In July he launched his
own fragrance.
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