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October 2004 Issue
Roger Federer: Ready for His Close-Up
By Harvey Araton, TENNIS Magazine
Do you know what tennis could really
use in the fast-changing and ever-crowded American sports entertainment
landscape? Less nationalism and more internationalism. Less hometown
heroism and more ambassadors without borders. Less obsessing about how
our guy is doing and more appreciation for the artist from anywhere.
Exhibit A: Roger Federer. "People
here are not, or should not be, looking at where Roger is from," says
Rod Laver, a Grand Slam champion who had the same kind of low-key
demeanor that Federer does. "He's not too Swiss, or too American,
or too anything. He's just one of these uncanny talents whose
instincts for the game don't come along too often."
Laver believes U.S. tennis fans want
more than the steady diet of Americana they're fed by the TV
networks. Give them true genius and they will genuflect. "I think a
lot of people have got the American tennis public all wrong," Laver
says.
For the record, Federer is from
Switzerland. But Americans should by now have recognized his
grass-court predilection for serve and volley, like Pete Sampras, and
his ability to dictate from the baseline, like Andre Agassi, and his
talent for creating his own geometry on court, like John McEnroe. Mix
it all together, and what do you get?
"The most entertaining racquet in
tennis—the magic wand," says Arlen Kantarian, the USTA's chief
executive of professional tennis.
Of course, Andy Roddick is the
American It Boy now that Sampras has gone and Agassi is going. Roddick
is all serve and swagger, fire and forehand. But he can't orchestrate
a tennis concerto the way Federer can. He won't make people pinch
themselves and wonder what they just saw, as Federer did in the
semifinals of the Pacific Life Open last spring in Indian Wells, Calif.
That day, he was deep into the third set against Agassi, who was trying
to stay on serve. Leading 40-15, Agassi pulled Federer off court with a
backhand, approached the net, and punched Federer's defensive reply
into the open court. Then Agassi relaxed, believing, it appeared, that
the point was over.
This was a huge mistake against a
man with the winged feet of a ballet dancer. Federer ran the ball down
and with perfect racquet preparation rifled a forehand passing shot
that an astonished Agassi could only plop back with a lunging volley,
setting up an easy pass for Federer. Deflated, Agassi was soon broken,
aced off the court, and out of the tournament.
"What a privilege for those people to see that," Laver says.
Americans have appreciated foreign
tennis players before. They loved Laver. Bjorn Borg never won the U.S.
Open, but his mystique carried across North America. Patrick Rafter was
a matinee idol. And at Sampras' retirement ceremony at the 2003 U.S.
Open, no one received a louder ovation than Boris Becker.
Will Federer ever catch on with the
American public? Hopefully, but it'll take time. He has to continue
to play well and build on his foundation of greatness before the
American marketing machine embraces him and maybe even realizes that
focusing on the homeboys and homegirls is a shortsighted strategy. To
grow the game, eyes must be opened and borders must be crossed. A rare
player like Roger Federer should be globally celebrated because such
talent, like art, belongs to us all.
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