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July 4, 2005
Federer's game stands alone
By Howard Fendrich, Associated Press
LONDON - A day before Wimbledon began, Andy
Roddick stood on a slope overlooking the practice courts at the All
England Club. Down below, Roger Federer was going through a training
session, and Roddick sneaked a peek.
Two weeks later and a short walk away, Roddick got a
much closer look in the Wimbledon final, and after absorbing a lopsided
loss to fall to 1-9 against Federer, the American arrived at two
conclusions: Federer is better at everything than any tennis player,
and Roddick would love nothing better than to keep trying to defeat the
man who's by far the No. 1 player of their generation and now is being
judged against the greats of generations past.
"He's probably as close as has been to unbeatable,"
Roddick said Sunday after losing to Federer at Wimbledon for the third
consecutive year.
"I want another crack at him 'till my record is 1-31. I
still want to go against him again. You want to compete against the
best. He's the measuring stick, so you kind of know where you are and
where you go."
As talented as Roddick is - good enough to win the 2003
U.S. Open, finish No. 1 that year at the age of 21, and now make it to
the final at the All England Club two straight years - he can't come
close to Federer at the moment.
But that's OK. No one can on grass and no one can, consistently, on any surface.
"The bad news," as three-time Wimbledon winner Boris Becker put it, "is Roger is only going to get better."
Since June 2004, Federer is 98-5 (a .951 winning
percentage) with 15 titles that have come on grass, hard, clay and
indoor courts. None of the losses came in finals (Federer has won a
record 21 in a row), though two were in semifinals at this year's Grand
Slams, against Russia's Marat Safin at the Australian Open and Spain's
Rafael Nadal at the French Open, the only major he has yet to win and
now will focus on adding to his collection.
Unprompted, the Swiss star mentioned those setbacks
during the on-court trophy ceremony Sunday after his close-to-perfect
performance beat Roddick 6-2, 7-6 (2), 6-4. He said the losses in
Melbourne and Paris meant "the pressure was on" at Wimbledon.
After making 33 winners and only three unforced errors
through two sets and whipping passing shots by Roddick at will, Federer
was told that just when it seems as if he can't get any better, he
does.
"It seems like it, yeah," Federer said, drawing laughter from the Centre Court crowd.
What's vital for Roddick is that he keeps trying to catch up.
And that's what he plans to do.
"There's things that Andy could do to be effective
against Roger. It's all a learning process and it's obviously gaining
confidence in some of the new things he was trying against him," said
Roddick's coach, Dean Goldfine. "His net game is getting better and
that's obviously one of the keys. If you sit back there and let Roger
hit from the baseline and don't pressure him, it's tough."
The amazing thing about Federer is that he's so
versatile, he can beat anybody in any way, including a demoralizing
tendency to one-up opponents in their strengths.
In the quarter-finals, Federer faced No. 21-seeded
Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, who hits every shot as if it's his last.
Federer matched Gonzalez on the power front, and displayed dazzling
defence to win in straight sets.
In the semifinals, Federer faced No. 3-seeded Lleyton
Hewitt of Australia, widely considered the best returner in the game
and a baseline expert who's as speedy as they come. Federer looked
every bit as quick and adept in lengthy rallies, faced only one break
point all match while earning eight, and broke Hewitt three times to
win in straight sets.
In the final, Federer faced No. 2-seeded Roddick, owner
of the fastest serve and one of the biggest forehands in the game.
Federer produced more aces (11-7), more forehand winners (14-3), and
broke Roddick four times to win in straight sets.
"All of them are trying as hard as they can," Federer
said. "Obviously, for the next few years, I'll definitely be a huge
favourite also for this tournament. Doesn't mean necessarily I'll take
them all."
If he's got a touch of a champion's arrogance, he's earned it.
Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras are the only other men in
the past 60-plus years to win three consecutive Wimbledon titles. And
Federer claimed his fifth Grand Slam championship at the same age - 23
years, 10 months - that Sampras was when he won the fifth of his record
14 majors.
"He loves playing at Wimbledon, he loves the game,"
Federer's mother, Lynette, said at the All England Club on Sunday. "I
hope the tennis world can reap benefits from what he is showing on
court."
It should, because Federer's sublime tennis and A-Rod's
super 'tude are both good for the game. From 1983-2003, the two
top-seeded men never met in the Wimbledon final; now it's happened in
consecutive years.
There's little reason to think it won't happen again.
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