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Thursday, November 24, 2005
Roger Federer, an exceptional athlete defying descriptions
By Rohit Brijnath, The Hindu
Federer has become a familiar traveller, but his journey's end is not
even in sight, writes Rohit Brijnath
The exceptional athlete moves us, he also makes
us guess. What inspires him? What is his genius made of? How is he
able, in times of stress, to reach down within himself, into the
caverns of his mind, and where other men find nothing, abandoned even
by hope, he discovers courage? Is this greatness? It's hard to comprehend such uncommon men,
they operate on a frequency we cannot pick up, they defy a thorough
description for any analysis of them becomes part imagining. It's as if
they exist in a parallel universe, and for two years it is where Roger
Federer has resided.
Down 0-4 in the fifth set in Sunday's Masters
Cup final in China, having lost the third and fourth sets 6-2, 6-1 to a
fluent David Nalbandian, breathing like a climber in thin air, his
crutches recently abandoned, no tournament played in 35 days, married
to error, defeat appeared inevitable even understandable, still..
still, you thought, Federer is going to win!
It was absurd, but he has conditioned us to
believe most things are possible with him. No match does this mature
practitioner toss away.
But it is good Federer lost, for having
inhaled his eloquence with the racket all year, we have been allowed to
exhale. To appreciate his streaks, first they must break.
Winning streak
Constantly athletes talk of peaking, and of the
exhaustion that follows the ascent of an athletic mountain. So then,
what amalgam of physical and mental majesty, what purity of effort,
must be required to win 24 consecutive finals? Eleven tournaments he has won this year. Five
of the last eight slams. Ten matches lost in two years. A head-to-head
record since 2004 that stands at 4-1 vs Safin, 8-0 vs Hewitt, 6-0 vs
Agassi. Of the four matches he lost this year, in two (Safin,
Australian Open final; Gasquet, Monte Carlo) he had match points, and
in a third, against Nalbandian, he served for the match. Only one day
in the year, against Rafael Nadal in the French Open, did someone truly
own him. But Federer did more than produce statistical
chaos and visual feasts. He has forced us to revise what we previously
believed feasible within the boundaries of a tennis court. If Federer's
game is sophisticated then he is also an affable, cosmopolitan man, and
if he is bizarrely not completely embraced in America, he is at least
embraced by an American. As Andy Roddick kidded, "I'd love to hate you,
but you're really nice".
True professional
No stories follow Federer of excess, no tale
haunts him of rudeness, accompanied as he is by a minimal entourage and
substantial grace. In an era of the haughty, indulged superstar, it
cannot be discounted. When he lost to Nadal in Paris, despite 62
unforced errors, he said firmly, "Never take anything away from
somebody who beat me, because I was trying my best."
In the interview room he is responsive, forthright and occasionally amusing. Recently dubbed one of the world's sexiest men by People
magazine, he was asked, in China, if coach Tony Roche was with him.
Yes, he replied. Did he get any advice from Tony? Replied a grinning
Federer: "Yeah. He doesn't just come here to hang out with me. I mean,
he likes to visit the most sexiest guy alive once in a while, (but) he
gave me some advice."
Federer appears to wear fame comfortably, but
responsibly, not shy of using his status as a platform, preaching
strongly the values of sport, believing that it can, as he once said,
"bridge difficulties, cultures, conflicts". This is not a careless man.
Last year, just before giving a speech at the UN, he told Tennis Week, "Even though it's only a few minutes, still, you want to do well and you have to come up with the right words."
Outside tennis, he helps educate disadvantaged
South African children through his foundation. In tennis, he plays
ambassador. For instance, to merely champion China as a Masters Cup
venue is polite, but to chuck his crutches a week before and carry the
tournament as others left abruptly is commitment. Asked later if he
might have withdrawn from the final if it was a lesser event, he said:
"No, Roger Federer doesn't pull out, otherwise he doesn't walk on
court." In a year when Andre Agassi, the ultimate
arbiter, said "I think he's the best I've played against", Federer's
peers may have to find solace in the barest of offerings, in the most
miniscule of tears in his domination. Last year the Swiss won three
Slams and the Masters Cup; this year only two slams. Federer has become
in a short while a familiar traveller, but his journey's end is not
even in sight. This is only the second year he has ended as No.1,
Sampras did it six times. Will his body hold, his racket stay fluent,
his polish as a man remain intact when defeat starts recurring? We do
not know, for this exceptional athlete remains somewhat beyond our
comprehension.
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