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Published: August 27, 2005
His Own Man
By Selena Roberts, New York Times
ROGER FEDERER's style is liquid or is it lyrical?
His seamless motion on the court is Gene Kelly "Singin' in the Rain" or
is it a Twyla Tharp creation of choreography? He is effortless or is he
breezy? He is virtuosity or is he fusion?
Only someone as self-aware
and complex as Federer could so meticulously describe a playing method
that defies a simple description. "I call it more retro style,
like go back to the roots, in a way, but in a modern way," Federer said
yesterday over a pasta lunch at a restaurant in Midtown Manhattan.
"It's like we all have these modern restaurants now, modern Indian,
modern Arabic, modern this and that. I'm modern retro in an old style,
you know, with new technology. Maybe this is why I have many admirers
from old times, still. "I'm very all-around, of course. Not the
big weapon, let's say, but players who play me, they know what the
weapon is. They know if they give me a short ball, it's gone, even if
it doesn't look that dramatic. It's more of a fluid game, which has no
scratches, you know, which is round and that makes it more dangerous.
My ability is to be like a chameleon, maybe." Federer can morph into any form at any moment, but he knows exactly who he is all the time. This is the splendor of autonomy.
Amid the homogenized, neatly packaged young phenoms who will alight at
the United States Open beginning Monday, Federer is an original in
thought, style and voice - no strings attached. He has no agent,
so Federer is free to turn down David Letterman, to write his own
speeches, to be his own man. He is constantly aware of how his voice
carries as the No. 1-ranked player in the world whether he is talking
to the Swiss news media or opening the Nasdaq market, as he did on
Thursday. "I go up to the Nasdaq," Federer said, "and I think,
what are you going to say? Just think about it a little bit: What
message do you want to get out there? Are you just happy to be there?
Is it an honor? What's the relation? I do think about what I'm doing;
and why am I doing it. "If it makes no sense or if it is only
P.R. or whatever, if it's not credible, then I think that's very
important to know. I believe that's my strength, because I don't talk
when I don't think it's appropriate. I don't want, 'Well, it's Federer
again; what he says, he's been talking enough weird stuff.' I don't
want to be seen like that." He has no agent, so he is in control
of his image. He is free to pick out his clothes for a Vogue bash and
choose his charitable missions without filtering his ideas through a
corporate think tank. He saw a need, for example, in South
Africa - the birthplace of his mother, Lynette - and chose the children
of New Brighton Township as his cause after recent visits left Federer
alternately tearful and hopeful. "There were little kids about 2
years old sitting in, like, a box with AIDS and H.I.V.," Federer said.
"These little kids basically have no chance. They look so cute and
you're like, wow, what can I do? "We went into the schools,
and then you see happy kids singing and dancing and everything, how
happy they are to see you there. That makes you emotional again because
you feel so welcome. So for me, you see, maybe it's seeing the
happiness and the sadness being so close together." Federer has
no agent, so he has an entourage of about three, including his longtime
girlfriend and manager, Mirka Vavrinec. He decides what fits into his
tennis practices and what doesn't fit with his personality. But he
wasn't always so well adjusted, so self-assured. Once, he was just
another hothead prodigy with a nightclub existence and, yes, a
management agency that orchestrated his life. It is probably no
coincidence that in 2003 - the same year he won Wimbledon, the first of
his five majors - he decided to venture onward without an agent. In
2004, he even played without a coach. "Two or three years ago, I mean, it was all tennis. Tennis or video games or TV," Federer said.
Once Wimbledon happened in 2003, once he fell to his knees on the grass
and gently wept, he knew his life would change forever. He had a
decision to make: Federer could either launch into the arrested
development world of big-time pro sports or he could develop as a
person with a world view. Federer is introspective or is he
mischievous? He is confident or is he self-effacing? Federer is the
combination of many traits, but he is always true to himself. He may be
missing out on millions in endorsement dollars without an agent, but
autonomy has its rewards. He is free to define himself.
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