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06 July 2006
Nick Bollettieri's Wimbledon Dossier: Federer is that good, even his opponent stops to applaud
Coaching Report: No one can live
with the Swiss genius whose ability to deploy his entire repertoire at
any time is breathtaking
By Nick Bollettieri, Independent
The magician came to town, went to town, and left us spellbound
yesterday. At times Roger Federer reaches such a peak of sheer
jaw-dropping, gasp-inducing brilliance that there's nothing he cannot
do. No shot is too daring. We saw countless examples of stunning
winners, including one off a smash.
Even Mario Ancic was applauding at one stage. There are few balls
Federer cannot hunt down, smooth as silk, and send back with a
beautiful vengeance. And his serve is relentlessly brilliant, not just
because it's got power but because he moves it around. The placement is
accurate. He can jam into the body, he can go down the middle. He can
go out wide. And he can do it at will, which is where the brilliance
comes in.
Opponents simply have no clue where it's going to go, only that it
will be hard to get back. That's why Federer has dropped only two
service games in this entire tournament so far, one of them yesterday
against Ancic, who is one hell of a player and, more significantly, did
come to the party yesterday. But the bottom line is that Federer, when
in the zone, is a different species. What he did to Ancic in winning
6-4, 6-4, 6-4 was show the magnitude of his talent.
I'd make a comparison with Michael Jordan in his prime. At any given
time in a match when his team desperately needed to three-pointer, the
question was always "Where's Jordan?". Then you gave him the ball. He
did whatever was necessary to get the three-pointer. Federer does
what's necessary, in audacious fashion, to win the big points.
Ancic started well, hitting aces, showing intent, but was there any
sign, even after the first four games were shared, that Federer was
going to be rattled? No. His supreme calm endured. Why? Heck! Because
he just knew he was going to win. The guy is a phenomenon. He remains
so calm that you have to conclude he truly believes, at the very
deepest level, he can do what the hell he likes. And he can, and he
lets opponents know it all the time.
An example from yesterday: Ancic serving, early in the second set,
40-0 up. Federer has nothing to lose in going for something special
even by his own standards, and thunders a 104mph forehand winner. It's
just incredible, and it just says to Ancic: "I've got a lot more of
these for when I really need them."
What any future opponent must be asking, especially at Wimbledon, is
"Just what the hell do I need to do to beat the guy?" That's the tough
part. When he's like this, you can't. He's a class apart, a
thoroughbred of the highest calibre. And talking of thoroughbreds,
here's an idea about how to even things up. We should make Roger carry
weights. Twenty pounds should do. And if that fails, he should be
required to do push-ups. One between each shot might be enough. Might.
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