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April 1, 2006
Federer Is Sharing a Parallel Universe
By Karen Crouse, New York Times
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. — The parallel career paths of Roger Federer and Tiger Woods
crisscrossed in Shanghai last November. Federer, the world's best
tennis player, and Woods, the world's best golfer, wanted to meet but
never did, time being one of the few things that neither can bend to
his will.
"Our schedules never worked
out," Federer said Friday night after earning a place in the Nasdaq-100
Open final Sunday against Ivan Ljubicic with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over
David Ferrer in the semifinals. Federer, who is 27-1 this year, has not
lost on United States soil since Dominik Hrbaty dispatched him in the
final of an ATP Tour event in August 2004. [Correction: It was the first round of the Cincinnati Masters] Next month the
24-year-old Federer will begin to chase down the only major
championship to have eluded him. If he wins the French Open at Roland
Garros, Federer, the reigning champion at Wimbledon and the United
States and Australian Opens, will complete a noncalendar-year Grand
Slam. Woods was 25 in 2001 when he held all four of golf's
major titles simultaneously, winning the Masters in April to complete
the so-called Tiger Slam. Federer, then 19, watched Woods's fabled run
in slack-jawed awe. "I followed him a lot back then," Federer
said. "It was such a big hype around Tiger and having such an impact on
golf and getting it where it is today." Federer never presumed that Woods's dominance was offering him a peek into his own future. "Absolutely not," he said. "If you look at Tiger's story and my story, they're so very different. His goal was always to beat Jack Nicklaus's record from an early, early age. I hoped and dreamt of meeting Boris Becker or maybe playing in Wimbledon one day."
Federer said his potential revealed itself "little by little, where
with Tiger you could see from an early age that he was going to be
maybe one of the greatest players in history." Federer won his
first ATP title in 2001. The gears of the hype machine started turning
for him that summer after he pulled off a fourth-round upset of Pete Sampras at Wimbledon which snapped Sampras's 31-match winning streak there.
It took Federer time to grow into Sampras's shoes. When Federer won at
Wimbledon in 2003, it was as if some wall in his psyche came tumbling
down. He has won 6 of the ensuing 10 majors. Woods won five
major championships before turning 25. He was three months past his
26th birthday when he earned his seventh. Federer was nearly two years
younger when he won his seventh major championship this January in
Australia. Like Woods, Federer can summon shots as if out of a
magician's hat. In the second set against Ferrer, Federer punctuated a
long point with a running, no-look, crosscourt backhand winner that was
pure genius. It was a very difficult shot, Ferrer said afterward,
adding, "Obviously being Federer he's used to those kind of shots."
The reverence with which other players speak of Federer, who has never
lost a Grand Slam final, is reminiscent of how golfers speak about
Woods, who has won 34 of 37 PGA Tour events in which he has taken a
lead into the final round. A favorite parlor game on both tours is
debating which player is more dominant in his sport. "Tiger
would probably be a lot like Roger if all the golf tournaments were
match play," said Brad Gilbert, a coach and tennis commentator. "Tiger
is phenomenal, but he can't stop somebody from doing something. Besides
the guys hoping that Federer loses, he's always got the opportunity to
stop the other guy." Federer is looking forward to catching
Woods at rest. "It would just be interesting to sort of meet and see
what kind of personality is a person who does such great things on the
golf course," Federer said. He suspects Woods is a lot like
himself: as mellow away from the athletic arena as he is merciless on
it. "If we would sit down for dinner," Federer said, "I have the
feeling he would be very laid-back and he would see that I am that way
too."
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