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July 11, 2006
Dressed for success: Federer happy to serve traditions
Our correspondent finds the champion looking immaculate both on and off court
By Neil Harman, The Times
ONEUPMANSHIP with a real dash. The full
measure of Roger Federer and Wimbledon is that he is the best player
there is — and maybe ever has been — and has perfected the means of
carrying off his superiority with an assuredness of self and place that
has his fellow members of the All England Club purring with pleasure.
They
changed the set-up of the room at The Savoy in which the champions’
dinner was staged on Sunday night and, as the Swiss strode in (cream
jacket with member’s badge on the left lapel, purple and green club tie
perfectly knotted), Federer started to walk to where the top table used
to be and needed a bit of persuading that he was not being led the
wrong way. He is familiar with everything being in its proper position,
hence his momentary stutter. It was the same on Centre Court a few
hours earlier, when he dropped his first set in the championships since
the third round last year. Then he found his footing again,
rediscovered his sense of direction and charmed his entire audience. There was a slight difference to his morning after a fourth
championship, for Federer normally rises with the wood pigeons to stand
in front of one camera then the next before filling the notebooks of
those writers who can drag themselves out of bed at an unearthly hour.
He was on a plane to Basle, his home town in Switzerland, first thing
yesterday for a lunchtime rendezvous with the town-hall balcony he has
come to know well. This time he luxuriated a little more, read the papers and
dwelt on the images of his eighth grand-slam tournament title, a
four-set victory over Rafael Nadal, of Spain, that he greeted with
what, given his previous bodily contortions on winning the title, was
akin to a shoulder shrug. “But I hit service winners or aces those times and it just
seemed a natural reaction,” he said yesterday. “I was surprised to read
that people said I didn’t display my normal emotions, but it’s because
this time I was in a rally and wasn’t sure of the call. I didn’t find
the time to go down on the court. But the joy was exactly the same
inside, believe me, I was very happy to live this moment. There were
tears on and off the court, basically. Just not so many.” Does this mean that winning Wimbledon has become almost
matter-of-fact? “I guess not,” he said. “The first one was special, I
thought I had two great finals with Andy [Roddick] which were important
because he was getting awfully close to the No 1 position and that is
something I don’t want to lose. I can understand the fuss with me and
Nadal. The people are happy to see the No 1 challenged and he has only
been around for 1½ years, really. “He didn’t play the French for the first time because he was
injured, then he wins it and does it back-to-back. Definitely what we
have is a nice thing for the sport and for me, too. A lot of people
thought he might have a shout in the Wimbledon final, but I did not
want that to happen. “Finally this year, I was able to sit down, look at the
papers, see what people thought of the match, have an easy morning and
a chance to savour what I have achieved. The last few years I’ve only
really flicked the pages over. This was my best grand-slam of my life,
surely. I can maybe play a little bit better at times, but there is
nothing really I have to change. I won every match but one in straight
sets. “I would still like to serve and volley a bit more at
Wimbledon, but I’m playing so well and consistently from the baseline,
I don’t have to rush to the net and put myself under more pressure. I
have many more fantastic years ahead, but this event shows I’m in my
prime.” Was there ever a Wimbledon champion who so epitomised what the
club itself has striven to bring to the sport, a traditionalist who
will not compromise what he knows is right but has to stay one step
ahead of the game? That Federer feels so at home in SW19 makes the
place swell with an extra sense of pride. Today, the 24-year-old will start a short holiday — “at least
one week” — before his conditioning work starts for the American
hard-court season, culminating in the US Open next month.
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