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Wednesday, 5 July, 2006
Federer Moves in Majestic Ways
By Alix Ramsay, Wimbledon
When
the draw was made 12 days ago, there was a view, supported by all those
who claimed to know the game well, that Roger Federer had been given
the draw from hell. Blimey, look at that: Richard Gasquet in the first
round. And then Tim Henman in the second. It’s going to be a tough one
for Federer. Perhaps the pundits ought to have a quiet word
with Messrs Gasquet, Henman, Mahut, Berdych and now Ancic and ask them
just who had the tougher draw. All of them ran into Federer and all
reeled away, battered and bruised and without a set between them. It is
reasonable to suggest that they might feel that they had a slightly
harder draw than Federer. Mario Ancic, never let us forget, is
the last man to have beaten the majestic Swiss on grass but that was in
another lifetime, in another world. That was back in 2002 – and in the
first round, no less. But that was before Federer graduated from being
a player with great potential to being the all-conquering champion. Now
that Federer is in charge, no one can touch him. Not in SW19 at any
rate. Ancic was swept aside 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. The last man to take
Federer to five sets at Wimbledon was one Pete Sampras in 2001. Federer
won that one, too, even though he lost to Henman in the next round.
Determined not to be remembered only as “the man who beat Sampras”, the
Swiss then set about world domination and tennis hasn’t been the same
since. Ancic did everything he could to make a match of it, but
Federer simply would not play ball. If Ancic tried to get involved in a
rally, he was crushed. If he tried to attack, he was slapped down and
if he threatened Federer’s serve, he was put firmly in his place. Only
once did he break the Swiss but that was in the third set and by then
Federer was already two breaks to the good. It was only the second time
that Federer had dropped his serve during these Championships but it
was still too little, too late. All of this was achieved
despite the distractions of two rain delays and the arrival of two
members of the Fathers 4 Justice group. Just as Ancic was
preparing to serve at 2-4 in the first set, two men in jeans and
tee-shirts, armed with rackets and a ball, nipped on to the court and
tried to knock up. The stewards, on their guard after the streaker on
Tuesday, were quick off the mark to usher the two men away with the
minimum of fuss and we were back in business. Federer barely blinked
throughout it all and, just as he did when the rain disrupted his
rhythm, came back better, stronger and more deadly. Federer is
such a calm and dignified presence off the court but on it, he is the
silent assassin. He is not a grunter, not a grafter, just a killer. He
never seems to be hurried into errors, and nothing ever seems to be an
effort. In the heat and the humidity of the early afternoon, the sweat
was running off Ancic in rivers after just four games while Federer
hardly seemed to have raised a bead of perspiration. The
photographers who line the courtside all have problems with Federer. It
is not that he does not take a good picture – he is a good looking
chap, is Roger – but even when he is running flat out, he looks like he
is trotting through a practice session. His movement is graceful,
balanced and so deceptive that not even a snapper with a telephoto lens
can catch a stretched sinew. Even his racket makes a different
sound to everyone else's. When he strikes the ball, it flies from his
strings with a hefty ‘pock’ sound and fizzes towards the pin-point
target that Federer has selected for it. When mere mortals strike the
ball against the Swiss, it pings away to its ultimate destination – the
Federer sweet spot and a return winner. There ain’t no arguing with
that. Ancic threw everything he could find at his opponent and
still it came back. A 6’5", he has a belting serve and a willingness to
come to the net. Hurtling forward, he would spread himself at the net,
like a goalkeeper defending a penalty, and still Federer would rifle
his forehand through the half inch gap left unguarded by the desperate
Croat. It took just 106 minutes for the champion to win his 46th
consecutive grass court match and reach his ninth consecutive Grand
Slam semi-final. “If I keep up this type of play, it’s looking pretty
good,” Federer said with a smile afterwards. Yes, Roger, but it is
looking pretty grim for everyone else.
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