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August 25, 2007
A Star on the Court Who Mingles Off It
By Liz Robbins, New York Times
Roger Federer is not lonely at No. 1. He has plenty of company off the court.
New York has been the site of Federer’s three consecutive United
States Open triumphs, and the two-week event has also given Federer a
platform to meet and befriend luminaries.
Anna Wintour and Tiger Woods are now only a phone call away.
Wintour, the editor of Vogue, was even closer Thursday night.
Wintour threw Federer a dinner party at the Gramercy Park Hotel and
invited 60 guests, including the designers Diane von Furstenberg, Michael Kors, Marc Jacobs and Oscar de la Renta.
“That was great fun,” Federer said yesterday in a public garden atop
Niketown, before speaking to children from the City Parks tennis
program.
Federer first met Wintour at a charity event in New York.
Thursday’s dinner, in honor of his recent appearance on the cover of
Men’s Vogue, had been postponed since March when Wintour told him to
rest for the French Open.
“I know Anna very well,” Federer said. “And then meeting the
designers — these people are a big inspiration. I’ve gotten into
fashion the last few years, done my own fashion statements on center
court at Wimbledon.”
Federer wore a white blazer with the “RF” crest at Wimbledon, where he has won five straight titles.
“Anna said that was fantastic,” Federer said, grinning. “I think she’s also excited about this outfit at the Open.”
Wearing different styles for day and night matches, Federer is
seeking to become the first man in the open era to win four straight
United States Open titles. Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe also won three in a row. In July, Federer tied Bjorn Borg’s record of five straight Wimbledon titles.
“It would be nice to win four in a row, but basically I’m here to
defend my title for last year,” Federer said. “Wimbledon was great
because it was five in a row. That was for me a really big streak.”
The victory at Wimbledon gave him his 11th major title. A month
later, Woods won his 13th major title, at the P.G.A. Championship,
stoking their friendly competition to catch their sports’ career
leaders (Pete Sampras’s 14 major titles and Jack Nicklaus’s 18).
Last September, Woods was in Federer’s box to watch him win the United States Open final against Andy Roddick. Only afterward did Woods and Federer meet for the first time.
“I had met many sports greats, but Tiger was a logical thing because we were always talking about each other,” Federer said.
Now they frequently talk or send text messages to each other.
(Federer said he did not think that Woods, a new father, would be
coming to the Open this year.) They have seen each other play when
their tournament schedules overlap, in Shanghai, Miami and Dubai, where
their Gillette advertising campaign was announced in February.
Watching Woods play made him feel even more of a kinship.
“He does things a little bit similar to me,” Federer said. “Like on
the golf course, you think he’s serious, so focused, concentrated guy.
But then you get little hints of actually what personality he has off
the golf course. When he gets a bit angry or laughs or does a joke with
other golfers. Off the court, he’s so laid-back, it’s unbelievable.”
Federer, 26, from Basel, Switzerland, is also laid-back. He travels
with a small entourage led by his longtime girlfriend, Mirka Vavrinec,
who arranges his schedule in minute detail leading up to the Open.
Even though he has had daily practices since arriving Tuesday,
Federer said he was grateful for some down time in New York after a
grueling last few weeks in North America. Federer lost in a final for
only the third time this season, in Montreal against 20-year-old Novak
Djokovic of Serbia, 7-6 (2), 2-6, 7-6 (2).
Federer’s only other losses in finals came on clay against Rafael
Nadal: at Monte Carlo and at the French Open, the one major Federer has
not won. Federer avenged that loss at Wimbledon in a five-set thriller.
“It’s good sometimes to lose,” said Federer, who followed the loss in Montreal by defeating James Blake
for the title in Cincinnati last week. “You start new. Like last week,
people talk, people think. One week later, you’ve won and everything is
O.K. again. There was nothing to be worried about.”
He has been No. 1 alone for 186 consecutive weeks.
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