|
September 2, 2007
Roger Federer pays Nadal ultimate compliment
By Clive White at New York, Sunday Telegraph
It
was a remark that one would have had to wait until hell froze over to
hear John McEnroe or Jimmy Connors utter about the other, and then it
would only be with a gun pointed at their head: "I'm going to make it
as hard as possible for somebody to pass me, but I would at least wish
if I wasn't No 1 Nadal would be." For those who believe that the
rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal is just too cosy, this
admission from the world's No 1 to The Sunday Telegraph will provide
ample confirmation.
But
this is to misunderstand the peerless one, just as it is a mistake to
misinterpret his honesty for arrogance when he unintentionally talks
disparagingly about lesser mortals than himself. It took McEnroe until
well after his playing days had ended to talk generously of Connors,
but Federer is prepared to accept the worthiness of Nadal as a rival right now. The
only hint of bitterness between the pair has been Federer's occasional
whinge about the off-court coaching of Nadal's uncle, Toni, and yet no
one who witnessed this year's Wimbledon final between the two would
ever doubt the intensity and quality of their rivalry, which brought
new-found respect from Federer for the Majorcan, albeit in his hour of
victory. McEnroe and Connors would shudder at the thought, but they
would probably be cosier still if they spoke the same language. In
fact, it may come as a surprise to some to hear that Federer does not
consider himself a born champion like his friend Tiger Woods or his
role model fellow Swiss Martina Hingis. "They were born to become
heroes because they were always pushed," he said. "Early on their
parents had a dream. They wanted them to become the best and they
achieved it, which for me is mind-boggling. My father never believed I
could become No 1. I've just done the best I can - like Tim Henman." It's
worth mentioning, though, that his statement about wishing that Nadal
be the one to dethrone him, if indeed he is to be, came with an
appendage, which was: "That's the standard." In other words, after 162
weeks as No 1 he doesn't want just anyone to overtake him, he wants
only the best to do so. He knows Nadal has proved with his second
successive appearance in a Wimbledon final he is no longer the
"one-dimensional" clay-courter Federer, a little unkindly, once
described him as. Besides, his nemesis leads him 8-5 in head-to-heads. The
irony is that just when Nadal has managed to manoeuvre himself into
Federer's slipstream after 110 weeks of breathing in his exhaust fumes
he finds his engine failing. Fortunately for him his second-round
opponent here at the US Open late on Friday night, Janko Tipsarevic,
was in even worse physical shape than he was with his tendinitis and
was forced to retire in the third set with a rib injury while trailing
6-2, 6-3, 3-2. As for the claims of Tipsarevic's
exciting young fellow countryman Novak Djokovic, Federer felt the Serb,
who beat him for the first time in the final of the Montreal Masters
last month, first had to serve his Grand Slam apprenticeship before
being considered a possible heir. Federer even put Andy Roddick ahead
of the world No 3 in his personal pecking order, although admitted that
this US Open was "make or break time" for the one-Slam American wonder. There
had been rumours that the garrulous Djokovic had got under Federer's
skin a little after announcing in classic Cassius Clay-speak before
their fourth-round meeting in the Australian Open that the champion was
"going down". To be fair to Djokovic it was with tongue firmly in
cheek. When Federer duly put him in his place, some said, it was by way
of admonishment, but Federer denied there was any ill feeling between
the two. "We had one little issue where I thought
he was faking injury in a Davis Cup tie against us," said the Swiss.
"His father got very vocal, but later, in Madrid, Novak came and
excused himself for what happened so since then everything is OK. We'll
have to see how he handles Grand Slams because this is what it's all
about. "He's always been a bit outspoken because he
does talk a lot and that's OK, the guy's confident, you want to see
that from young players. I remember I talked differently when I was a
young player. I also thought I could rip up trees. My tone has changed.
It's good he goes through that phase, I like it." No
one could be more respectful of the game's greats, particularly former
ones, than Federer, even if he does play with a sweet spot on his
Wilson [K]Factor racket that is no bigger than those of yesteryear. He
needs three more Grand Slam wins to pull level with Pete Sampras in the
all-time Slam winners' list, which he may very well do, appropriately,
at Wimbledon next year, but for him that doesn't necessarily follow
that he's a better player. "Sampras didn't focus on beating somebody
else's record, it just happened. And the same for me, it will just
happen," he said. "That's why I will never equal
Jimmy Connors' record of 109 titles. That's just not the way it works,
you play a schedule that's there for you and to be fair also to the
older generations. If I don't beat Sampras's record people might almost
consider me a failure because I've had so much success over the last
few years. But the tough times will come for me and you know what, I'm
not worried - I'm having the time of my life."
|
