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June 25, 2007
Federer maturing into role of elder statesman
The world No 1 says there is more to life than tennis as he tries to emulate Bjorn Borg by winning a fifth successive Wimbledon title
By Neil Harman, The Times
According to Roger Federer, it is at the age of 25 when a tennis player starts
to consider the ageing process — the move from imperturbable youth with no
thought other than racing to grasp life’s opportunities to a man with
different priorities, like what might happen when your powers start to wane.
Federer is 25.
Do not think for one minute that the Swiss maestro — master of all he has
surveyed at Wimbledon and far beyond (except Paris) these past four,
bewildering years — has begun the process of winding down, it is just a
fascinating stage of growing up, seeing life for what it means beyond the
confines of the white lines and the adulation.
Blimey, Tim Henman is still playing and he’s seven years older than Federer —
Jonas Björkman, of Sweden, is a decade further down the road and he’s still
out there teaching the young pups a thing or two about how to express
oneself on a tennis court. But Henman has a couple of daughters — the third
child is due in September — and Björkman’s wife Petra and four-year-old son
Max accompany him to many of the sport’s venues.
Federer says he is finally able to talk comfortably about starting a family,
about the long-term investments being made in him by his marquee sponsors,
about the development of the Roger Federer Foundation, which ploughs money
into countries that rank among the 50 poorest in the world, with a mortality
rate of children under the age of 5 of more than 15 per cent. He is making a
change in an ever-changing world.
“I have to see where all these things pull me,” he says. “I’m looking forward
to settling down one day in Switzerland, because I have a flat in Zurich
which is where I want to live. I was not thinking of this three or four
years ago, I concentrated on tennis alone, but at 25, you are verging on
leaving young and becoming a bit older.”
Then he looks around the room and remembers where he is — the All England
Club, where it all began for him as a child in his parents’ living room,
watching Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg going at it hammer and tongs,
leaving beautiful imprints across Centre Court. Federer knew he wanted to be
a part of the story, but could not have dreamed what a significant part he
would become.
He says that winning one Wimbledon would have been plenty, even though you
know that four is not enough. He walks away from another loss in Paris, the
red dust has barely been brushed from his soles, and his thoughts turn to a
favoured piece of London greenery. “I can deal with what happens in Paris,
no problem,” he says. “It’s OK for me, really it is. Everyone else says it
is a disaster that I lose but to me it is important that I have reached the
final again, that I keep giving myself that chance. And one day I will go
back and win it, I believe that.
“Can you win it, can you win it? Once the French is over, you fall into the
hole of the grass-court season. It is a lovely time. I would like to see a
longer grass-court season but that’s the way it is.
“It’s a pity because to me Wimbledon doesn’t have the kind of exposure it
should expect and it is the French Open that takes that away. But there are
a lot who leave Paris disappointed and the grass is a way to make it up.
“Look at Andy. He loses in the first round, he comes to England, plays at
Queen’s and he wins it for a fourth time. For him, it is like ‘no problem’.
Most of the guys are happy to get on grass straight away. I had five days
with my family in Switzerland after the French, which was huge for me. I
feel very refreshed.”
He has been granted a sneak peak at Centre Court which, for a year, will feel
far different from the past. Indeed, for the first time since 1922 and the
only time for the next 50 years at least, which is the life expectancy of
the roof which will be in place in 2009, the court will be open to the
elements
“I liked the old one,” Federer says. “It is bigger and brighter and I suppose
it’s good for the greenkeepers because it’s getting more sun. You feel as if
the Championships are in a transition period, but I don’t think it will make
any difference to the atmosphere. The crowds make it here.
“In Paris, the corporate people only come out for an hour and half, which is
usually \ to see the end of my match and the beginning of Rafa’s \. It is
very special at Wimbledon because it is always sold out and always full.”
There are certain players for whom Wimbledon is the perfect fit. Pete Sampras
won the title four times but still seemed oddly detached, a champion who
played the game exactly to the grass court rules, who played in a manner of
dreamy assurance but who lacked that indefinable magic that Federer brings
to the place.
Much like the Centre Court he knows and adores, Federer is going through a
transition. But the essential brilliance is unaltered. The desire is no less
— it is probably more. He is in the best shape of his life. He is
approaching his peak. And has there ever been a tennis player more aware of
himself and more comfortable with his place in the game? I think not.
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