Tuesday, July 7, 2009
A Poetic Sunday in London
"Phenomenal, incredible, historical" read the headlines of the newspaper Tribune de Genève in Switzerland, the homeland of Roger Federer, following his epic victory against Andy Roddick in the final match of Wimbledon. In all honesty, editors have run out of superlatives to describe Federer's accomplishments long prior to the day after his 15th Slam title. Sunday was, if anything at all, a poetic day to reaffirm what was already known. Before elaborating more on that, let's remember briefly the events of earlier this year.
The same Federer began the year ranked No. 2, which was unfamiliar territory by his standards. Less than a month later, he was in uncontrollable tears following another loss to Rafael Nadal in the finals of Australian Open, uttering the words "God, it's killing me..." The slow death continued in Miami when, in a previously unseen burst of emotion from him during his semifinal match against Novak Djokovic, a frustrated Federer smashed his racket to the ground. It did not get much better in the beginning of clay court season when Federer lost to his countryman Stanislas Wawrinka after a poorly played match in Monte Carlo. That was followed by another semifinal loss to Djokovic in Rome.
Squeezed between all this on-court misery took place two happier moments off-court; Roger and his long-time girlfriend Mirka learned that they were going to be parents, and a few weeks later, they got married in a happy ceremony in Roger's hometown of Basel.
Questions and doubts surfaced everywhere. No longer was it being discussed whether Federer would end up as the best player of all-time or not, but rather, would he be able to recover at all from the most turbulent period in his career and focus back on tennis with marriage and fatherhood so fresh in his mind.
As if touched by magic, everything turned around, beginning with a solid victory in the Madrid Masters Series tournament, including a win over Nadal on clay. Federer played his best tennis of the year in winning his first title, but it was not enough to persuade anybody that he was back. Few would have guessed at the time that he would remain undefeated through Madrid, French Open, and Wimbledon.
Here we are, less than two months later, unable to find fitting words to describe Roger Federer's greatness. But his final victory against Andy Roddick on Sunday was more than a simple victory. The circumstances, the atmosphere, the cast in the Centre Court at SW19 with its new roof, and the records all resulted in a day that will forever remain unforgettable. It was not to prove his status as the greatest player in the Open Era that Federer stepped on the court; unless one is unable to look at history impartially, Federer's status in that category was confirmed a month ago in Paris.
This grass court was the place where it all started for Roger. He beat Pete Sampras on this court in 2001. The latter was there on Sunday, this time as a spectator, watching the former and showing his respect for him and the game. He was there to watch the Swiss break his Slam record of 14 titles. It was also where Roger won his first Slam back in 2003. Equally, this was the same court where he tied Bjorn Borg in 2007, winning his fifth Wimbledon in succession. And just like on that day, Bjorn Borg was also present on Sunday, admiring the current king of grass courts. Sitting next to Bjorn Borg was Rod Laver, just couple of seats to the left of Sampras. Sitting behind them, Ilie Nastase, certainly a legend of a different kind, almost looked like he knew that he should not be in the same row as those three.
As if those present were not enough to make the day remarkably meaningful, the match was the icing on the cake. A determined Roddick, playing his best tennis to date, forced Federer into a long fifth set before the latter could finally lift the trophy. It was a display of formidable serves, powerful forehands, a Roddick forcing Federer to change his tactics, at times out-hitting him from the baseline, obliging the legend to have no choice but to use every variety available to his game (and, yes he has plenty), and to dig into every iota of athletic ability that he has in his possession, in order to finally be able to overcome the much-matured American. The match began under beautiful skies and ended four hours and 15 minutes later, still under the same conditions, as if to mock the new retractable roof that would have come handy in the previous recent finals.
Perhaps one could say that the apogee of the day came several minutes after the trophy presentation. A relaxed Federer was casually chatting with none other than Laver, Borg, and Sampras. The four of them were laughing and exchanging opinions. There is no need to wonder what common language was being used — it was the language of legends. Poetic image to end a poetic day. Congratulations, Roger.