Federer vs Tomic: Vanity versus Pride

On a waning Indian winter’s January afternoon, the curse of free time and rest could turn most restless. But such a disguised luxury is not everyone’s to gain. How often does a working Indian get the opportunity to catch a live game of the Australian Open?

These are scorching times, we are told by a boisterous Tamia on ‘Vijay’s View’, but the scorching games just seem to out-rival this heat. The bright and vibrant ‘Rod lever arena’ turns up on the screens and the brush with some of the game’s greatest heroes in action is just pure delight. Indeed, a mid-winter’s daylight fantasy!

Now the first week is seldom interesting in most grand slams save the occasional upset, despite the fact that it’s called an upset. It’s a time when the unseeded participants are busy attempting to uproot the mighty seeds that are already gigantic trees, when the deserving are filtered from the desiring, when the aspirants are taught their first lessons on the big stage by the hands of the masters, when the draws start converging in the direction of the legends.

Rarely though in the middle of such an insipid week, there is an evening that promises a date with destiny; an event when the spotlight falls on two competitors of contrasting auras, inflaming the darkness with a game of colourful drama.

One such promising encounter on the cards for the Aus. Open ’13, is a third round encounter between home favourite Tomic and home favoured Federer. It’s been an encounter that has been talked about right from the day the draw was drafted, further intensified by the mind games and war of words from the two. In my unbiased opinion, a clash between vanity and pride!

Tomic comes into the game brimming with confidence, with a 10^th straight win of the summer, having beaten Djokovic (even if it was at Hopman Cup) and picked an ATP warm-up title in Sydney en route to the tournament. It could although tip into over-confidence if he were to try taking on an in-form Federer by merely resting on the laurels of these victories from the recent past. His past year, if anything, is mildly unsettling and in a way, I’m right now reminded of a prodigious talent we’ve met before, called Marat Safin. Remember his on-court display after the Wimbledon ‘12 loss to David Goffin, when he smashed two racquets to vent his frustration?

Such abrasive fragility of the mind and emotional meltdown could be his greatest curse, especially against an equanimous genius called Roger Federer.

His recent verbal retaliation to the legend’s mind games have been received with varied criticism from the analysts and game’s pundits. Those who love standing by the underdogs (and on the lighter vein, Nadal fans) have lauded his courageous stance while most, including the prudent, would opine that it’s pride or sheer audacity!

Either ways, this prince in his first crown ought to realize that upping the ante in dealing with the Emperor’s statements in the press wouldn’t be quite the same as dealing with his venomous passing forehands or mesmerizing creative volleys in the run of play.

Federer on the other hand, doesn’t hold a warm-up title to either portray his latest form or affirm his experience in the fresh season. Recalling his majestic stats, like the 17 Slam titles, could be easily dismissed with a grin as relying too much on past glory. But it’s still a mockery of ‘even his 31 year old gaming vanity’ to dismiss his abilities to tame a 1 ATP title old protégé, more famous for controversies off the court!

Going by the mind of this monumental champion, I am quite certain that complacency wouldn’t figure in his mental arsenal when he turns up on the court on Saturday. Federer has never been the player to rely too much on the opponents’ aura, be it Rank 1 or Rank 100, treating both with as much respect; a fact that’s reflected in his unparalleled consistency as a top ranked player in beating unseeded novices.

In the present tournament though, the two of them have had contrasting journeys to the epic showdown. It seems pretty ironic that we have to label a round 3 encounter for HRH Roger Federer as ‘Epic’, but that’s the curse of age and birth of a Federer critic’s time perhaps.

Despite turning up on the centre court right from his practice blocks, Federer has straight away dusted his wardrobe of rest and got into cruise mode, winning both his matches in straight sets. He has looked in the usual form of his winning majesty, playing long mesmerizing rallies, creating unbelievable forehands in passing, a better first serve and consistent backhand. His only worry at the moment though, should be his inability to convert most of his break chances, which won’t be available in as much abundance with the top players. Beating Davydenko, a former No.3 in straight sets with the kind of game he played today, is perhaps an indication of his accelerated progress to glorious form of the old.

On the opposite site, for all the uproar about his potential to upset the big man, Tomic on his part, hasn’t quite managed to create the stature of a big hurdle to be crossed. His first match was quite straightforward against a lowly ranked Mayer but the second against a big-serving German Qualifier showed more frailties in his trade. Although Tomic seemed rock solid in extending his highly impressive run of service holds to 76 games, stretching back to the quarter-finals in Sydney last week, his inability to break his opponent should be a drawback against a firing Federer’s serve.

Having said it all, come Saturday night at Rod Laver arena, we are in for some bright fireworks. A potential upset as few might hope. A humbling defeat as some others might grudgingly profess. A hard earned win for the Swiss as the safe analysts might rant. Either ways, we have a meaningful encounter in the first week and Federer’s first game to prove his rightful desire for an 18^th slam.

Prediction: Roger to beat the maverick in 4 sets.