Roger Federer - Perfection personified

Roger Federer is perfection personified on the tennis court

When finesse attains flawlessness, perfection becomes mundane, and excellence on the green top becomes a norm, you know you are watching the great man, Roger Federer, practise his art.

Terminator like domination on the grass and hard courts, and impeccable accuracy in every shot has been the hallmark of this legend. His hair has gone from a ponytail to being stylishly cropped, almost at the same rate as his game has gone from being very good to mind-numbingly awesome! Everything that Federer has done on court is part of legend.

It was 1999. An eighteen year old burst onto the scene of men’s tennis. His talent made tennis enthusiasts salivate at the prospect of maybe, another Pistol Pete! They were unaware then, that they would get much more.

In 2001, Federer ended Sampras’ reign on the grass court. Still, his ice-cool head was misinterpreted as lack of will and fire. It was not until the Wimbledon title of 2003 that the world realized what tennis was in for.

2003 was just the beginning of a galaxy of titles. Grass court or hard court, the man was unbeatable. He made Wimbledon almost his personal trophy. There was a joke doing the rounds in the circuit that Wimbledon be shifted to Basel, so that the trouble of carrying the trophy in and out of England every year could be avoided. Such was his mastery.

He even proved Navjot Sidhu wrong, who famously said, “statistics are like mini-skirts; they give a hint of what’s in store, without revealing the truth!” Sample this. 16 grand slam titles, 237 ‘consecutive’ weeks as the world’s numero uno tennis player, 10 consecutive grand-slam finals, 18 out of 19 grand slam finals in the golden period starting 2005. Statistics only corroborated his greatness. The only thing he couldn’t do, it seemed, was to fly off in a cape.

He had every shot in the book; He penned his own book! He belonged to that rare breed of naturally gifted players. Very few contemporary players could play a single handed backhand with such ferocity and accuracy. Not many could play the shot around the net. Even fewer could hit an accurate ‘tweener (the shot where a player faces away from the opponent, and returns a lob ‘tween his legs). And almost none could repeat an accurate ‘tweener in consecutive grand slams!

He did not have the most ferocious serve; he did not need to. Why waste energy on the serve when you can play the perfect backhand pass down the line, or wrong-foot the opponent with a perfectly disguised volley!

In spite of his undeniable domination, there was one prize that eluded the great man. Roland Garros! Tons of trophies adorned

his living room wall. The one missing piece in the jigsaw of tennis-immortality was the French Open; this superman’s kryptonite. No matter how many finals he reached, no matter how many opponents he dismantled, it was always the last hurdle that proved insurmountable.

All that changed in 2009. It was on that fateful Sunday of June, when the career slam was completed. After Agassi, Federer became only the second player in the open era to complete a career slam. Another milestone was conquered.

Next stop was Wimbledon 2009. Wimbledon, it seems, has had this love-hate relationship with Federer since 2007. Whilst it was a 5-setter epic that went Federer’s way in 2007, it was Nadal who edged past in 2008. In 2009, it was the bazooka-serving Roddick who was at the other end. Tiebreak after tiebreak, and no break of serve for Federer. Sampras must have been smiling in his enclosure. But FedEx had other ideas. Roddick’s serve was broken for the first time in the 5^th set, and that game gave Federer the match, and another milestone; the 15^th singles grand slam title!

In the life of every sportsman, there comes a time, a trough, where the future appears bleak. Everything seems to be downhill from there. There are walls of doubt that are erected all around. But walls cannot contain legends. Breaking through walls MAKES legends! And like a phoenix, Federer will rise again from this slump.

Tennis fans owe him. He has given some amazing entertainment over the years to everyone who has had time to watch his effortless perfection day-in, day-out (which some commentators have found to be bordering on monotony). I have not lost hope in him. There are more grand slams to come.