The Hindu : Sport : Federer cruises

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 26, 2005

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Sport

Federer cruises

By Nirmal Shekar

MELBOURNE, JAN. 25 . It is never too late to learn. And Andre Agassi, almost 35, was taught a quick yet unforgettable lesson in the difference between the temporal and the eternal at Melbourne Park on Tuesday night.

In his long and rewarding career, Agassi has dealt with a few dodgy opponents; perhaps none more formidable than Father Time. Almost 35, and still very much a contender at the major events, the charismatic American has managed time and again to turn the clock back to conquer an ageing athlete's biggest enemy.

But then, it is one thing to handcuff time and make it do your bidding, quite another to try and beat prodigious, timeless talent, as the eight-time Grand Slam champion found out tonight when the extravagantly gifted Roger Federer turned a much-anticipated epic into a ridiculously easy romp in the quarterfinals of the Centenary Australian Open.

Federer's 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory took an hour and 39 minutes to accomplish and right through the match, never once did it appear that the Swiss master was stretched.

"He does everything well and a lot of things great," said Agassi, who may have played in his last Australian Open. "His level was way beyond mine tonight."

Shell-shocked

The most articulate of tennis champions, Agassi looked shell-shocked at the post match press conference. He has been beaten before. He has been mauled before. He has faced the guillotine before. Yet, tonight was different.

For, tonight, Agassi watched — rather than played against — an opponent, who could make machine gun fire sound like Mozart's melody with a tennis compositional style seldom witnessed in the modern era. The great American, hope clinging like moles on flaky skin, moved from corner to corner with balletic grace, only to finally applaud a colossal talent who turned a summary execution into a thing of timeless beauty.

"He plays the game beautifully," said Agassi. The average fan in the stands may have been disappointed that the contest fell far short of the widely expected marathon slugfest. But Agassi was graceful enough to admit that he himself was awed by the sheer beauty of Federer's game.

And to think that the top seeded Swiss superstar was not even playing his best tennis, was not even forced to play his best tennis!

The victory saw Federer stretch his winning streak to 26 straight matches and he has not been beaten by a Top 10 player in 24 matches, dating back to the Masters Cup in 2003.

Agassi's best chance to get his foot in the door came in the ninth game of the first set, with Federer serving to close it out. The American icon earned himself three breakpoints but each time a big serve or a huge forehand would deny him. Federer held after six deuces and Agassi was soon looking down the barrel as the champion broke in the first game in both the second and third sets and cruised to the finish.

"A good start to the match always helps, especially against Andre. I served well when I had to," said the man who is going for his third straight Grand Slam title.

Roof closed

Federer will play the fourth seeded Russian Marat Safin in the semifinals. The mercurial Safin, so much a mood player, received a major boost ahead of his match against the crafty Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty when the organisers decided to close the roof in hot conditions.

"When I was told in the locker room before the match that the roof was going to be closed, I said, `Yeah, this is my chance,'" said Safin, a finalist here last year.

Hrbaty has always given the Russian giant a lot of trouble — something evident from their 6-6 head-to-head record — but today, in controlled conditions, Safin played as well as he can play, serving rocks and controlling the tempo from the very beginning to post a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 victory.

Extreme heat

Where Maria Sharapova was born — Siberia — 35-degree temperature is not uncommon. Thirty five below zero, that is. It was hardly surprising then, that the teenaged Russian diva was a touch uncomfortable on court today with the temperature soaring above 35 C as she took on her countrywoman Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals, with the roof over the Rod Laver arena open.

"Just enough to win the matchpoint," said Sharapova, the fourth seed, when asked how much she had left in the tank on matchpoint. After overcoming a sluggish start, the Wimbledon champion beat Kuznetsova 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 in two hours and 17 minutes and will take on the 2003 champion Serena Williams in the semifinals.

Heat-stroke, rather than any master-stroke from the rackets of the two Russians, was the odds-on favourite. Although emergency services were not called for, it was the sort of day when even a weather-beaten Bedouin camel would have thrown in the towel.

In the event, it was hardly surprising that Sharapova was a tad sluggish at the start. It took her a while to come to terms with the conditions but once she did that, the 17-year old was unstoppable. The 10-minute break after the second set helped her cause too, a welcome oasis before resuming the hot desert voyage to the semifinals.

"I have never played three sets in (this kind of) hot weather," said Sharapova. "You have got to start somewhere, you have to learn, you have to find a way to get through it."

Sharapova's semifinal opponent found an easier way to get through it. Serena Williams, seeded seven, spent less than half the time the Russian did on court — only 71 minutes — as she disposed of the second seeded Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo 6-2, 6-2.

As if the Australian Open organisers were charging her an exorbitant price for court time, Serena raced through the match against the most talented nearly-woman playing the game today, although Mauresmo said later that she had not fully recovered from a groin strain.

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