The Hindu : Sport : Roger Federer's reign continues

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 04, 2005

Sport

Sport

Roger Federer's reign continues

Nirmal Shekar

LONDON: He plays alone.

Deserted by his mates — read competitors — en route to the icy heights of his own genius, Roger Federer the duellist has metamorphosed into Roger Federer the solo artist.

Audiences everywhere come licking their lips in anticipation of a rousing duel, witness a virtuoso solo act and then go back in a state of trance. Did we see it? Or, was that a dream?

Opponents, for their part, quickly find out that their role is limited to tuning up the instruments. And, that done, instead of wasting time back-stage, they quite often willingly join the audience — after all, the best place to play Federer from, and enjoy the experience too, is the stands!

In the men's singles final of the 119th Wimbledon championships, on Sunday, Andy Roddick resisted that temptation and kept up the act now and again, making a futile attempt to remind us all that it was indeed a duel for the world's most coveted tennis title.

But, from the icy heights of the tallest of peaks, Federer mocked at the American, made timeless perfection look almost ridiculously quotidian and joined the immortals of the game such as Pete Sampras and Bjorn Borg with a 6-2, 7-6(2), 6-4 victory in an hour and 41 minutes.

The Swiss maestro's third straight triumph here — and his fifth overall in Grand Slam tournaments — saw him match Sampras and Borg, the only other players in the Open Era to win three in a row at Wimbledon. Sampras, a seven-time winner, did it twice (1993-95 and 1997-2000) while Borg won five consecutive titles from 1976 to 1980.

Federer, who has never been beaten on the centre court, is now 36-0 on grass, five short of Borg's all-time record of 41, although, unlike Federer, Borg achieved all those victories at Wimbledon.

"I did play my best today. Third title... this is very special. It is a nice group. Sampras is one of my favourite players and Borg is a great champion," said Federer. "Even though the pressure was on me after losing in the Australian Open and the French Open, this was easier than the last one."

Brief phases of drama

There were two brief phases of drama in the match. The first came and went quickly early in the second set as Federer lost serve for the only time in the match, in the third game, and the broke back to 3-3. The next came from above at the end of the second set, as a passing, spitting rain caused a 25-minute break.

"This guy is the best for a reason. He deserves a lot of credit," said Roddick. "He has become such a complete player."

Then, tongue in cheek, the American, beaten by the Swiss genius here for a third straight year, added: "Maybe I'll just punch him or something."

Good idea. Try another sport, boys. This one has been hijacked to heavenly heights by a solitary genius who uses his racquet much like Da Vinci used brush.

This much is sure: Federer might sooner fall victim to the known enemy of his habitat — loneliness — than to someone wielding a racquet and challenging him from across the net on a grass court!

"I am more in the mood for a beer right now," said Roddick as BBC's Sue Barker held the microphone close to his lips on the centre court after the match. You did not really need humane qualities to empathise with the handsome American.

Infallible majesty

On a chilly, overcast afternoon, Federer came up with a performance of infallible majesty. Discreetly and tidily aggressive, both from the back of the court and from the net, the great man unfurled strokes of transcendental brilliance.

Aces, well directed service winners, an array of rapier-like passing shots challenging the established principles of geometry... it was all like a dream in which things happen in slow motion. There was a distinct air of unreality to the whole thing.

The first of masterstrokes came in the sixth game of the first set as Federer broke Roddick's serve with a crosscourt backhand followed by a backhand down the line at full stretch. There began the solo act. There ended the duel, although Roddick tried his best to make us believe otherwise.

In the second set tiebreak, Federer was never in trouble, although he did lose two service points after going up 3-0. The backhand once again worked like magic and the top seed endured that short break because of rain before coming back to find the regulation break of serve in the seventh game.

The he sank to the turf, lay on his back and cried. The tears of joy trickled down in tiny rivers through the 6 p.m. stubble on his face as he acknowledged the cheers from the crowd.

Earlier in the day, Mahesh Bhupathi and Mary Pierce played superb tennis to beat Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and Lisa Raymond of the United States 7-5, 6-1 in the mixed doubles semifinals.

Forced to wait a full day on Saturday because the tournament was behind schedule, Bhupathi and Pierce edged ahead in a close first set and then dominated their opponents in the second. The Indian doubles expert served wonderfully well right through the match and Pierce, for her part, played the big points with great confidence.

Prefix denotes seedings

Women's singles: Final: 14-Venus Williams (U.S.) bt 1-Lindsay Davenport (U.S.) 4-6, 7-6(4), 9-7.

Women's doubles: Final: 2-Cara Black (Zim) & Liezel Huber (RSA) bt Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) & Amelie Mauresmo (Fra) 6-2, 6-1.

Mixed doubles: Semifinals: Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) & Mary Pierce (Fra) bt 3-Jonas Bjorkman (Swe) & 7-Lisa Raymond (U.S.) 7-5, 6-1.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport