Egotism ....a lifelong romance

Sunday, February 01, 2004

Keeping the eye on the ball

Keeping the eye on the ball. That's how easy Roger Federer makes tennis look like. And with a backhand as effortless as his forehand, he doesn't have much trouble hitting the ball when he gets to it. Not to mention his unbelievable nimbleness on court.

When Safin came into the Australian Open Final after destroying the youngest and oldest American favorites, Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi, he seemed pretty much unbeatable. Not to Federer, however.

Just as much as he has his eyes set on the ball, so does he have them set on a few other things---like, being number one, breaking a few records and having some titles in the bag for good measure. And then he goes out there and gets them.

Not to belittle Safin in anyway. It would be unfair to say Safin wasn't relentless against Federer's incredible passing shots (that are often just a little out of reach), his impeccable backhand winners (that land in all the right places) and his amazing return of serve (a weapon he used against the insurmountable Pistol Pete a little over two years ago).


No wonder this match had some of the most impressive rallies in the game(more often than not broken by Safin). Also, the Russian rebounded from a bleak 0-40 to deuce more than once in the game. He drove Federer up the wall early in the third set with a couple of deuces before the Wimbledon champion finally won the game. After which it could only be uphill for the Swiss.

Safin came up just a little short. Roger Federer was clearly the better player. The players came into the match with no odds against them--- both in their early twenties, each with one grand slam title under his belt, no broken bones and no twisted ankles.

Unless you want to count Safin's lack of cool. The crowd might love it but quick temparament has never won a tennis match. Individual sport is all about keeping your calm. Little wonder then, that racket breaking Ivanisevic, McEnroe and Safin always make the crowds go crazy while stone-faced Sampras, Borg and Federer are the ones that walk away with the cup.

There's no doubt that Safin has both the character and the game to win a tough tennis match. You'd agree with me if you'd seen him against Agassi in the semi-finals. Agassi came back into the match from two sets down to take the next two sets, only to lose to Safin 3-6 in the decider. While it takes a player with Agassi's familiarity and all-round game to turn a match around, the younger player often has just the little more resolve and the little more gas that's needed to win.

Call me an early nineties person, but anything about Agassi brings to mind a similar situation with Sampras in the picture. (Well, alright, ANYthing about tennis does :) ).

Hmmm....little less than three years ago:
Center Court, Wimbledon.
Sampras, two sets down to then upcoming player, 20 year old Roger Federer (who had incidentally vowed to beat Sampras on his favorite turf) came back to stay in the match and win the next two sets, but the final one was Federer's to take. Ivanisevic won the tournament that year but Federer came back to win Wimbledon in 2003. Now, with the Australian Open title under his wing, he's the only player to win at Wimbledon and Melbourne consecutively, after Sampras who did it in '93-'94.

So, the next Sampras? As opposed to Pete's predominantly serve and volley game, Federer has an all court performance, which can only be good. While he can also stay at the baseline, he rushes to the net every so often and can just as well fire an ace and follow up with a good volley when he needs a quick point. He's got Pete's mental toughness and calmness on court; he also seems to have a warm and engaging side to him, that might make him a better crowd favorite. But does he have a game that can compare with someone who lost just one match in a total of 57 matches at Wimbledon in 8 straight years?

Will Federer and Safin continue to give tennis fans the incredible treat that Sampras and Agassi never failed to deliver? And will Federer emerge the eventual winner like Sampras always did?