Keeping the eye on the ball – Part 5 of ∞

And you thought I’d have finally hit my Federer writer’s block. Nope! The guy just finds something new to do on a tennis court every single time, and I try to come up with new adjectives to describe it every single time. Call it my own way of getting over it.

The CBS coverage of the championship match showcased a clip of a Federer crosscourt forehand followed immediately by a wide backhand crosscourt (like the magic he performs in real time weren’t enough) and Mary Carrillo summed it up – “there’s his range of winners”. You could take that literally, cos I bet I’ve seen him hit the ball at every angle in between, and I’m talking degrees. There! That’s the best way to describe it – or at least it will have to be till I find a better way.

That said, I concede - I need to stop making predictions. Though I did get the 4 sets right – that’s a 1 in 3 shot! And the match was certainly tight between 5-0 Federer and the start of well, 5-0 Federer. It could have gone either way in the third set but for the fact that Roger’s been here 8 times before and gotten it right 7 times. And the fact that Andy’s been here 3 times before and gotten it right once. And that Fed’s been here 11 times before and gotten it right 10 times. And that A-Rod’s been here 11 times before and gotten it right once. Ok, you get it – pro level tennis is all about keeping your composure on the toughest stages in the tightest corners.

In the first set it certainly did look like Federer was going to run away with it. But then the tennis stars began to shine (pun intended) and Roddick decided to get back into it. The second set was fascinating -- Andy was better than I have ever seen him and Roger fell just short of his usual clinical perfection – which brought them to just about evenly matched. Fortunately for tennis fans, the magic lasted through most of the third set. The two back to back games in that very tight set, where each saved 4 breakpoints on his serve were inarguably the best part of the match – light caresses, gentle coaxing, hard-hitting strokes, explosive smashes - the ball saw it all, and at its expense, we were witness to the most beautiful tennis Ashe stadium had seen through the entire tournament -- 25 shot ralleys ending in elegantly placed finishes, incredible net exchanges culminating in perfectly timed winners, followed by the flourishes - Roddick screaming all the way to the stands and Federer doing the contained, calculated fist pump – I think it’s measured, just like every shot he creates!

In the end, the better man came out on top. Federer makes it look so easy we tend to think the competition isn’t the greatest. But the truth is that he has the amazing ability of making even good players look mediocre. Consider this: Andy Roddick is arguably playing the best tennis of his career; he won the US Open series, had been broken only five times in the entire championship before running into Roger, dismissed a former world number one of such versatility as Hewitt in straight sets and countered the elegant artisanship of the talented Russian, Youzhny with some phenomenal shot-making of his own. Federer broke Roddick three times in the first set, six times over-all and blocked Andy’s biggest weapon so decisively that Roddick, the distinguished ace-leader at this tournament with an impressive total of 102, was stifled to a meager 7, and what is more, Federer led him by 10. He doesn’t just snuff out his opponents’ strengths, he also manages to beat them at it, merely to make a point (literally)!

Of note is the observation that Andy has become less gracious and less generous with the compliments; there was more about him getting better and knowing where he was going than about Federer being the greatest ever in his acceptance speech and press conference after, which might be a good thing. It’s the Connors-esque “bad guy” intensity that could make the nicest guy in current men’s tennis give the world number one a run for his money. Countering composure with excesses of emotion has, after all, been the name of the game in the history of tennis rivalry.