Magician Roger Federer leaves fans choking as he says goodbye minus the farewell match, speech and final wave
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Roger Federer
Adios, goodbye, final wave…
We got to see nothing of that sort from Roger Federer for one last time. There is a difference between a winner and a champion. Federer. The Swiss Master, plagued by fitness woes, announced on social media he was retiring on Thursday.
Federer has left fans weeping.
He has left fans with a heavy heart. His tennis was as important as oxygen to breathe or blood to flow in the veins. At least, that’s the Federer I have known since the time he snapped the winning streak of Pete Sampras at Wimbledon in 2001, where he won in five sets.
The turning point in the career of Swiss maestro Roger Federer
Since that day, Federer made people fall in love with him. In the good old days of grass on tennis, Sampras was the master. When he outgunned Pat Rafter in a marathon, rain-affected final in 2000, it was Sampras’s last triumph on grass.
In 2001, Sampras faltered at Wimbledon. It took a raw Federer to conquer Sampras, 21 years ago when the tennis world turned upside down. Bookies were wrecked as that particular year, one mad man, Goran Ivanisevic went on to win the title on People’s Monday. That too as a wild card.
Well, that’s just a context, as Federer had shown he was not a one-match wonder.
There is something mystical about Federer. Swiss, by nature, are soft. Softies do not make tennis champions, they said. Well, Federer showed you he could be a nice guy and still win Grand Slam titles, 20, to be precise. That eight of those titles came on the well-manicured lawns of SW 19 in London at The Championships, as Wimbledon is known, reflects his class and poise. He played tennis which was as clean as his white T-shirts and shorts at Wimbledon. He never used words that came close to swearing. He was a gentleman and genteel.
Yet, when it came to churning out sublime tennis on grass, Federer was like the most expensive wine or champagne. He gave us all fans’ moments to pop the cork, sip the bubbly, or simply get drunk on tennis. His infectious smile and that headband were trademarks.
Oh, how many people swooned over him at Wimbledon, the Royalty included? Tennis on grass is pure and pristine. And it also takes purists like Federer to beautify the game and lend an aura to the ambiance that Wimbledon has in abundance. Each of his wins at Wimbledon was a treat to watch. His serve, volley, net play, and court coverage were slick and smart.
There was nothing ugly about it.
Oh, what a successor he was to Sampras!
To be sure, when the change of guard happened at Wimbledon, it was too fast. In 2002, Lleyton Hewitt won Wimbledon, in a Championship where seeds had been destroyed crazily. One had to wait for 2003 to see Federer win Wimbledon.
I saw that moment in flesh and blood where the boy with a Toblerone chocolate smile, age 21, lifted the trophy. This was the birth of a champion. This was the birth of genius. He was a bit in the Sampras mold, old school tennis skills and mannerisms. Perhaps, Sampras hardly smiled and Federer was always smiling.
Today, Federer may be smiling. That he has left tennis is painful to accept, even though his last few years were hard to watch. You never want to see your hero lose. You never want to see your icon beaten. You wanted Federer to keep winning.
Well, Federer competed in an era where we have seen three magicians compete with the swagger of billionaires and skills of magicians. Federer would not be part of tennis folklore minus his rivalry with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Like classics, these guys scripted dream matches. Federer won a few, lost a few.
Ah, each time he executed that volley or unleashed that backhand, he was poetry in motion. The best part was, that he never made it look ugly. Tennis manners at best, shaking hands with his opponent and a mild hug was important for Federer. It showed his class and manners, no matter what the result: Win or lose.
The last few years have been hard for Federer. At 41, his knees are hurting. Surgeries don’t always work. There is no guarantee you can run, slide or lunge like before. He was not the best guy with the racquet on clay, said some! So what? Federer gave fans so much to see, so much to relish. The tapestry of tennis he produced was so rich, that you were addicted to it.
Unlike Andre Agassi and Serena Williams, Federer did not make a farce of his retirement in having a farewell year. He waited for his body to heal. It did not.
He has been a family man all his life. And he has chosen the right path called retirement.
Will he miss tennis? Yes, he will.
Will WE miss Roger Federer? YES.
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S Kannan
(382 Articles Published)