Adios Federer...
My ode to the GOAT
Where do I even begin? What is left to write about Him which is not yet written. And how can mere words suffice to express all that I wish to write. But then, how can I not write about Him! So here goes.
Photo courtesy GoArt
How He redefined tennis
I loved watching tennis as a child, and played it a few summers as well (alas all self-taught and so not very great). Growing up, I was a fan of Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, and thought Sampras vs Agassi was the best rivalry the tennis world could offer. And then of course Federer erupted onto the scene.
We now tend to forget that the 1990s and early 2000s was a serve and volley era. You needed to be tall, serve hard and lunge at the ball at the net. Power and speed were the key. This was usually the safest route to do well (no offence to Sampras, Becker and the greats, but then would Goran Ivanisevic or Mark Philippoussis be feared today like they were then).
Federer completely changed the script.
I cannot forget the initial days of seeing him play. The feeling was one of discovery; that tennis can actually be played with this fluency and grace! In a recent podcast I heard, the podcaster asked his guest (a poet) whether there is any value of poetry in regular everyday life. The poet replied that we don’t realize it, but poetry is actually all around us. It is for us to successfully identify and inhale the rhyme and rhythm of everyday happenings. For example, the way someone works in the kitchen - cutting the veggies, preparing the chhauka, sauteing everything, adding a pinch of salt, layering a garnish of coriander on the top, and plating it all together – is also poetry. I think that that was the feeling I felt when I initially saw Federer play; I discovered the poetry in tennis.
The early years of Federer’s dominance were extraordinary. It often felt as if he was simply toying with his opponents. The poor Roddicks and Hewitts and Safins were brushed aside without much ado. Serving and volleying simply didn’t work against his piercing groundstrokes (or should I say brushstrokes?) and penetrating angles of return. Matches became predictable, especially the 2006 season where he lost only 5 matches out of 97 played. But the predictability of the outcome never impacted the joy of watching art in action. I watched every match I could, and continued to feel immeasurable gratification to be able to see him play like he did.
How He redefined sports rivalry
Nadal and later Djokovic, both baseliners as well, soon burst on to the scene. Together, they elevated the men’s tennis arena to something probably unparalleled across any sport. Their epic showdowns became folklore, particularly the 2007, 2008 and 2019 Wimbledon finals. I remember the gamut of emotions I felt particularly when Federer lost to Nadal in the 2008 Wimbledon final and to Djoker in 2019.
Intense sports rivalries of course do enhance both the standard of the sport as also audience interest and reaction. But Federer vs Nadal was different for reasons beyond the quality of tennis being played. Till then, majority of big sports rivalries involved a level of antagonism and even fanaticism. Graf vs Seles ended with the latter being stabbed by a Graf fan, while McEnroe vs Borg was famously called fire vs ice thanks to the former’s temperament. Closer home, India vs Pakistan cricket matches would routinely end with violent fan reactions from the losing side, and most Indians in my generations would be happy with Australia losing a cricket match even if India was not involved, simply because it was our biggest rival.
Somehow, Federer’s demeanor across victories and defeats changed this necessity of some hostility for a sports rivalry. I felt bad and let down when he lost, but usually would accept that Nadal or Djokovic (and the game of tennis) had won fair and square. The way he openly shed tears and demonstrated that even he ultimately is just another human being gave fans like me a connect which went beyond fervent worship to something more personal and real. It made him much more relatable. He made it fine to accept a sports hero as a whole, with his or her fragility, weakness, and self-doubts. I was able to continue to root for him, while at the same time also respect, love and indeed be a fan of Nadal and Djokovic as well without feeling guilty about it.
I think this helped me in my thought process beyond sports as well. In today’s era where everything is black and white, where for example supporting one political party equals opposing everything others say or do, Federer’s influence makes me not blanketly oppose everything from those I do not support.
How He redefined victory
I could go on and on; about his second renaissance in 2017, about his demeanor on and off court, his charity work, his good looks (!), and so much else. But I think the way he retired reiterated all that we have subconsciously learned from all of this; that ultimately to be considered great, one’s inherent skill, grace and poetry cannot be limited to the game alone. It ought to pervade across all spheres of life.
As Federer himself stated later, he did not win his final singles or doubles match or his final tournament. And yet, no sportsman could have ever asked for a better goodbye. His decision to end his storied singles career with a doubles match teaming with his arch rival, having his family and peers all around, the way he held hands with Nadal for a ‘secret thank you’ while crying, and the tears in the eyes of Nadal and indeed all of us while he retired say more about him as a person and a player than any words can. Federer indeed taught us as much in his defeats as he did in his victories.
Aakhir, haar kar jeetne wale ko hi GOAT kehte hain!
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