What The Federer !

WTF. This man scares the opponents even before taking the court with his invincibility. And once he takes the court and is locked in a battle, he scares the players with his presence. How many times had he disintegrated the players mentally and went on to win the match when he was staring down the barrel?

Thank god atleast once he acknowledged that he was lucky to get through this match. And it was not a straight Roddick like statement. It had its twists. I have been unlucky in few matches this year so I needed a bit of it today.


Did anyone notice he was behaving well at the net in congratulating his opponents after beating them? He thinks that blokes in the dressing room needs his empathy? Ask Roddick. Has he learned a thing or two from Djokovic or Nadal to be courteous to opponents?

Federer was 2 sets down and was facing truck load of break points in the third set and was thinking of a return flight to his hometown. 60th ranked Falla even was serving for the match in the 4th set but the famous choke which has been the case for many a player when leading Federer in a match has returned. Federer sensed it and broke him. John McEnroe said,"Relax and get your drinks", when Federer was leading 6 -1 in the tie breaker in the 4th set. He relaxed and so are the millions of Federer nut heads heaved a collected sigh of relief. Since then it is always one player who is going to wave to the spectators after the match.

This is all achieved by a player who was arrogant, short tempered and had a fragile psyche in his teen days. Winning the first set has been the key to his success for major part of his career. He played as his life and match depended on the first set. After doing that consistently he gained in confidence. Confidence breeds confidence. Roger Federer has morphed into an intimidating figure in the history of mens tennis to his peers who were in awe with his repertoire of skills.

My dream of Federer getting knocked out in the first round of Wimbledon and stun the audience on Centre Court came so close and got shattered. As always, I wait for it to happen. But it would have been sweet as honey had the dream got when it was least expected. Yesterday was one day and has gone begging.

I can only fall back on hope.

Hope is a good thing, probably the best of things and no good thing ever dies.

Tramlines:



Rafael Nadal is a god send. He has the fighting abilities ever since he turned a pro. Nadal may not have the grace, serve or precision like Federer. But he took it to the King very early in his career when Federer was in full flight and handed him the defeat. The Spaniard is not the one to be intimidated. He goes into the psyche of Federer and plays double fisted backhands and high looping forehands in his mind. He knows Federer is very vulnerable even after achieving staggering records. More than that he accepts defeats. That is why he is respected which Federer realised very late in his career.

Peace mate.