Tennis Chatter

While the rest of the men went back to their drawing boards scrambling to be world No. 2, tennisdom’s reigning Zeus for 156 consecutive weeks now, Roger Federer, earned his 10th Grand Slam title by coveting his third straight Australian Open this year without dropping a set. The fleet-footed “special king�? made it all seemed so easy as usual. Like any great artist, and he truly is, we only see the finish product in motion after hundreds of hours of physical and cerebral practice and analysis off-court. The world does not see how much he works to stay on top since the hard work that tennis demands is always relegated to the backroom. He came not from any assembly line of tennis players. The very special mold was broken after he was created. It is therefore a privilege to relish the supreme presence of this once in a lifetime walking sports phenomenon among us now.

The match against Chile’s Forehand Fernando Gonzales, an Olympic doubles champion, did not disappoint. The 26-year old Gonzo fought the good fight very honorably. He took it to the Fed. And how Roger must have enjoyed the challenge especially on the crucial and tight first set. Per my tennis court associates’ line, “You made me sweat, man!�? Little sweat or not, Roger still ruled the match 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4 and Gonzo had to concede that with a self-deprecation that only endeared him to the 15,000 fans who packed the Rod Laver Arena Sunday night. No hint of bitterness was necessary. No “closing the gap” to hype about. There was just a simple acknowledgment of an outstanding player who plays a good match “almost all his life.” Gonzales had come a long way from his days of notoriously misfiring strokes by convincingly subverting James Blake, Rafael Nadal and Tommy Haas on the way to the final. He is now ranked world No. 5.

The one who is destined to break records, Federer became the first man in the Open era to twice win three straight majors. By winning the 2007 Australia Open, he became the first champion since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to go through a major without dropping a set. He has now tied with Jack Crawford’s record, set in 1934, of playing in seven consecutive finals at the major tournaments. Pete Sampras’ 14-Grand Slam record is just few turns along the highway of good fortune.

Distinguished as he is as a tennis player, probably the greatest personal laurel Roger has is one that he receives each day of the week — being a wonderful person even off-court.

Success breeds power. The mark of a true champion is the way he responsibly exercises that power and all its appurtenants towards his fellowmen. Roger Federer is above everything else a beautiful human being first and a great champion second.