Saturday, July 02, 2005
Roger Federer Has Options
Roger Federer doesn't look like a god. With a mop of brown hair falling in all directions, he looks like the rhythm guitar player in a bar band, hoping to catch the overflow of girls from the frontman. But when a tennis ball comes toward him, he has more potential responses than any player in the game, perhaps ever.
Advances in racket technology and player conditioning have wholly transformed tennis as played by professionals, in the last fifteen or so years. It is no longer necessary for these players to "construct" a point as in the past; they simply try to blast an unreturnable shot the moment they get slightly out of position. For a while, the women's game was more watchable, but they have gone the way of the men, as well--three of the four Wimbledon semifinalists were six feet or taller.
Into this environment glides Federer. His movement is graceful, almost balletic. He can certainly hammer a ball, and will when the situation demands it; but seems to prefer strokes that resemble a gentle caress. His tennis vocabulary is a power of ten greater than his opponents. If the rest of the tour is Ozzy Osbourne, he is Nat King Cole. He routinely hits shots that would occur to no one else.
Watch Roger Federer at Wimbledon, or anywhere else you can. His surpassing talent may not repeated in our lifetime.
Advances in racket technology and player conditioning have wholly transformed tennis as played by professionals, in the last fifteen or so years. It is no longer necessary for these players to "construct" a point as in the past; they simply try to blast an unreturnable shot the moment they get slightly out of position. For a while, the women's game was more watchable, but they have gone the way of the men, as well--three of the four Wimbledon semifinalists were six feet or taller.
Into this environment glides Federer. His movement is graceful, almost balletic. He can certainly hammer a ball, and will when the situation demands it; but seems to prefer strokes that resemble a gentle caress. His tennis vocabulary is a power of ten greater than his opponents. If the rest of the tour is Ozzy Osbourne, he is Nat King Cole. He routinely hits shots that would occur to no one else.
Watch Roger Federer at Wimbledon, or anywhere else you can. His surpassing talent may not repeated in our lifetime.
