Belated U.S. Open Reflections

Roger Federer continued his assault on tennis history by winning his 12th grand slam title in New York this past September. The final was a patchy affair: neither Federer nor Djokovic managed to summon their best for any sustained period of the match. In Djokovic's case one could assume that the nervousness attendant on gaining his first grand slam final, against arguably the best player of all time, had overwhelmed him. What was interesting was that Federer acknowledged after the match that he had been wracked by his nerves as well. This ought not to surprise us as he faces enormous challenges in his quest, not all of his own making. At the most obvious level, he competes with the enormously high standards which he himself has set (in this respect he is just like his friend, Tiger Woods). We all have a raft of memories of sublime shot-making and movement from a previous match of his, where he gave every impression of having descended from another plane, undoubtedly a higher one than this, for the length of the contest to befuddle his outmatched opponent. I have noticed that in his last couple of major wins, this shocking ease has not been in evidence. His ratio of unforced errors to winners has been unusually high, and he has appeared frazzled at times. One well remembers his forlorn entreaty of the Wimbledon umpire to turn off the camera that covered the lines. This brings me to the second element of pressure that imposes itself on the maestro, the youth of his challengers. Federer is six years older than either Nadal or Djokovic. While he is now in his athletic prime, he is decidedly nearer to the end of his best years than is either of them. His game which rests principally on speed, on daring his foe to hit to the apparently open forehand court inviting blistering rispostes, will diminish as he loses that proverbial step. Both Nadal and Djokovic, though principally Nadal, have been ingenious in utilising this fact to their psychological advantage. They infer that victory for Federer is only to be expected given their youth and the greatness of the man, Nadal even does this at the French Open where this is patently a lie. The effect is to rachet up the ante that much more on Roger. That he still performs at such an astonishingly high level (two years in a row of reaching the final of every single grand slam, in an era of infinitely more dangerous players than ever) speaks volumes to his professionalism and preparation. What is worth considering is that he realises that he is in a real race with time to eclipse Sampras, and anyone who saw this year's Wimbledon final will understand how right he is. Djokovic has now served notice that he will challenge strongly at future Australian and U.S. Opens. So, we have some excellent matches in store, as a majestic champion pursues his place in history in the face of dogged opposition from youthful antagonists with little to lose.