WHEN THE ATP World Tour’s computer clicks smoothly in action at the beginning of a new week, Roger Federer will still be listed as the third best player in men’s tennis behind Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. However, at the current time, the man now nicknamed the GOAT (Greatest of all time) again has no equals.
Federer has hit a vein of form as impressive as any attained before, during or after his pomp of six years ago. Since losing to Djokovic in last September’s US Open semi-final the 30-year-old has lost just two matches while winning 39, and en route to a 73rd career title at Indian Wells’ BNP Paribas Open he has exacted revenge against the pair who registered those defeats.
John Isner’s win over Federer in February’s Davis Cup tie on Swiss clay in Fribourg caused many an eyebrow to be raised and those who insisted the great days were over believed they had a new and crucial piece of evidence. Yet the manner in which Federer first beat Nadal in Saturday’s semi-final before overcoming Isner 7-6 6-3 provided the perfect riposte to such claims.
With the way he is currently playing, Federer must wish he was next setting course for Roland Garros or even Wimbledon rather than Miami, where next week he begin his quest for a record 20th Masters 1000 Series title. It is hard to imagine two game styles more diverse than Nadal and Isner, but Federer dealt with both perfectly and underlined just why he is quite probably the finest player ever to pick up a racket.
Conditions were not easy in the Coachella Valley this last weekend. Normally it is an idyllic paradise with warm weather and the gentlest of breezes, but a storm front rolled through from the west and playing top-flight tennis became a lottery. Undeterred, Federer demonstrated his great adaptability.
Advertisement
Isner, the 6ft 10in tall giant with the kind of serve that gives lesser players nightmares, was out-aced by Federer seven to four. The Swiss won 94% of the points on his first serve and during the second set dropped just one when he sent a forehand into the net.
And while Isner, the modern master of the shoot-out, prevailed in two tie-breaks to beat defending champion Djokovic a day earlier, Federer’s confidence in his own ability saw him prevail to take a one set lead.
Federer even proved himself a meteorologist. When rain interrupted play five games into the final, umpire Mohamed Lahyani suggested the players leave the court. Convinced the shower would quickly pass, Federer declared it was better he and Isner stayed in their seats under umbrellas. Unsurprisingly he got his way; almost inevitably he was proven correct.
The serve continued to dominate when play resumed, and it was clear things were going to be tight. To those who have marvelled at the extended rallies of the last three grand slam finals waged between Djokovic and Nadal things might have seemed a little one-dimensional, and certainly many of the points seemed a throw-back to the days of Goran Ivanisevic, Greg Rusedski and even Pete Sampras, but Federer was more than up for the challenge.
Admittedly, during the tie-break there were a couple of very un-Federer-like mini-breaks in Isner’s favour; most notably a double fault and slack forehand into the net. After letting three set points slip, it could be argued a degree of good fortune allowed Federer to loop a slightly miss-hit backhand lob onto the baseline. But as we all know, good players make their own luck and Federer finished things off admirably with a perfect service winner.
Advertisement
Losing the breaker seemed to drive a few daggers of self-doubt into Isner’s game, and the tried and tested tactic against tall men (hit the ball low around their shoelaces) was paying dividends for Federer. Yet when the break of serve came, it was engineered by some gloriously flowing Federer tennis with the most exquisite of backhand passes down the line.
Winning the concluding four games of the match, Federer simply slipped into a new gear. Or was it perhaps the same style he always used to finish off closely fought encounters? Whatever, it presented the Swiss with the fourth Indian Wells title of his career and another $1 million in prize money that now takes his career fortune to an immense $69,723,311.
Nobody earns that kind of money without being something very, very special. More precisely, the best in the world.