Just a few weeks ago, Roger Federer was bounced out of the Australian Open by Marat Safin — the first time he had lost to a top-10 player since October 2003 and the first time he had lost a match since the Athens Olympic Games. Ambling casually back into the spotlight in Rotterdam last week, the memories of that painful night on the opposite side of the world seemed as distant as the sunshine of Melbourne. “Everything is fine.
All is well,” he reported engagingly. “Why shouldn’t it be?” Well, perhaps because he is fallible after all? “Of course, losing to Marat was hard at the time and I struggle to remember when I was in more pain on a tennis court,” said the Swiss player, toying with his racket. “The blister on my foot was so bad, I doubt whether I would have been able to play the final anyway, and that would have been a horrible situation in which to find myself. But the more success you have, the easier it is to deal with defeat. I didn’t think too much about it even the next day. I woke up, the sun was shining. Sure, my foot was hurting, but there was nothing to worry about. I hadn’t been robbed or attacked. Everyone I cared for was fine. It was not a question of blocking out the defeat, I just accepted having to live with the fact and, really, that’s not too difficult.”
Federer didn’t finish his sentence with the words “when you have won as often as I have”, but the intent was clear.
An hour earlier, world tennis domination was not exactly uppermost in Federer’s mind as he tried to dodge the spray off the River Maas with ABN AMRO tournament director Richard Krajicek, the man who won Wimbledon in 1996. To promote the Rotterdam event, both men braved stiff winds in the estuary to sink a giant suspended tennis ball from a yacht 50 yards away. Neither man is exactly feeble from the service line, so the mission to hit and sink the target was accomplished in less than a minute.
Only an idiot would suggest that Federer’s tenure as world No 1 hangs as precariously as that giant ball after his semi- final demise in Melbourne. True, his attempt to become the first man in more than 3Å decades to complete the Grand Slam must be put on hold for another year, but that isn’t something he burdens himself with as his primary ambition. Neither does he squander too much energy wondering if he really is the greatest tennis player ever, although Rod Laver and John McEnroe have gone on record as saying that he could usurp them all. “One of the hardest things I have to do is repeatedly hear people saying things like that,” said the 23-year-old.
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“Right now it’s not true because I am too young. My career is far from over and I have many more things to prove. You can only compare the best once their careers are ended — and even then, I’m not sure whether it is worthwhile. How can you compare the conditions of all the different eras of men like Laver, (Bjorn) Borg or (Pete) Sampras? With the year I had, people can say I was dominant because the last time somebody was so successful was maybe 20 to 25 years ago. Of course, I understand why people heap so much praise but I try not to take much notice.”
Federer was also aware of the perception that victory in the Australian Open should have been a foregone conclusion. Three major titles in 2004, that winning streak against his closest rivals and a supreme year-ending display at the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston made it hard to believe anybody else could win. It seemed almost irrelevant that Lleyton Hewitt was determined to win a Grand Slam on home soil, that Andre Agassi could look back on three Australian titles in the preceding five years and that Safin had extended the No 1 to a record-equalling 20-18 tie-break in the Houston semi-final.
Federer was supremely well- prepared for Melbourne. He had trained harder than ever in the brief close season and had done it, moreover, in the Australian heat, after convincing Tony Roche to be his occasional coach. A year- opening title at the Qatar Open in Doha showed he was in ominous form, and his performance in the warm-up tournament at Koo yong underlined that potential. “I said to the people who were with me that the peak I hit in January is something I’ll probably never experience again,” he admitted. “That wasn’t just about my physical condition, although I have never felt so professionally prepared.
“I like to spend the break at home with my friends and family, but I made the sacrifice this time because I so wanted to work with Tony and wasn’t sure what his decision would be. Maybe I would have stayed home if I knew he would agree to working with me throughout 2005, but as it was I spent Christmas Day flying back from Australia. But the feeling also had much to do with what people were saying. The press were praising me and so many people were saying it would take a miracle for somebody to beat me.
“It’s hard not to smile. I said, ‘Let’s enjoy listening to it, but don’t believe a word’. What I didn’t want to hear people close to me saying were the statistics about how long it’s been since another top-10 player beat me or how many wins I’d had in a row. The more you win, the more people ask you, and as I seemed to get asked about it every day, each time I had to wash it out of my system and start again for the next match.”
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Federer is amazed that he maintained his success throughout 2004 without a coach. After parting with Peter Lundgren, his initial overtures to Roche elicited a negative response. Although he was prepared to be patient, a year’s wait was not something he’d planned. His achievements (11 titles, including the three majors) playing with just the advice of his girlfriend, Mirka Vavrinec, and fitness trainer, Pierre Paganini, are a source of pride. The finest example of his single-mindedness was the Wimbledon final, when he used a rain delay to rethink his tactics against a forceful Andy Roddick, and successfully turned the match to win 4-6 7-5 7-6 6-4.
As last year wore on, Federer watched some of his peers continually praise their coaches (such as Hewitt with Roger Rasheed and, more recently, Safin with Lundgren), while others, such as Roddick, got rid of theirs. Federer, meanwhile, continued to deliver proposals to Roche and simply bided his time. “A year was a long time, and the fact I could handle the situation so well that it produced the best season of my career brings a good feeling,” he said. “That assures me I can always face situations on my own.”
Federer thinks it taught him more about himself than any other phase of his career. “I had to figure out what had worked in the past and what were the best decisions. It seems I was correct with most of the choices. When I went out on my own I was not worried, but certainly a little tense, and though the results kept on coming, I do wish Tony could have come on board a little earlier. But it’s fine now.”
With Roche approaching his 60th birthday in May, the age difference between player and coach is far greater than any other on the tour, but Federer is excited by the possibilities of working with the Australian, who guided Ivan Lendl to eight majors and then pushed a totally different sort of player and individual to the top — Patrick Rafter.
“Tony is a quiet man, but so wise, just what I need because there is still so much potential to explore and facets of my game to improve,” said Federer. “He doesn’t need to be there every week. He does not need to be at the matches at all. I don’t need a coach in that way. Once you are on court, it’s all down to you and there’s no point looking up to a coach as if to say, ‘ How about that?’ or ‘So what do I do now?’ Once you are in a match it’s like an examination at school, and you can’t look at another guy’s sheet of paper to get ideas. If I kept asking for help, it would suggest to me there’s something wrong.”
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There is no danger of Federer and Roche becoming tired of each other’s company. The pair spoke briefly in the locker room after the Safin match and then in more detail the next day. Just one more telephone call ensued before Federer left Australia a couple of days later. They have not spoken since, and there are no plans to do so until after the two initial Masters Series events of the year in Indian Wells and Miami next month.
“Tony is just so different from anyone I’ve ever worked with,” said Federer, “but I think the way I play the game is kind of in an Australian style, and that is something that appeals to him.”
Federer admitted he felt some initial apprehension when he got back on court in Rotterdam’s Ahoy stadium for the ABN AMRO tournament. Last year he lost to Tim Henman in the quarter-final. However, straight-sets victories over Czech qualifier Bohdan Ulihrach and teenage Swiss compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka saw him rapidly reacclimatise.
The tennis world is now hoping that somebody will be able to challenge Federer. Safin, with his Australian title, seems a more likely candidate than Hewitt or Roddick. Federer believes the top four are showing a consistency that suggests they will monopolise majors for some time to come, and if anybody is to join such illustrious company, he must legitimise his membership by winning a Grand Slam title.
“Juan Carlos Ferrero still has the potential and should not be forgotten, and the two Argentinians, Guillermo Coria and David Nalbandian, could do it,” he said. “Maybe Rafael Nadal will get up there, too, and in the long term we all know what we are going to get from him. But right now I have to view Marat as a big threat.
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“He’s finally grown up, realised what it is all about and appreciates there is not much time left to waste. And the person I credit for all of these things is Peter (Lundgren). Marat has found somebody he can trust and I understand that because I, too, still trust Peter, who was an excellent coach for me. People have told me the match we played in Melbourne was one of the great contests. Though I realised the standard was very high, that is not something that was obvious at the time.”
After his defeat, looking for a period of anonymity and relaxation, Federer and his girlfriend headed to the Swiss Alps for a week’s skiing at St Moritz. Then he got back to training. Some might view skiing as a dangerous pursuit for a top-flight sportsman who insists his greatest triumphs are still to come, but not Federer.
“I ski well. I can confidently go on the black runs and I never fall. I was told it was not so wise to go down the Cresta run on a toboggan, but skiing is never a problem.”
Neither, it seems, are the pressures of maintaining his grip on tennis — a sport he threatens to dominate for years to come. Roger Federer just has that look about him.