Sergiy Stakhovsky: Serving up some nostalgia

“I was facing two players….Federer and his ego,” measured words from someone who has just turned the tennis world upside down.

Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky celebrates beating Switzerland’s Roger Federer in their second round men’s singles match on day three of the 2013 Wimbledon Championships tennis tournament at the All England Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on June 26, 2013. Stakhovsky won 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, 7-6.

The following words epitomized his performance on court – fearless and calculated. As much as I would like to believe that the result of the match between Federer and Sergiy had something to do with the waning powers of Roger (and I say this with a very heavy heart), I could not help but admit that the Ukrainian was possibly playing the best tennis of his life and was surprisingly calm at the most crucial junctures of the match.

We all know what can happen to a player trying to close out an important match against a top-ranked player and his/her reputation. Ask Jana Novotna, who famously let slip a 4-1 lead against Steffi Graf in the Wimbledon finals of 1993 because her nerves got the better of her.

The only blemish in Sergiy’s game occurred in the beginning of the fourth set when he broke Federer and failed to hold his ensuing service game. He was forthright in admitting during the post-match interview about not being sure where the match was heading, and that he indeed had the chance to create one of the biggest upsets of the game.

Watching Sergiy play was like being transported back into the 90s when you had the likes of Becker, Edberg and Sampras waiting for an opportunity to embrace the net with their attacking, in-your-face style of tennis.

Being a huge Becker fan myself, I could not help but marvel at the efficiency displayed by the Ukrainian at the net where he hardly put a foot wrong. He has a big serve-and-volley game, and clinical drop volleys that you would normally associate with the man who Sergiy was facing, and, to top it all, Becker himself was on the mike! Not to forget the scampering and diving across the grass court desperately trying to keep the point alive.

I can hardly remember a single point on serve where Sergiy did not employ the serve-and-volley style of tennis. He used this style beautifully to cut down baseline rallies, thereby keeping the points short since he knew trying to match Fed from the baseline was as futile as trying to match Nadal on clay. His first serve percentage was in the high 70s for most part of the first 2 sets – an unbelievable achievement in itself – and the aggression really paid off. Most of us were under the assumption that Sergiy would not be able to maintain the same level after the first set, but he proved us wrong with some aplomb!

The immense pressure on Federer due to the consistency and brilliance shown by Sergiy just goes to show that even the big players are fallible if they are consistently put under pressure. Sergiy did not flinch under the reputation of the great man; though few would have blamed him had he actually capitulated at the critical stages.

It takes a lot of courage for someone ranked outside of the top 100 to do what Sergiy did; and though Fed was not at his best, credit should be given where it is due.

The best part of the whole match was to watch a completely different style of tennis being employed from what is being displayed day in and day out, where players are constantly pounding each another from the baseline with their heavy topspin shots. A lot of aspects of the game have changed since the 90s, with the balls becoming heavier, the strings not aiding power play, and more of precision play; thereby, we have seen the disappearance of the true grass court game, which is serve-and-volley; and put in perspective, Sergiy’s result attains that much more significance.

Hopefully we will see the resurgence of this style of attacking tennis which has given the mother of all Grand Slams its identity besides the strawberries and cream and the royalty that is associated with the event. We do not need the monotony of baseline game as tennis is best enjoyed when you have different styles of play being displayed. You just need to rewind to Sampras and Agassi going against each other to appreciate what I have mentioned above.