Roger Federer - Tennis' good luck charm

Federer with the runners’ up trophy at Wimbledon this year

You have to be one of two things to hit the headlines for a good reason in any field; highly gifted, or highly perseverant. I’m very sure this is not the first time someone has used these words to describe personalities of contrasting styles or to bring about a comparison. Here is the problem – the word ‘OR’.

It’s not possible to scale the pinnacle of sport (or any other field) just by being gifted. It requires a great deal of human effort in the form of hours of practice, diet, gym, mental strength, and the like. Is Roger Federer gifted? Yes. Does it mean he doesn’t have to work hard? No.

It is part of the charm of Roger Federer. On court, it looks like it’s all too easy for him. He knows the tennis court like the back of his hand, its dimensions permanently etched in his subconscious. The greatness of Roger is brought to the fore by the apparent level of comfort he portrays on the court making it seem too easy.

The fact remains that a lot of work, both physical and mental, goes in to making it seem that way. A lot is spoken about this great man; about his unparalleled skill, his deft touches, his mental toughness, his movement on court, his serve, his forehand and his single handed backhand slice. What nobody talks about, is the physical fitness of RF.

One may argue that if an attribute is not spoken of, it’s either because it isn’t worthy of being spoken about, or, because other attributes are so much better that they transcend this particular one. According to me, Federer’s fitness is something that is very special. What is fitness to a sportsperson? Fitness is subjective to sport. It is that aspect which lets the athlete’s body compete by being responsive to his brain. Now, Roger Federer has played 63 consecutive Grand Slams. For a tennis player, there is no tournament bigger in stature than these two-week events. Having played 63 of them in a row and making it to the last quarter in most of them is quite remarkable, mind blowing in truth.

Federer’s career stats speak for him. I need not fill the page with numbers to prove that he usually is one of frontrunners in a Grand Slam, or any other tournament for that matter. This means that he has to be playing at the highest level for the better part of two weeks that constitute a grand slam tournament. To be able to compete with the best for 15 straight years without missing the opportunity to win at the biggest of the stages is Fitness, and Roger Federer’s fitness is the benchmark.

Federer’s body can be classified as a gift. But, this ‘gift’ has been utilized and not abused. The very aspect of Roger that makes his injury-free body seem like a gift is his style of play; majestic. It’s almost always about finesse, placement, skill and never brute power. He usually gets the job done while undergoing just two-thirds the physical strain of his opponent. The modern day technology can bear witness to this as they’d indicate that Roger doesn’t notch as many miles on court as compared to most of his competition. That regal game and his fitness form a unique blend in a way that they breed each other and this beautiful harmony forms the core of the acapella that is Roger Federer.

A lot has been written about Federer’s retirement. Reporters, columnists, TV presenters, e- bloggers, and just a whole lot of people turned into analysts in 2013 when Federer slipped in the ATP world rankings to a #8 owing to a back problem. Of course, this would create unrest among the millions of fans and tennis lovers. Social media was instantly flooded with posts advising the maestro to “retire with dignity”.

I have always failed to understand this line of thought that the self-proclaimed analysts always went on and on about. First, it’s an individual sport – so there are no hassles of bringing down a team’s performance or standing in the way of the youngsters who are waiting for their opportunity. Secondly, the man had won Wimbledon that past July – that was six to eight months prior to his slip in the rankings!! My guess is that all these people wanted to see their hero quit like a coward as soon as an injury bug hit him. Doesn’t do justice, does it?

A lot of players on tour battle injuries regularly. So did Roger Federer. He made a few adjustments; added the stylish former world number 1 – Stefan Edberg into his team, and started playing with a bigger racquet head. A sportsman knows his body the best, especially a champion sportsperson who has played the game almost all his life. So, 2013 saw Federer exiting tournaments at the early stages, adding to the all the hullabaloo in the media.

Fortunately, none of this bogged him down. He continued to make the required adjustments, nursing his injured back towards recovery. This gave the world, a resurgent Federer in 2014 who rose in the rankings to a world number 2 at the age of 33. He reached the finals of Wimbledon, which he lost in 5 sets to a player at his peak – Novak Djokovic. He went on to win a lot of tournaments on tour, and threatened to claim the #1 spot towards the year end, but it was not to be.

Today, he is a runner-up at the All England for the second straight year, and he is 34! The point I’m trying to make here is – What a shame it would have been, what a loss it would’ve caused to the world of tennis, had Roger retired in 2013, like a lot of people, including a big percentage of his fans, wanted.

Federer has contributed a brand of tennis that is an inspiration to his compatriots, his competition and the youngsters alike. He may never win a grand slam again, or he might just. Today, that is not what keeps him going. But sure enough, when he plays a tournament, even today, he plays to win, like he always has. The key to the fact that he is still on tour, uttering the magical phrase – “I’ll see you all next year” – at the end of every tournament, is his passion for tennis. He loves everything about it; the travel, the competition, the training. For a player who has achieved nearly everything in his sport including the “G.O.A.T” tag, these are the real sources of motivation.

Tennis can never burden the great man. He will continue to travel the world and compete by stepping on court and waving his Wilson wand like only he can, for as long as he doesn’t find all the activities that surround tennis burdensome. For me, that’s the only thing that should lead to his retirement. As an ardent fan, ‘watching RF play live’ will continue to be on my bucket list regardless of his ATP ranking, because I’m certain that there’s more to Roger Federer than just a number, be it age, or rank.