The +Swiss Maestro+ ROGER FEDERER: Greatest Of All Time [PART V]

[louise107]

Anyway, I just want to share this very nice article about Roger. (goosebumps galore for me)

Roger Federer: What Makes the Swiss Star So Great

........ When David Foster Wallace wrote the now worshipped essay on Federer, he named it "Roger Federer as Religious Experience". Stunningly brilliant as the essay may be, I don't agree with the title. There is no 'experience' in watching Federer play.

When the last point has been won or lost you feel like a man who wakes up at 12 in the noon after a night of heavy drinking; you know you had an awesome time and you know you would love to do it again, but you can't really figure out why. And of all that could have and has been said about Federer, nothing succeeds at figuring out what exactly makes him, him.


It seems funny when people get into fights arguing the better player between Federer and Nadal. The case is invalid, like comparing a strong horse with a skillful knight. And imagine a war without knights; strong, athletic horses running hard at each other, or Nadal vs. Djokovich. They are great winners, great athletes, incredible talents, and anyone who denies that is an idiot, or Andy Murray.

But jokes aside, the tennis court is shaped the way it is for a reason, the lines are drawn where they are for a reason, and the racquets and balls are used in the form that they are because of a reason, and that reason is that a player isn't supposed to win because he makes the court seem small on account of his speed, but because he can make it seem huge on account of his grace.
The principal difference between Nadal and Federer is that one sees a tennis court as a pool table and the other sees it as a football stadium. So you have Nadal who will be wherever you put the ball and Federer who will put the ball anywhere but near you. Gattuso vs. Zidane. Tommy Lee vs. Zubin Mehta.


Grace, placement, tears, girlfriend and Rolex. What makes Roger Federer so special? Of course I don't know. How can I? I think. He does. A great sportsperson can never consider a host of strategies and then decide on the optimal one. There simply isn't enough time.

A great athlete hits a backhand, chips a goal, takes an inhuman step to cross the finishing line a millisecond faster or lands a punch so as to cause maximum legal pain because he/she simply can. I would too, if I could. I wouldn't spend time thinking about it, if I never had the time to think about it.
William Shakespeare once wrote that some individuals are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them. Federer doesn't have to think about greatness. He has and always will be the human personification of greatness.


Read the whole article here:

http://www.ibtimes.com/sportsnet/ten...pecial_169.htm

Nice article but is that a dig at the Top 2 and Murray i.e. that paragraph on the knights and horses or my IQ is just MIA? Hehe.

Thanks for sharing, Twy.

[louise107]

Roger broke Connors' record of most GS match wins.

Congrats, champ!

[renz_reggy03]

Gratz Roger! Mahut in the next round. Good luck.

[blush212!]

"My wife is completely #Federer fan and my physio too,I'll have to tell them not to take the wrong box." - Nico Mahut

[blush212!]

Roger Federer's cultural cachet
By Sameer Pandya | Special to ESPN.com
MAY 30,2012

At the French Open this week, much of the talk will revolve around the holy trinity of the men's draw.

While Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are the clear favorites to meet in the final, the father of the group, Roger Federer, continues to be, in many respects, the most intriguing.

This was made clear to me recently at a family gathering. My 72-year-old mother, born and brought up in cricket-centric Mumbai, India, shared a common experience with my wife's 86-year-old grandmother, born and brought up in France. Earlier that morning, both had busied themselves with distracting activities  one taking a long walk, the other going out for pastries  so as not to get too blue after Federer dropped the first set against Tomas Berdych in the finals in Madrid. That afternoon, the two started an animated discussion about being unable to tolerate watching Federer lose, a conversation they could have with ease because Federer came back and won the next two sets.

This was not just a simple moment of avoided heartbreak that often accompanies sports fandom. These two women, from very different places in the world, felt a genuine, visceral sense of loss at the prospect of Federer losing. My guess as to why? In some ways, Federer is their perfect son: seemingly humble, always graceful, absurdly successful, and ever so manly in pink. I felt a tinge of jealousy, not only for Federer's forehand, but also for his ability to alter my mother's moods.

Djokovic and Nadal remain ultimately athletic phenomena. Most fans are interested in them as great tennis players. But Federer is both an athletic figure, and just as important, a cultural phenomenon.

This does not mean that Djokovic and Nadal have no cultural resonance. Both men have international endorsements and fervent fan bases -- Djokovic with his Serbian roots, Nadal with his boyish fieriness born for clay by way of Majorca, Spain. But they do not have the resonance in the broader sense that Federer has gained in his decade-long dominance. While his story doesn't possess the same metaphoric layers as Tiger Woods' ascent (and fall), for many fans Federer remains the most alluring of the tennis threesome.

And this despite the fact that Federer has actually made for some really bland copy. While Nadal is charming and genuinely lost in translation at times ("No?"), there is nothing lost in translation when Federer assesses his wins. Speaking recently about tying Jimmy Connors for most Grand Slam match victories, Federer said, "Look, I obviously love the big tournaments. I have been so successful for such a long time, and to already tie that record [at] 30 years old is pretty incredible, so I'm very happy." He starts off sounding humble, but quickly ends up somewhere far more brash. His clothing combinations seem far too planned (remember the Wimbledon jacket?), his hair cut too perfectly, and the Rolex is barely on the understated side of bling during trophy ceremonies.

And yet Federer remains beloved.

In a time when a supermodel in large sunglasses is an important accessory in an athlete's entourage, Federer has been with the same woman since he began winning big. Mirka is always there  as fan, wife, business partner and the mother of his twins. Federer has gone from being a hotheaded teenager to a responsible family man, and she has been looking on for most of that time, from Indian Wells to Monte Carlo and every tournament in between.

Starting in 2003, Federer piled up Grand Slam titles and quickly became both the consistent and hot young thing. But he has not won one since early 2010, marking his entry into the later stage of his career. Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi were here: champions who gobbled up victories in their 20s, but were replaced by younger versions of themselves when they hit their early 30s. Federer has now gone from being an object of awe to being an older, sympathetic figure who has had difficulty closing out big matches.

His 16 major championships are an undeniable marker of his legacy. But if he were to win a Grand Slam when two exceptional younger players are guarding the gates, 17 would become a mythic, poetic number in the Federer universe.

In 2006, the late writer David Foster Wallace, known for his maximalist style, made an equally maximalist pronouncement: Watching Federer was akin to a religious experience. In articulating Federer's grace and beauty on the tennis court in this way, Wallace described the act of watching Federer as not just a simple moment of spectatorship, but as an exalted moment. In many ways, Wallace consecrated Federer's play.

Perhaps what makes Federer's appeal the greatest is nostalgia for a time when athletes didn't have tattoos, weren't accused of abusing steroids, were graceful in victory and defeat, and remained true to their wives. We see him in the way that we see the world through the Instagram photos that have become so popular: grainy, stylized, vintage, classic. Would it surprise any of us if he showed up at Wimbledon this summer in pleatless white trousers? Perhaps not.

The real surprise, of course, would be Federer holding the winner's trophy at the end of the two weeks on Parisian clay.

I know of at least two women who would be delighted.

Sameer Pandya teaches literature and creative writing at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is currently working on a book about Asian-Americans and sports.

http://espn.go.com/tennis/french12/s...ultural-cachet

[blush212!]

Roger broke Connors' record of most GS match wins.

Congrats, champ!

And Connors tweeted:

"Nice work Roger on tying my GS record for match wins, looks like I should have played a few more majors! Great career, keep it up! "

[MikaeloAngelico]

Another Tennis Great goes from being a critic to becoming a fanboy..

Boris Becker @ Becker_Boris
" Roger F 4ever!!! Playing for the history books in Paris...."


haha, di ba dapat yung may target ng 7th RG title and NCYGS feat ang chinicheer nila?
just wondering..

[MikaeloAngelico]

bakit ganun
may gut feeling ako na magchachampion si lolo
this french open. takte.. hala! minsan lang ako magkaganito.
nung nakita ko siya sa round 1. iba ang aura. basta... basta..

I would have chosen him over novak sa fantasy league.. yay!
hala...

ang wish ko kay roger
manalo siya sa french open over nadal yun lang.
matitigil na lahat ng doubters niyo kung sino talaga ang GOAT.
kahit matapos pa ang career niya having a losing head to head kay nadal
okay na lang, a win in french open over nadal will silent his critics --- forever.. hahaha!

Morning!

Congrats Roger! 6 more to go!

L0rd_xero, ayan ka na naman. Haha! Jinxing Roger. Parang yan din ang sinabi mo nung last year's French Open. :P

uy di ko siya jinijinx ah.. wala po ako sinabi last time.. hahaha!
sabi ko lang wish ko kay maroger manalo siya ng french open beating nadal in the finals.. I genuinely wish that roger wins this year french open. then after this puwede na siyang magretire. a win versul nadal in french open final will seal his legacy --- as the greatest player of all time.

^ LOL! Defensive! Joke lang L0rd_Xer0 ha. :P Kasi last year parang sabi mo rin malakas ang gut feel mo na mananalo si Roger ng French Open. Hehehe!

sabi ko po last year, naniniwala ako na makakakuha pa si roger ng isang french open. hahaha! di ko sinabi kung kelan pero naniniwala ako na mananalo pa siya ng isa. parang ganun.. hahaha

^^ Haha! Sige na nga L0rd_xer0. Will drop the topic na. Lol!

nakakatuwa naman yung convo nyo twy and Lord..

ako naman hindi ganun kalakas ang loob magbigay ng pronouncement/s..
i've always felt that i've jinxed Lolo in a couple of occasions..
kaya imbes na 'gut feel' eh 'guilty feelings' ang sa akin


Basta Roger's dreams will always be my wishes!
Allez Champ!

[renz_reggy03]

Federer vs Mahut later. Good luck Roger!

[louise107]

^Yikes! Last match si Roger.

Good luck, champ!

[louise107]

kaya imbes na 'gut feel' eh 'guilty feelings' ang sa akin

Nice one.

[louise107]

Nice article, Blush! We have read the same story over the years but each time it's different version and just as heartwarming as the last.

[renz_reggy03]

^Last match nga. French kasi kalaban. Puyatan ito.

[MikaeloAngelico]

Got this from twitter..

@svenja_sportch: toni nadal says in swiss tennis magazine smash that he would "love to train roger"






@mbthecool19 Paul Annacone's reaction after Toni Nadal said He'd love to train Federer




corpses will be all over before this happens

[MikaeloAngelico]

Roger vs Mahut
puyatan nga ito..
parang ganito lang..

catch you later guys.

[boytoy143]

Hello Team Roger

Logging-in for Roger's game later!

[louise107]

One more set nalang for Tsonga and it's Roger's match na.

[louise107]

Looks like livestreaming na naman ito if the broadcast stays on the Wawrinka/Simon match. Bummer.

[louise107]

Rog warming up na.

Allez Roger!

[boytoy143]

It's on!

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