A Feder-al state

Of the four men’s semifinalists at this year’s Australian Open only Roger Federer has never been the world number one.

If he beats Juan Carlos Ferrero this Friday, a match that pits the Wimbledon champion against the French Open champion, then the Swiss (aka the Fed Express) will become the 23rd man to reach this pinnacle since the modern rankings began in 1973.

It was not something Federer wished to dwell on after beating Argentina’s David Nalbandián 7-5, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in the fourth quarterfinal in the Rod Laver Arena yesterday — Ferrero having previously defeated Morocco’s Hicham Arazi 6-1, 7-6, 7-6.

‘Being number one is secondary right now,” he said. ‘I need to concentrate on trying to win my second grand slam.”

The simple truth is that no matter what his ranking, Federer is the best player in the world. This has nothing to do with ranking points nor matches and titles won — it is a subjective assessment based entirely on the fact that of all the leading players Federer is the one, way above all the rest, who tennis fans most want to watch.

This week, because he is still without a coach — having parted from Peter Lundgren last year — he has been practising with the juniors, who have their own tournament during the second week of every grand slam. Federer was a junior Wimbledon champion himself, and the youngsters here have been clambering to get a hit with him.

So many of them want to play tennis the Federer way. Perhaps none ever will, but the fact that he has brought style, elegance and touch to the modern game — and a one-handed backhand — has thrilled everybody who feared the template for the future was double-fisted baseline bashing.

There is room for all styles, but against the odds Federer has proved it is possible to beat the power hitters through a mixture of style and grace. This is not to say that the 22-year-old Swiss player does not give the ball a most fearful clump, notably on the forehand, but it is the sheer variety that makes the aficionados purr.

Nalbandián is much less gifted but a wonderful fighter. His arrival in the Wimbledon final two years ago caught everybody on the hop, but it was no fluke. Many had thought he might win his first slam in Melbourne. Coming into the quarterfinal, he held a 5-1 lead over Federer, including a five-set victory there last year in the fourth round, and a further slam win at last year’s US Open.

Crucially, Federer downed the obdurate Argentinian for the first time at the end-of-season Tennis Masters Cup in Houston. Federer won that tournament, in the process defeating Ferrero, Andy Roddick and André Agassi — the latter twice, including in the final. It was an enormous week for the Swiss star, and one that proved to him that his rightful place was at the very top.

Having now beaten Lleyton Hewitt and Nalbandián in successive rounds, Federer should be well and truly in the groove against baseliners.

However, Ferrero, who reached the final of last year’s US Open where he lost to Roddick, has a little more to his game than either of the other two, notably his ability to hit searing winners off either flank.

The Spaniard dealt efficiently enough with the gifted but temperamentally volatile Arazi, yet he has both thighs protectively strapped, and may lack the mobility needed to tackle Federer at his best. And Federer’s self-belief is growing with every win, a confidence that liberates him to pursue the full range of his glorious stroke-play.

Against Nalbandián, he knew he had to be slightly circumspect: ‘I took too many chances against him in the past and that’s why I lost.”

But when the Argentinian cornered him in the first set at 5-5, forcing two break-points, Federer responded with four aces, then ripped apart Nalbandiàn’s service game.

It was never less than close, with Federer making more errors than in his previous match against Hewitt.

‘I couldn’t find my rhythm,” he complained, which had much to do with Nalbandián’s cussed defence.

The difference between Federer now and Federer a year ago is that he has learned to play his very best tennis when it matters most. It is possible he may lose to Ferrero, who would then himself regain the number one spot. But if this should happen, it would not prevent everybody believing that the best player in the world was still the man from Switzerland. —