To watch Roger Federer play tennis is to understand why the word ”stroke” became the game’s operative verb. This week’s undemanding opening to his attempt to win a fifth consecutive men’s singles title at Wimbledon offered the opportunity to admire his ability to caress the ball at all angles and velocities with a wonderful delicacy.
If everyone played like Federer, there would no need to change the balls every few games. So gently does he go about his work that his opponents sometimes resemble the man in the old Japanese story who is unaware that he has been decapitated by the silky slice of a samurai’s sword until he is invited to shake his head.
Federer’s moments of outright aggression are so pure that his opponent seems almost incidental to the proceedings. This week he took just more than 90 minutes to beat Teimuraz Gabashvili, a 22-year-old who was born in Tbilisi but has lived in Moscow since the age of nine, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
The tall, loose-limbed Russian was making his Wimbledon debut and completing a set of Grand Slam appearances in the process. He may have filled the role of sacrificial victim to the reigning champion, but he played with an attractive zest, looking as though grass held few terrors for him. He will, no doubt, be hoping for a more generous draw next time.
For Federer, Wimbledon’s Centre Court is as familiar as his own front room. Since his last visit, however, the builders have been in and, against Gabashvili, Federer had his first experience of the arena minus the canopy that lent it intimacy. It was not the best kind of day for moving in, either, with a mottled sky glowering over the open stands, a chill wind blowing and a sparse drizzle recommencing soon after the competitors made their entrance.
Federer and Gabashvili made the decision to carry on through the periodic dampness, rewarding the spectators for their patience.
”You’re kind of worried about injuries, slipping and so on,” said the champion. ”But I warmed up well; I’m feeling good on grass and I felt I had the grip. But then it rained a little bit harder. You see him [Gabashvili] slip, you touch the grass, you think it’s actually pretty wet, but you don’t want to stop. Once they put the covers on, you’re going to lose another 45 minutes.
”So it was good we stayed on. I don’t think it got to the point where it was a big risk. You know, the players can look at each other and go, like, ‘This is crazy.’ But I think we took the right decision to keep on playing.”
Assessing the awningless court as ”a work in progress”, he emphasised how different it felt. ”There was always a constant breeze from one end, like in many of the stadiums around the world. So that was not very different, it was just different for Centre Court. We’re all looking forward to next year.”
After extending his unbeaten run at Wimbledon to 29 games under the eye of his friend, Valentino Rossi, the former MotoGP champion, Federer defended his decision to miss the Halle tournament for the first time in five years in order to recover from the rigours of the clay-court season, which ended with defeat in Paris at the hands of Rafael Nadal.
Each of his Wimbledon titles has been preceded by victory in the German grass-court tournament and, in the view of John McEnroe, he is unwise to disrupt a successful routine. It is 15 years since Andre Agassi became the last man to win Wimbledon without playing a warm-up tournament on grass.
”I guess I’ve got to win the tournament to prove that the decision was the right one,” said Federer. ”But my body was hurting and I’m not going to start risking injury. It can take four, five, six days to get everything out of the system, all the things that hurt a little bit. I’d rather play Wimbledon than maybe play Halle, lose there and not play Wimbledon at 100%. I had to make a tough call. I’m not superstitious like other players. And I have recovered.”
He is also minus a coach, having dismissed Tony Roche, his adviser for the past two-and-a-half years, after losing in Rome last month.
”My plan back in February was not to come here with a coach, no matter what happened,” he explained. ”So that is not a change. I’m not actually thinking much about a coach right now. Probably afterwards I’ll start considering the options.” Apparently the list of applicants already contains 40 names.
Watching Federer, even at half-throttle, it was hard to believe there are that many people in the world who could improve his beautiful game. — Â