Federer the pied piper of Wimbledon
Federer the pied piper of Wimbledon
LONDON (Reuters) - Roger Federer has not won a grand
slam title for almost 30 months and is no longer the world's top-ranked
player, yet when it comes to pulling power he remains the number one
attraction at Wimbledon.
The moment the casually-dressed 16-times grand slam
champion sauntered on to the players' terrace on Saturday he looked like
the pied piper of Wimbledon.
His every move was shadowed by dozens of young and old autograph hunters and a host of media representatives.
Even high-profile former players jostled for space in
the scrum surrounding Federer, who in two weeks' time could draw level
with Pete Sampras and William Renshaw's record of seven men's titles at
the All England Club.
Also present on Saturday was the current King of
Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic, and Britain's heir apparent, Andy Murray, but
they were barely given a second glance by the throng who simply wanted
to rub shoulders with a player who has long been dubbed "the ultimate
tennis god".
When a young boy adoringly looked up to Federer and
said ‘I want to be as god, sorry, as good as you,' the amused Swiss
ruffled the fan's hair and asked ‘How good are you now?'.
Once he had satisfied the masses, Federer escaped to an
underground bunker at the All England Club to talk to Reuters about
playing in the golden era of tennis, his chances of winning his first
singles gold medal when Wimbledon hosts the Olympics tennis event next
month and about being bestowed honours outside his sport.
REUTERS: A lot of players feel privileged but unlucky
that their careers have coincided with this current generation at the
top. Do you feel lucky or unlucky to have played in this era?
FEDERER: "Do I feel lucky? I feel lucky that I've had
such a wonderful career because I never thought it would be that
incredible. But then again would I have had more success than let's say
if a (Lleyton) Hewitt, if a Rafa (Nadal), if a Novak (Djokovic), if a
(Marat) Safin would not have been around? I don't know.
"I believe then someone else would have been around who
would have beaten me as many times. I think the other guys see it the
same. If I wouldn't have been around then there would have been another
great player like me around. So you just go with it and draw inspiration
from those that make you work harder and you try to become the best you
can be."
REUTERS: Had Rafa's career not coincided with yours,
you probably would have won another four or five French Open titles and
your total tally might have been around 23 or more - have you wondered
about that?
FEDERER: "Honestly I haven't thought about it too much.
I've enjoyed my rivalry with him. Some losses have been tough against
him but it makes the victories a bit sweeter as well (especially) when
you do beat someone who you have lost many times against. Like for me in
the beginning (David) Nalbandian and (Tim) Henman and (Andre) Agassi
and Hewitt and so forth.
"If you are able to turn around a win-loss record or if
you are able to come out of a tough place and adjust your game and end
up beating that person, that's also important for the mind and the
player you are."
REUTERS: This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to
win at Wimbledon twice in a month. Does that reduce or increase the
pressure?
FEDERER: "It takes it away because you get two shots at
it. But obviously the Olympics is only every four years so that creates
a lot of pressure. I've been there already three times so I think
that's going to help me out.
"It's also going to help me out that I've actually won
an Olympic gold already in doubles (in 2008). Whereas people think ‘you
have to win this one and there's a lot of pressure on you'. I see it
another way and I'm not just saying this to get pressure off my back. I
can handle any pressure really.
"I would think it's an advantage to have two (events at
Wimbledon) in the space of a month. I think it's a big advantage for
the one who can actually win Wimbledon or the one who can play finals as
well as semis. That means they already have so many matches on grass,
they know exactly how Wimbledon plays, particularly at the back-end of
the tournament.
"Then going into the beginning of the Olympics will be
somewhat similar (but also) ... so different. The best of three set
tennis early on in the Olympics is going to push the margins and it's
going to make it smaller and more difficult to dominate the field."
REUTERS: You will have the opportunity over the next
month of playing best of five sets at Wimbledon and then best of three
sets at the Olympics. Which do you think will be more to your advantage
and why?
FEDERER: "I always think best of five is an advantage
for the top players because a spell of two or five bad minutes or a
double fault or stupid shot or a bad miss could cost you the match in a
best of three set match on grass."
REUTERS: What are your plans for the two to three weeks between Wimbledon and the Olympics?
FEDERER: "I'll take a week's vacation, work hard for a
week and then prepare for a week. I will be leaving London for a couple
of weeks."
REUTERS: You have had a lot of honours bestowed on you,
such as having your image on postage stamps, having a street named
after you and being the second most respected person in the world behind
Nelson Mandela. Which honour has meant the most?
FEDERER: (Laughing and shaking his head) "They all came
as a big surprise to me and they all are presented differently. One you
get an email, one you get a phone call and one they want to have a
meeting with you. I'm extremely grateful for how I am seen in
Switzerland because that's where I am from. When I can be a great
ambassador for my country, I feel proud.
"That whole list of being the second most respected
person in the world was like ... I don't even want to say it was too
good to be true because that's not true. I was like ‘what is this list
all about? Is this true or is this not true?'
"It was very nice that people actually do believe that
I'm genuine, that I'm easy to listen to, they trust what I say, all
these things obviously make me very happy. I do try to bring across a
good story and a good image for our game so it's nice to get recognition
for that. I don't need it but it's obviously nice when you do get it."
REUTERS: Which has been the most bizarre honour or one that has made you laugh?
FEDERER: Ha ha, I guess (being on) all those sexy lists
or whatever. GQ magazine - most sexy man of the year. I don't know if I
was once but I have been the GQ man of the year. I was like ‘yeah
right, this is only because I'm playing well, I'm successful and I'm
famous'. That's the only reason.
"If you don't take it that way, people are going to
remind you that's it's only because of that. Because you don't want to
have a balloon head and start flying off."
REUTERS: There have been long periods in your career
where you were successful despite not having a coach. What does your
coach Paul Annacone bring to the table that a 16-times grand slam
champion doesn't already know?
FEDERER: "It's a good question and that's why it's
important for me to pick the right people around me right now. I
probably do know very much that other people can never know just because
I've been out on Centre Court serving for a match for history. I have a
lot of experience about those things but ... Severin Luthi, who is the
(Swiss) Davis Cup captain, and Paul, they work very closely together and
analyse every player and analyse my own game.
"The coaching staff is something I've been able to go
without, I've been able to go with just one coach and I've been able to
go with two coaches as it is right now. I've always tried to keep it
interesting for myself.
"It's important for me that they do criticise me, they
do give me advice, they do challenge me. I don't pay a coach just so
he's there and says, ‘You're doing great and you're the best of all
time'. I don't need to hear that on a daily basis."
REUTERS: Do you plan to play on when your twin girls
are of a school age? If yes do you know how the travelling plans will
work for the family as you have always credited your wife Mirka's
presence as being a large part of your success?
FEDERER: "Not yet. Obviously I'd still like to play for
many years and I hope that problem will arise. I'm still going to be
playing for the next four years and they are just going to turn three
next month. So it's exciting times right now on tour with them, it's
very active. It's very busy and I'm very thankful to my wife who makes
it all work.
"People sometimes underestimate how difficult it
actually is to manage the whole situation but we'll see where and how
they're going to go to school. We've got to figure it all out. We have
ideas and have spoken about it a little bit but we are still far off so
don't quite know how it's all going to work out."
REUTERS: Apart from your trophies, your career can also
be played out with a montage of you crying: like crying after beating
Pete Sampras at Wimbledon in 2001, crying after winning your first
Wimbledon or crying after the 2009 Australian Open final defeat to
Nadal. How do you feel about that when you look back?
FEDERER: "I'm happy that I did show those emotions. I
used to only show emotions when I lost as a kid. Obviously as a junior,
you're not going to win a match and cry, you're always going to cry more
when you did lose because you're sad, you're upset, you're
disappointed. I was always a very emotional person in that regard.
"Then all of a sudden it hit me when I beat Sampras at
Wimbledon in 2001 and then when I won the Davis Cup in Switzerland
against the Americans in my hometown of Basel. I was like ‘what is
happening to me? Why am I having so many emotions when I'm winning?' So I
guess for me it was normal when I did win Wimbledon and hold the trophy
in my hands (I cried). I'm happy I had these moments.
"Some I obviously I wish I didn't cry after losses,
like in Australia (after the epic five-set final defeat by Nadal). But I
was just so exhausted. When I sat down (at the end) I was actually calm
about it but when I got on the podium and saw all the fans so
respectful and had to speak, it (the tears) all of a sudden came out.
"But I don't regret any of my outbursts. Some people
think it's strange, some people think it's fantastic. I'm happy it all
happened to me so that I could savour it and also feel the pain because
it's not always that easy out there. It shows that I do care about the
sport very dearly."
REUTERS: You own a ton of tennis records. But what do you view as the greatest sporting achievement?
FEDERER: "What I do appreciate a lot is longevity at
the highest of levels. Because when I was winning my first Wimbledon and
becoming number one for the first time in 2004, I was lucky enough to
look up to other athletes that were doing the same thing I was doing but
already for multiple years. Such as Tiger Woods, Michael Schumacher,
Valentino Rossi.
"So that was inspiring for me to look at other athletes
who did something exceptional. I thought, 'oh my god, I don't know how
they do it' and the next thing you know you are there as well. So I'm
very proud that I've been able to be very consistent at the highest of
levels for a very long time because I didn't use to be famous for being
consistent at all.
"For a long time people thought that was my big
weakness as people thought if you hang in there with Federer, you'll
beat him eventually because he will let go. Today I'm famous for it and I
think that's thanks to all these great champions out there who inspired
me."
