A reminder of how beautiful tennis can be

The new champion of the US Open brings back the antique feel of this sport, the way it was when people played for cups and wristwatches or just for the sheer fun of creating something beautiful out on a lawn.

This is a different sport that Federer plays, a game we had almost given up seeing again. We see it in grainy videos of Rod Laver streaking across the court; we caught glimpses of it when Leconte was on his game, for a point or two. We enjoyed it when Navratilova hit an overhand or dashed to the net, and there was beauty in McEnroe’s touch and Sampras’ serve.

But Federer is a fluid, complete artist, who has now won a Grand Slam title on the hardcourt of the brawling city of New York, which has chewed up many a tennis tourist. Bjorn Borg of Sweden used to leave New York virtually cross-eyed and muttering to himself. Kevin Curren of South Africa once lobbied for the imminent destruction of the joint.

But Federer charmed the demanding galleries of Queens with his placid determination and the most complete tennis game of his generation, at very least.

On Sunday he annihilated Lleyton Hewitt on the sweetest of late summer evenings that New York can offer. Federer floated for mobile overhead smashes. He flicked winners with that wonderful relic, the one-handed backhand. Once, in the second set, while in danger of being broken, he fired consecutive aces of 125, 128 and 124 mph.

I happened to be sitting in the lower stands behind Kathy Rinaldi, once a prodigy on the women’s tour, now a television commentator. In the second game of the second set, Federer was trailing, 15-30; they rallied for a few strokes, then Hewitt lunged to his left and slashed a slicing cross-court backhandn — a sure point. But Federer reached across his own body and rolled a lovely, soft cross-court backhand with so much spin that it glanced harmlessly off Hewitt’s racket. Rinaldi turned sideways, her eyes open wide with respect. ‘‘Lleyton’s shot was perfect’’, she said. ‘‘He couldn’t have hit it better.’’

That was pretty much the whole match, the whole two weeks. Federer became the first player in history to win his first four Grand Slam finals. For a while, he had the reputation of a talented slacker who might never put together all those shots, but then he won Wimbledon in 2003. Now he has won four out of the last six Grand Slam events.

‘‘You know, his shot-making is second to none at the moment, especially’’, a gracious Hewitt said afterward. ‘‘Wherever he is on the court, he moves extremely well for a bigger guy as well.’’

Just look at Federer: 6 feet 1 inch, 177 pounds, more solid-looking the closer you get to him, bright blue shirt with one white stripe on the left shoulder (a soccer captain’s stripe, perhaps), white shorts, white socks, white sneakers, white headband, thick curly brown hair, and almost no twitches or mannerisms, unlike Connors or McEnroe.

The other day he listed soccer as the sprt he most likes to watch, ahead of tennis. I asked him which soccer player he admired most.

‘‘Zidane’’, he said, referring to Zinedine Zidane. I would have said Franz Beckenbauer, the great German field general. But that’s the company into which Federer is moving. ‘‘Let’s hope Roger doesn’t get satisfied and gets too wealthy that he doesn’t have the incentive to go out there and play’’, said Jack Kramer.

‘‘A champion of his stature’’, Kramer continued, ‘‘the game needs him, and he’s 23 now, as I understand it. Let’s hope he has the same drive that Sampras had for so long.’’

Margaret Court was also inducted in the Open’s hall on Sunday, along with McEnroe and Steffi Graf. ‘‘I think you probably look at the statistics and time’’, she said. ‘‘You see champions come through today. People say, ‘’They’re great champions,’ and they’ve won one Grand Slam, two Grand Slams.’’

Federer has won four. But they have been in the six most recent Grand Slam tournaments. On Sunday, he cautioned us, ‘‘The road is long, you know.’’

The best thing we can do is watch him — and that is a joy.

(The New York Times)