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Journalism of Courage
There isnt a more beautiful sight in sport than the master in full flow
It is not often that a player considered to be one of the greatest ever to have picked up a racket is deemed to be an underdog going into a tournament he has won six times. But that was precisely the position Roger Federer found himself in before his eighth Wimbledon final against the great British hope,Andy Murray. Federer hadnt won a Grand Slam for two years and had been facing a barrage of criticism,with many implying that his time was past,that he would never again ascend to the heights of the mid-2000s. With his virtuoso game to win his 17th major title,Federer has proved his critics wrong.
Rumours of his diminishing skills were rather exaggerated anyway. In 2011,Federer made the quarterfinals at every Slam. He won the last three competitions he entered that year,including the tough ATP World Tour Finals,even beating bete noire Rafael Nadal en route. This season,he has won four titles besides Wimbledon,and made the semifinals at both the Australian and French Open,only losing to two of the other three top players in mens tennis. Still,the sense that he could not now contend with the likes of Murray and Novak Djokovic not to mention Nadal,who he had trouble beating even at his peak was pervasive.
Against Murray,he once again reminded observers that there is no more beautiful a sight in sport than Federer in full flow. With the athleticism and grace that make his tennis look so effortless,Federer unleashed an array of shots that defied belief producing many of what David Foster Wallace memorably called Federer Moments8230; when the jaw drops and eyes protrude.
