[US Open] #8: Cilic vs Nishikori????

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The Undeniable Arrogance of Roger Federer

NEW YORK - Fact: Roger Federer is one of a handful of players who is justifiably in the conversation of greatest of all time (GOAT).

Another fact: Roger Federer has won a total of one of the last 18 Grand Slams contested.

Yet, to read the coverage, or watch the embarrassingly gushing ESPN broadcasting of this year’s US Open one would think that Federer is the same dominating player he was back in 2007 and the only storyline at this year’s final Slam tournament.

Now, of course, some of this is entirely understandable. The 33-year-old is again playing some superb tennis, a testament to his extraordinary physical conditioning. And to be able to maintain not just the physical attributes necessary to continue to compete at Slams but also the desire, the mental strength to carry on this late in a career is nothing short of phenomenal. And, lastly, it’s natural for people to shower appreciation and praise upon a great athlete who is near the end of a career – just look at the attention being paid to Derek Jeter, in the final year of his brilliant tenure and he isn’t one-third the player he was in his prime.

But there’s another side to this out-in-the-open Federer worship that has permeated coverage the entirety of Federer’s career; that is, failing to acknowledge the arrogant and passive aggressive nature of Federer’s demeanor - behaviors that too often border on the narcissistic and entitled.

The media has forever relentlessly uttered superlatives regarding Federer’s “sportsmanship” and “classy demeanor.” But, while he usually comports himself very admirably on court, Federer’s snarkier comments and questionable acts are often overlooked, as if any detour from the hagiographic narrative would be an affront to Federer’s legions of fan, or even to the sport itself.

For the sake of brevity I’ll point out two past instances that reveal much about Federer’s overrated “sportsmanship” (I could easily refer to many others). The first concerns the 2009 Australian Open final. Rafael Nadal, who has long owned an utterly dominating record against Federer, solidified his then No. 1 ranking when he followed up his legendary 2008 Wimbledon victory with a triumph six months later over Federer in Melbourne. During the trophy presentation after the match, Federer broke down and cried, stating “God, it’s killing me.”

After hearing this, Nadal then put his arm around Federer in a true gesture of grace and sportsmanship. What was insulting in this scene was not the fact that Federer got emotional – after all, no great champion ever wants to lose - rather, it was the stealing of Nadal’s moment, as well as the implication in Federer’s words that he was entitled to the victory; “it’s killing me,” as if anyone else who would have lost wouldn’t feel so robbed?

The second instance I’ll mention is far more damning. This occurred after the 2011 US Open semifinals. In that epic match, Novak Djokovic saves two match points, on blistering returns, and went on to win. After the match, to say that Federer was not in a magnanimous mood is an understatement. When asked about his defeat and the incredible returns struck by Djokovic, Federer stated thus:

“To lose against someone like that, it's very disappointing, because you feel like he was mentally out of it already. Just gets the lucky shot at the end, and off you go …I mean, please. Some players grow up and play like that – being down 5-2 in the third, and they all just start slapping shots. I never played that way. I believe hard work's going to pay off, because early on maybe I didn't always work at my hardest. For me, this is very hard to understand. How can you play a shot like that on match point? Maybe he's been doing it for 20 years, so for him it was very normal. You've got to ask him.”

It doesn’t even take reading between the lines to understand what Federer was saying – I’m the real player out here, other players since I was young have always wanted to beat me and win by luck and not hard work, etc. How about the fact that Federer didn’t really go for a big serve to end the match while Djokovic had the guts to go for broke at the crucial moment.

Another aspect to the Federer worship concerns the reactions of other players. For so long – and even to this day – there’s been a bizarre, Stepford wives-like quality to the responses some of the players give when playing Federer. Case in point is Gael Monfils. The mercurial Frenchman will be playing Federer in the quarterfinals Thursday night. When asked about the upcoming encounter, Monfils called Federer "the best player ever" and said that playing him will be special and something he can tell his children about.

I can’t imagine Nadal or Djokovic saying that. In fact, Djokovic looked downright exhausted when responding to a question in the run-up to the Open about Federer’s greatness. Additionally, I’ve also spoken to other tennis journalists off-the-record who feel that Federer’s responses to their questions often take on a tone of passive aggressive bullying. But you’ll rarely find a tennis writer say such a thing for fear of banishment from the establishment.

The roots of the Federer worship are easy to understand – first, he plays a singular brand of artistic tennis that is timeless and, secondly, he has backed it up with winning more Grand Slam titles than any other man. Arrogance deserved?

I’ll enjoy my close-up view in Arthur Ashe stadium for his remaining matches over the next few days. But I’ll also glimpse the proceedings with a dash of something that’s been missing for a long time when discussing the great Roger Federer – perspective.

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Op zondag 7 september 2014 00:47 schreef TennispeRFect het volgende:

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Slap artikel. 2 slappe voorbeelden tegenover jaar in , jaar uit correct en beleefd gedrag.

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Op zondag 7 september 2014 00:48 schreef 1239758715981 het volgende:

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Wat een stomme voorbeelden. En wat je in je post zegt

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Op zondag 7 september 2014 00:52 schreef 1239758715981 het volgende:

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En al die jaren sportsmanship award zeggen zeker niks tegen alle 20 voorbeelden die jij kan opvissen uit 1200 wedstrijden. Geef gewoon toe dat je je hekel probeert te rationaliseren

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Op zondag 7 september 2014 00:52 schreef grrrrg het volgende:

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Ga je gang. Er zijn zeker wel momenten waarop Federer haantjesgedrag heeft vertoond, maar dat was niet bij die voorbeelden.

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Op zondag 7 september 2014 00:53 schreef grrrrg het volgende:

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Moet je maar naar zijn persconferentie luisteren straks. Ik durf te wedden dat hij niets dan lof zal hebben voor Cilic.