TMF

“The Rise and Fall of a King” read the headlines post Roger Federer’s 7-5, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2 defeat to Rafael Nadal in the 2009 Australian Open Finals. The pundits declared that that was the end of RF’s dominance over the world of tennis… that his “nemesis” had finally scaled what was once thought to be insurmountable…basically it was declared that this indeed was the end of RF. He had ended the previous year pretty well…with his 5^th crown at Queens…but that did not matter…they shouted their guts out “oh but it wasn’t Nadal whom he defeated in the finals….oh but Nadal this Nadal that….” Dum dum di da da di dum dum...I sometimes feel sad for Nadal. Whenever he’s spoken of, it’s always in the context of RF…in comparison with RF…of what he did to RF…of what he could not do…I’m sure if RF did not exist, Nadal would have gotten more of his due, for what he has done and achieved for himself, the sport and his nation rather than not done or done in comparison to RF.

Ever heard the “who is the greatest of them all” debates on tennis shows? Prior to June 7, 2009; not a soul suggested the name RF whenever those debates happened. No, none of it mattered…the epic five-setter at Wimbledon ’01, the 11 singles titles in a year, the 237 consecutive weeks, the 13 majors, the forehand that was termed as “the greatest shot in the history of the sport”, the sheer genius and elegance…absolutely nothing…and why? Coz “He has never won the French.”

And then something happened.

An artist’s son produced two displays that should hang on the wall forever. Modern tennis has seen few painters like him…actually none like him. He has a broad brush and his displays are bursts of colours as well as of subtle hues. On first look he does not often seem extraordinary, but a closer examination suggests that he is a player of great beauty. A good 1 hour 55 minutes into the final of the men’s singles at the French Open 2009….5:09 pm local time (Paris)…he fell on his knees to the red earth of Roland Garros…the crowd rose to their feet…the thunder rumbled overhead…and Roger Federer redeemed a pledge to himself. Then almost a month later, in the evening sunshine on Centre Court at Wimbledon, he leapt into the air with joy, after four and a quarter hours of what can only be termed as a fitting climax, to claim his 15^th record Grand Slam Title and become tennis’ greatest men’s champion and the most succesful man in the history of the sport, watched by a legion of champions. These were moments to be frozen in history…moments that stood for triumph of resolve and the will of an individual who had simply refused to bow to what had been deemed inevitable.

But the world is full of insane people…and no, they do not suffer from insanity…it is the rest of the world that suffers as they talk!! With RF’s constant successes in his career spanning a little over 9 years, the world has high expectations…surprisingly his detractors too…now I fail to understand why they have to expect when all they want to do is criticize! And so the US Open happened…hailed as the “King of Queens” for his 5 successive crowns at Queens, after his finals loss they again declared that his “reign was over”…that he had been “dethroned”.

The trouble is that when one sees an individual like RF go about what he does best, year after year; one fails to comprehend whether he is a mortal of flesh and blood or of another world altogether. And in this state of mystification, they place him on a pedestal; hail him as god…and yet they wait for that one moment when he will falter and show some sign of his mortality…and when that moment arises, they pull the pedestal from beneath his feet and spurn him in every way possible. But just when they think they’ve seen it all from RF, he shows the world another way to break…whether it be their will or the contenders to his throne. Once again it becomes hard for the world to fathom that a mortal can produce such a precise picture…moving beautifully, thinking brilliantly…on a song. He continues to amuse, to bewilder, to confuse, to stupify…and so they hail him god yet again…stealthily waiting for the next sign of mortality as it is an obsession with the human mind to bring order to their world…in this case though, it’s turning out to be a bad obsession.

Love him or hate him…but learn to acknowledge his sheer genius and the fact that neither are we going to see the phenomenal feats he has pulled off, in our lifetime again; nor are we ever going to be able to forget (even if plagued with Alzheimer’s) the utter beauty of his sheer artistry. Learn to laud what he is to the sport and to its history. And even though RF is as close to invincible and as close to being god as any soul can be; he is a mortal who will not win every game he plays, will throw around bottles, smash racquets, use profanities when outraged and yet continue to amuse, stupify…mystify while on his quest for perfection.

Men are from earth. Women are from earth. So is RF. Deal with it!