A Man of His Word: Roger Federer

Under the leadership of Switzerland's tennis player number one Stanislas Wawrinka (that takes time to sink in) and with Roger Federer, the Swiss Davis Cup Team won against Serbia to qualify for the quarter finals against Kazakhstan. This will be played in Switzerland and Roger Federer will be part of the team. It shows a marked change to his earlier absences from the team.

Stanislas Wawrinka and Roger Federer

Many will have noticed that the Swiss Davis Cup Team hasn't done anything remarkable for the last ten years or so. Roger Federer mostly declined to play as the scheduling of the Davis Cup ties interfered with his season planning. He declined again during the Australian Open 2014, only to make a spot decision days before the tie to come after all. What had brought on that sudden change of heart?

In an interview in 2006 with Swiss Television, he had said one sentence of importance to this issue. When asked about playing Davis Cup, he said 'when Stan is ready' he will try to help win the trophy. Stanislas Wawrinka stagnated and Roger Federer did his own thing. With Stanislas Wawrinka becoming Australian Open champion, Roger Federer made good on his promise made in 2006 and probably forgotten by most.

Despite the fact that playing Davis Cup is playing havoc with his season, he will help Stan the Man win for Switzerland. It is a trophy they both would like to have in their players' palmares. In an interview prior to the matches against Serbia, he said that 'this is not about me, this week belongs to Stan.' How good are their chances of winning the Davis Cup? How many teams from other countries can field two top ten tennis players?

And with Kazakhstan ousting Belgium from the draw, the Swiss team will be playing at home. This is further reason for both players to look forward to the matches to be held in April. Roger Federer definitely is looking forward to it if you want to go by his latest tweet. (And a question on the side: Who took up Patrick von Stutenzee's prognosis of a Stanislas Wawrinka win in Melbourne? He made the prediction on grounds that Roger Federer won his first Australian title after becoming Swiss Personality of the Year. Article link is below.)

Further reading
Swiss Personality of the Year Stanislas Wawrinka
Bernard Tomic in Roger Federer Jubilee Match
Tennis With Gay Appeal in London

Stanislas Wawrinka Starts 2014 With Chennai Win

Stanislas Wawrinka started 2014 as if it was still 2013. His win in Chennai was master class tennis over the whole tournament and should give him a lot of confidence going into the Australian Open in Melbourne. And last year's marathon match against Novak Djokovic was one of the highlights in the tennis season 2013 when considering all matches. And he is only the Swiss number two.

Stanislas Wawrinka has had an incredible year in 2013. It wasn't enough to get the "Sports Personality of the Year" award in Switzerland, but that hardly mattered. It seems that the tennis player from the French speaking part of Switzerland called the Romandie is preferring a life out of the spotlight any VIP status might give him. And now, again away from the spotlights concentrating on Doha, Brisbane, and Perth, he won the ATP tournament in India's Chennai in style. It looks like he intends to continue playing his best in the tennis season 2014.

Stanislas Wawrinka doesn't convey Roger Federer's glamour or have his international appeal. Images of him in a tuxedo are rarer than ones he smiles on. If he is made to wear formal gear, he appears like a fish out of water; not for him the fashion magazines of the world, but give him a tennis court anytime and he is happy. More than one great tennis nation would be glad to call him their number one tennis player, but Switzerland always has Roger Federer to pip him to the post.

Nonetheless, the 28-year-old world number eight has gained many fans in the past season. He earned the nickname "Marathon Man" during epic duels against top players like Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray. He stepped out of the overlong shadow of Roger Federer's when he beat 17-time Grand Slam winner in 2013 in the public poll as Sports Personality of the Year in Switzerland.

The recognition by people was something that had changed in 2013, said Stanislas Wawrinka in an interview with Swiss Television. Now, I get tremendous support throughout Switzerland, not only in the Romandie." The fact that the spotlight will probably always be directed onto Roger Federer doesn't bother him: "It was never a problem for me to be second to him. It was never a goal of mine to overtake him." A rivalry doesn't exist. "He is always the first to congratulate me when I played well and lost or when I won."

Playing well and losing is something Stanislas Wawrinka was getting used to in the past season. At the U.S. Open he reached the semi-finals and failed to get past Novak Djokovic in five sets. In Melbourne he wrung the last drop from his opponent in one of the most exhilarating matches of the year, but lost to Novak Djokovic. "It was my best, an incredible year," says the father of a three-year-old daughter. "But I hope that I have the potential to continue to improve."

"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." Stanislas Wawrinka had the words of Irish author Samuel Beckett inked onto his skin in 2013. They have become the motto of the world number 8.

Something he has achieved without trying is being shortlisted for the Personality of the Year award (just called Swiss Award) in Switzerland. The award is handed out in various categories: Culture, Economics, Politics, Show, Society, and Sports. Being nominated at all is an award as each shortlist has only three names on it. 

Further reading
Giving up: The Key to Success
Jerzy Janowicz and Andy Murray
Tennis: Mr Darcis Says Nada

Roger Federer Has Created a Monster

Roger Federer will end the season with an ATP world ranking position of 6. He hasn't been ranked so low since 2002 when he ended the year on the same ranking. Has the career of Roger Federer ended because of that? Ask the guys ranked in above the 100 mark what they would think of being ranked in the top 10. So what can we expect for Roger Federer in 2014?

The ATP ranking never lies, even if tennis commentators usually pretend it does when talking their countrymen's ranking up and others' down. Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were much more successful this year than Roger Federer, David Ferrer was more constant, and Juan Martin Del Potro won 4 tournaments to Roger Federer's 3. This inevitably means a ranking at 6, as it did in 2002. 2013 has a bottom line for him: disappointing. That goes for everyone who has watched his career. He did not achieve the goals he set for himself on one side, and he certainly didn't perform on a level of previous years.

Flashback: Shanghai in November 2002. A 21-year-old has a fantastic first Masters participation throughout the group games. In the semifinal, he fails to get through in an impressive fight against the reigning number 1, Lleyton Hewitt. The tennis world was delighted and celebrated the skills of the newcomer; Switzerland was over the moon and hoped for more magic tennis to come.

The sequel to the story is well known. The sequel is also the problem when we try to judge Roger Federer's performance these days. The Swiss master collected titles like other people collect stamps. He did it with such ease that many were shocked when he lost a set at times. Roger Federer was so superior to the competition at times that he said. "I've created a monster."

He was right. The monstrous success of his best years (from 2004 to 2007, he won 11 of 16 Grand Slams and 3 of 4 Masters) are the bar everyone and most himself have to contend with. He pushed the bar up so high that failure was the inevitable result of it. But because he managed to keep near to these high marks to the end of 2012, the year 2013 appears to us as a veritable catastrophe. Commentators are quick in ending his career again due to that. Many nations would take him or Stanislas Wawrinka thankfully as their number one players.

The facts for 2013: 1 tournament won at the lowest ATP level (Halle, Germany), 1 Grand Slam semi-final (Melbourne), 2 ATP finals (Rome, Basel) and the semi-finals at the Masters; these are the best results in 2013. On the negative side, he had back problems, defeats against low ranked players, and a failed racket test in the middle of the season. Roger Federer himself emphasized in a recent interview that back pain was the root of the problems, all the rest was just a result of it.

In fact, his performance since the disappearance of the health symptoms are up again. This trend is expected - if all goes to plan for Roger Federer - to continue in 2014. He wants more than just to compete with the best, he wants to beat them, too. He has reset the bar, which is still pretty high by any standard, against which he can be measured and should be measured, too. The old bar he set between 2004 and 2007 should be banned from use and only be applied when discussions about "greatest ever tennis player" are coming up again. 

Further reading
Giving Up: The Key to Success
Jerzy Janowicz and Andy Murray
Tennis: Mr Darcis Says Nada

Marathon Man Stanislas Wawrinka

Stanislas Wawrinka earned himself the epithet of Marathon Man over many long fought five set matches in Grand Slams. But he has been running a marathon for years; being Swiss, he has been ranked number 2 in Switzerland for many years behind Roger Federer. Unlike others I could name, he never complained about playing in an era of outstanding tennis players.

Stanislas Wawrinka

Many a great tennis nation would love to call Stanislas Wawrinka as their number one tennis player. Currently ranked at 10 in the ATP ranking, he is (still) behind Roger Federer at 7. That a tennis dwarf nation like Switzerland is able to have two men in the top ten ranking is an outstanding achievement. And it is testament more to a dogged work ethic of the Swiss number 2 than to the outstanding brilliance of Roger Federer.

Stanislas Wawrinka is an outstanding sportsman. Widely ignored by tennis commentators and even by the press in his homeland Switzerland, he never begrudged Roger Federer his place in tennis history or complained about how difficult it made things for him. Contrariwise, he always held up Roger Federer as the idol and driving force of Swiss tennis.

Davis Cup for a country like Switzerland is a no win situation. As a small nation, it is almost impossible to find enough players to fill a team with the aim to win it. Stanislas Wawrinka never hesitated to play in the thankless tasks set him in that contest, and usually he was the number one in the team. On the rare occasions where Roger Federer made an appearance, he handed over to him without hesitation and without complaint. Sportsman like, he put the aim of the team above his ego.

This year, he had probably his best season ever so far. Reaching the quarter finals in the US open is no mean feat; now he has to face Andy Murray to take it one step further. The present form of Stanislas Wawrinka is the bad news for Andy Murray, as is his own form that has not yet reached the peak. And the Scot isn't really comfortable with the game of the Swiss at any time. We might be able to see a titanic match tonight; and few would grudge Stanislas Wawrinka an upset over Andy Murray.

Further reading
Giving up: The Key to Success
Jerzy Janowicz and Andy Murray
Tennis: Mr Darcis Says Nada

How Not to Win a Grand Slam

Andy Murray is following in Roger Federer’s and Rafael Nadal’s footsteps. He just broke the first long standing tennis record. He is the first player to have lost his first three appearances in a grand slam final without winning a single set. That is not the kind of record to inspire confidence in his ability to win one.

Andy Murray, tennis boy

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have made it part of the game to break records so regularly, chance is if you blinked you missed it. Now Andy Murray has finally set his first all-time record, and it’s not one to be proud of. To have reached three grand slam finals normally would be no mean feat, considering that there are usually two reserved tickets for Roger and Rafael. But to lose all three of them without ever winning a set is not the way to do it.

Watching Andy Murray in the Australian Open final was memorable. If ever young players have to be instructed in how not to win a grand slam, these pictures will serve perfectly well for them. Andy’s performance was deplorable, and so was his body language. Even walking out on court, defeat was already written all over him. It seemed that he knew that Novak Djokovic in his present form would walk all over him.

British media have been writing Andy’s tennis abilities up for two years now. They are doing him disfavour on two counts: His tennis is not as good as they portray it; while it is adequate to be secure in the top ten, he lacks the last edge to take him to the very top. Add to this the constant pressure the pile on him to win a grand slam (after 115,000 years in Roger Federer’s reckoning), and you’ll see that they’ll manage yet to make another Tim Henman of him.

While the media write Andy Murray’s tennis up, they write that of other players down as if they could replicate damaged British society as advocated through schools. I don’t know how far Andy has been damaged by the British educational system which is in shambles. Instead of asking the most of pupils and make them excel, the system has been constantly downgraded to let even the laziest pupil have a positive grade. Let’s hope that Andy knows that the rest of the world will not lower their tennis standard to do him a favour.

Roger Federer once said that talent can be learned, all it takes is a lot of work; with Rafael Nadal, you see that he is working his body to breaking point (and beyond); and now Novak Djokovic has put off his baby nappies and accepts the lessons to be learned from the two top workers in the business. Andy Murray on the other hand wants to take a few days off after having done nothing in the final to win it. He should rather spend more time on the training court, one would think.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have pushed each other to unprecedented heights in tennis; and Novak Djokovic seems to gear up to join the club of excellence. All three players share something in common: Roger was allowed to develop in a small country (a tennis dwarf called Switzerland) to burst on the scene fully confident of what he might be able to do; Rafa hid behind the Swiss (and still likes to do that) to keep out of the wind; and Nole is again the product of a tennis dwarf (Serbia).

Will Andy be able to overcome the handicap of coming from a nation with an exalted notion of its tennis abilities? Will he be able to overcome the constant carping for a grand slam win? Right now, this is highly dubious.

Further reading
Giving Up: Key to Success
Jerzy Janowicz and Andy Murray
Tennis With Gay Appeal in London

Roger Federer's Interview on Swiss Television

A summary compiled on the interview given by Roger Federer on Swiss Television on October 19, 2008. Roger Federer comments on the season, on press, on marriage, on Stanislas Wawrinka, and his plans for the Davis Cup.

Roger Federer tennis

This is neither a transcript nor a direct translation from Roger Federer’s native language Alemannic (often referred to as Swiss German) to English as that would be too complicated to accomplish. It is rather a summary of what Roger Federer said in the interview given on October 19, 2008, on Swiss Television.

Roger Federer commented on the season 2008 so far: That the beginning of the current season had been very difficult for him, as he didn’t know at the time he played the Australian Open that he was actually seriously ill. He had only noticed a heaviness of mind and slowness on the court which he couldn’t really explain to himself. He stated that in general terms he had been quite satisfied with the season so far considering the circumstances. What was very stressful to the former number one tennis player was that he had to reshuffle his training sessions to get back to form after the illness. The combination of this reshuffling with more tournaments to play including the Olympics was taking its toll on him.

As opposed to the last three years, it meant he had to intersperse hard training sessions between the tournaments instead of having a few days off. This in turn caused him to arrive at tournaments not at the peak of his abilities, as opposed to the two previous years, when he usually was in perfect timing to get his best tennis onto the court at the tournaments.

He said he still had been far behind with his training in Paris when he lost Roland Garros to Rafael Nadal. Therefore it had not surprised him that he had lost that final nor actually the result of it. To win against Rafael Nadal one can’t play 90% and expect to win anything.

As to Wimbledon, it had been very hard on him to lose that title to Rafael Nadal, but on the other hand he himself had certainly played the best match of his life. He rather suspected that Rafael Nadal had done that, too. He declined to comment on the press hype about the best match ever played.

He also commented on the press coverage on himself during this year. He stated that he had been a bit hurt when after losing to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open he had already been written off by the papers or at least into crisis. It had surprised him even more that they had been so negative after Wimbledon and that this was not quite in keeping with the hype about the match. He was especially negative about ‘certain commentators who had played no mean tennis themselves and talked like this was the end, when they should know better, having had their problems in their time as well’.

For him the Olympics Gold medal together with Stanislas Wawrinka had been for him a turning point in a season he had been satisfying but not a highlight. After that he knew that he was going to be back in form again for the American Open. The Olympics medal in tennis double had been very special for playing in team and had been psychologically very satisfying. It also boded well for the future concerning the Davis Cup. He wanted to have it clearly stated that he had not said that Switzerland would win the Davis Coup, but that he was considering a serious attempt in that direction if Stanislas Wawrinka was willing.

Queried on his being seen in a jewellers’ shop in Dubai, he laughed. Plans for marriage are not ripe. But it didn’t surprise him at all that he had been seen there as it was one of the best known addresses for Europeans to shop. Queried again on how it felt to be permanently in the public eye, he said that it was not too bad for them (meaning himself and his life partner former tennis player Mirka Vavrinec). In Switzerland in general the press is very respectful towards his private life. People in Switzerland are very reticent and do him the favour of ignoring him when meeting him on the road somewhere.

Commenting on the Swiss Indoors tournament commencing in Basel this week, he said he was definitely playing and willing to win. He also thinks that his fitness and preparation is sufficient to win it discounting any negative influence of having lost against Andy Murray. He said that he tournament in Basel was certainly the most difficult for him not to play it being his hometown. As an added plus he added that he enjoyed it immensely to be home again and to meet with family and friends while here.

One of his major joys, he said, was organising the Pizza dinner at the end of the tournament with the ball boys and girls, as he himself had first done that at the age of 13. He remembered being extremely nervous at that time to come so near to tennis greats like Boris Becker. His next highlight had been playing in the Qualifying round a few years later. As Wimbledon Junior Champion he had received a wild card the following year and received a lesson from André Agassi, but it was just great, he said.

He finally commented on the placement of Stanislas Wawrinka and that he was very happy for him. He hoped to meet him in the final of Basel, this being necessary for Stanislas Wawrinka to be able to take part in Shanghai’s Masters Tournament.

My text is neither complete nor word perfect. Any faults in understanding or translation are mine.

Further reading
Djokovic Plays Top to Nadal Bottom
Bernard Tomic in Roger Federer Jubilee Match
Tennis With Gay Appeal in London