The Federer Express is back. At least he seems to be really back in his best physical shape. When one follows a complete game by Roger, especially when he plays lower seeded players in the first rounds of the tournaments, one can’t help but to wonder if he ever gets bored. There is something about how he plays, about the way he puts out his offensive arsenal, that one can’t help but to feel some sort of a mix emotion. For one-side, you are just amazed at the talent and how blatantly superior he is in the court. On the other hand (and this might, and probably is just me) I can’t really help but expect the underdog to somehow just come out and defeat him.
I don’t know if I am alone here. I do have a bit of a thing for Cinderella stories. Particularly because given the odds, sometimes I do like to take my extra risks and howler and even put down my bucks for the underdog. Most of the times I lose my bet, but still, at least with Roger Federer on the early rounds, it makes his games far more interesting when I cheer for the guy who is on the other side of the court, struggling to complete the returns, and deal with the physiological and mental dimension of a player who can pull stunts like he did on the first round game of this year’s US Open.
Just throw out a search for Roger Federer’s tweener against Dabul in the first round over at Youtube. Oh men that was beautiful. You have to see the face on Argentinean Brian Dabul. Ok, under any other circumstances and perhaps except for one other player in the professional circuit, Dabul’s long volley would have been a winner. But Federer was able to run back, not only pull-off such a difficult stun as a tweener, but yet, turn it into a winning point. There was a face of hopelessness and perhaps awe in Dabul’s face when the camera makes its close-up. One can’t help but to feel sympathetic for the guy.
On his second round match, Federer Breezed by Andreas Beck with a 6-3,6-4,6-3. He was playing in the Arthur Ashe Stadium at the very warm and somewhat humid day. Sure, he has struggled since the Australian Open. Sure, there have been to early 4th round losses in both Wimbledon and Roland Garros. And yeah, we know what it meant for him to loose at England.
Sure, at Roland Garros he had to play in clay (which is by no means his forte) but also three of his four games were played under the rain. But then came a couple of injuries, and quite frankly a lot of inconsistency. He has had some success after his experience with new personal coach Paul Annacone. Yes, 16 came easy. He played some of his bets tennis over at Australia to win his 16th Grand Slam title. He has the focus and the motivation, and we know, he sure is got the talent to win this tournament. 17 is a lucky number. Nadal is out there too. But let’s face it, at Flushing Meadows Nadal has not been a solid contender.
One last detail before we go. The Argentinean who defeated him last year in the final is not. The road is not wide open for Federer. But he sure knows were it leads to, and how to get there. He’s been at that final 6 years in a row.
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