I've long been a huge Roger Federer fan.* But as his dominance began to fade, his lack of graciousness -- something that is so easy to have when you're winning -- began to rub me the wrong way at times. Now that we're at the end of his first season without winning a major, however, he's taken it to the next level -- criticizing his opponents' winners(!). (Who is he, me????) Get a load of what he said about that brilliant forehand Novak Djokovic hit while down match point in their U.S. Open semifinal, which he then used to get the crowd to stop rooting against him:
"Some players grow up and play like that. I remember losing junior matches and being down 5-2 in the third and they start slapping shots and they all go in for some reason. That's the way they grew up playing when they were down. I never play that way. I believe hard work's going to pay off. [...] So for me this is very hard for me to understand how you can play a shot like that on match point. But maybe he's been doing it for 20 years. Maybe for him it's very normal. You'll have to ask him."
Sounds like someone just graduated from the Miss Williams' Finishing School. Maybe I grew up "that way," but it looked awfully good to me:
Between Serena's refusal to accept any responsibility for what happened against San Stosur, Philip Petzschner's cheating during the men's doubles final and now this, the 2011 U.S. Open might best be remembered for the bratty behavior of a bunch of spoiled athletes. (At least Andy Roddick was right when he was a bit of a dick to tournament referee Brian Earley -- and this was downright adorable.) Can these people not hear themselves?
On the flip side, I just read in The New York Times about Rafael Nadal's postmatch press conference, where he was instantly asked about fatigue (he had one less day of rest than Novak in the final weekend) and whether or not Djokovic's injury timeout in the fourth set threw him off. Roger Federer should takes notes on this response:
“We are starting the press conference in a bad way, I think,” he said with a smile. “Let’s talk about the match. It’s not the right moment to find excuses if he stops the match or if I was tired. I fought until the last point. I tried my best in every moment.” He added, “But in general, I think he did great, no?”
*For those who think I'm a fair-weather fan, I'm not. I rooted for Roger 100 percent until he broke Pete Sampras' majors record. (I'm NOT a Sampras fan, although I wasn't an Agassi fan either.) Once Federer locked that one in, I started to be able to root for exceptional play in general -- I thought Juan Martin del Potro was incredible in the 2009 U.S. Open final -- and lately it just seems that Novak Djokovic is the player whose play is most exceptional.
8 comments:
I know you and I have differed a bit on this subject, but I totally agree with you. It seems like Roger has given less credit to his opponents as his winning record has diminished. But nothing can take away from his spectacular achievement or his skills when he's completely on.
I agree with you 100 percent when it comes to Federer. As talented as the man is, he's always been this way, IMO. Sadly, I feel Djokovic is quickly following in his footsteps. ..
There were times when I thought Fed was the only class act in tennis. Sadly, not anymore. He will still go down as one of the greatest to ever play the game, but I'll always remember his ungracious reaction to this loss.
I agree 100% on this one. Is Federer saying he wouldn't hit a clear return of serve winner if he had the option? "Maybe he grew up playing that way" - what, hitting winners???? Isn't that the point? The fact is that Federer hit a pretty weak serve on that match point and Djokovic took advantage of it. That's the game Roger.
Damn, I'm afraid you guys might be right ...
the other night I kept thinking ... he's exhausted, and I'm misunderstanding ...
my iffy rationale was that Roger was saying that, tactically speaking, Roger didn't understand - and he did look vexed in the interview - Nole taking the risk of sending back a quick slap shot on such an important point ... Roger just doesn't play that way.
In any event, I do say Roger's earned a few mulligans (to mix my sports metaphors,) so let's hope he snaps out of it and moves on to becoming a gracious elder statesman of tennis.
I was hoping Rafa would pull it out, but he had no answers for Djokovic. Glad to read that he didn't make any excuses for his loss.
That quote made absolutely no sense. Great players don't play the score. They play the ball. Grow up, Roger!
It's a hot topic and people try to defend him by saying that he was still feeling the effects of that loss and he couldn't wrap his head around it...whatever.
Here's what I find so amusing about it: he had 2 match points. It was a lucky strike, sure, but Nole's hard work made sure that Hail Mary's like that will have a 2% chance of going in. He could have still won but he let it unnerve him and lost the next few games. Lack of intestinal fortitude from someone considered to be a GOAT.
Also, the defense that what he said was in the heat of the moment. Dijanna Djokovic uttered many things overpraising her son and diminishing others but she gets roasted over what she says. Kinda unfair, when you look at it.
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