Celebrating and crying with Roger Federer in his journey to the top – a fan view

Celebrating and crying with Roger Federer in his journey to the top – a fan view

When does a sportsperson become such an integral part of your life that one’s happiness, sadness, angst and ecstasy become one with theirs? As Roger Federer reached the pinnacle of world tennis once again at the age of 36.5 years, beating the record previously held by Serena Williams, many thoughts crossed the mind, as I cried tears of joy along with him, the same way I, along with his legions of fans had cried with him in Melbourne barely 2 weeks back.  Federer reached the top this week 14 years after he had done so for the first time. All those who were in the top 10 at that time have long since retired, some are now coaching Federer’s rivals (Moya coaching Nadal). And the last time he was at No 1 was in July 2012, soon after he had won Wimbledon for his 17^th slam, his last one before the incredible run that begun in January 2017. In between were the horror years – the loss to Sergei Stakhovsky at Wimbledon 2^nd round in 2013, those losses to Djokovic in the Wimbledon finals of 2014 and 2015 and the match that Federer has often talked about – when he was the clear favourite in the US Open semis after all other members of the Big 4 had lost, and Marin Cilic blew him off the court. And it all came to a head in 2016 – first through a freak knee injury giving his daughters a bath after yet another loss to Djokovic in the Australian Open semis and then perhaps the image that most Federer fans thought might be their last image of their favourite player – sprawled across the court in his second home at Wimbledon, gingerly lifting and testing his recently operated knee while a Raonic winner flew by. It seemed that the changing of the guard was finally taking place at the same venue, 14 years after the same Roger Federer had blown Pete Sampras off the court in what was to be Sampras’ last match on his beloved Centre Court, which Federer had owned since then. Was Raonic to be to Federer what he had been to Sampras all those years back?

All Federer fans reconciled themselves to almost never seeing their favourite player in motion in the same form ever again. The inside out forehand, the sliced backhand, those exquisite smashes and drop shots that only he could conjure, seemingly out of nowhere – were we never to see them again? The withdrawal from Rio, which he had been looking forward to so much, hurt his fans almost as much as it hurt him. He called his season to an end – something that almost became a trend in 2017. What could we look forward to, if anything? Was this to be the end? Fans asked themselves – who next? If our man doesn’t come back, who do we support? Dimitrov? Sasha Zverev? But then the next moment, even thinking such a thought felt like a betrayal. Were we ditching our man when he needed our support the most? Hadn’t he moved us to adulation and ecstasy through his game when we were at the depths of depression? And now we were already looking elsewhere. Most Federer fans went through the remainder of 2016 in this mode. The Rio Olympics came and went, the US Open came and went, as did the indoor hardcourt season and the tour finals in London. Everywhere commentators noted Federer’s absence, the same discussions took place – Would he be back? Would he be the same? He was 35 years old, not 25 years old. And the fans kept getting into further depression.

The man himself of course never paid any heed to all these discussions. He quietly went about his rehab and announced that he would be returning to competition at the start of 2017 in the Hopman Cup. There was a possibility of fans seeing him back earlier, for IPTL, but demonetisation and cash crunch ensured that didn’t happen. Meanwhile, a televised youtube practice session and a commendable performance at the Hopman Cup later, Federer arrived in Melbourne, a lowly 17^th seed. And the rest is history. After the dream final in Melbourne, defeating Nadal at a Slam final for the first time in a decade (and 3 more times during the year), a record 8^th Wimbledon title and 5 losses in the year, it was a renaissance that the fans had perhaps not even dreamt off in their wildest of possibilities! The fear, the anxieties kept rearing their head though – hope he keeps playing, hope he keeps winning and most importantly, hope he keeps healthy!

As 2018 came along, the tennis scene had changed. Djokovic, Murray, Wawrinka, Nadal, Raonic were all in different stages of injury. Murray, Djokovic and Wawrinka had not lifted a racket competitively since Wimbledon, following the Federer formula from a year back. Nadal in his quest for year end No 1 had put more demand on his injury plagued body than needed. When Melbourne came around, it was clear to all that these players were nowhere close to the level where Federer had been a year back. In fact, Murray didn’t even make it to the court, Wawrinka lasted 1 round and Novak 3. Experts had been hoping that there would be a 2017 redux and someone like Djokovic would come roaring back to claim a 7^th title. After all, he was the 17^th seed just as Federer had been the previous year. Article after article, podcast after podcast, discussion after discussion put Nadal and Djokovic as favourites, although there were many who couldn’t see beyond Federer. By the quarter finals all of them had been swept aside and by the second Sunday, there stood Federer holding aloft an incredible 20^th Grand Slam title, a 3^rd slam among the last 4 played and perhaps more significantly, successfully defending a Slam title for the first time in nearly a decade! (since US Open 2008!). And this week, barely 2 weeks later, there he is, World No 1. No matter what happens from here on, Federer fans know that their ultimate dream has been realised. The icing on the cake can only be a century of titles, -maybe at Wimbledon 2018? Let’s say Cheers to that!

MADHUMITA CHAKRABORTY