Final frontier conquered for the master; and the clay has an Indian fragrance to it...

Roger Federer wouldn't have dreamt of such a script even when he was at his peak form during 2004-07, winning title left,right and center, with of course one common aberration. However, that is not to say that he is past his prime now, but his form definitely is not the flawless one he displayed in those three historic years. But such an anti-climactic final would not have been prayed for by even Federer, let alone his fans. Soderling might have been just overawed by the occasion, and Federer was just not going to let this opportunity go past. Whatever be the reason, the neutral tennis fans and millions of viewers around the world would definitely be disappointed by the lopsided match they got to witness. To be honest, Federer played three or four gears higher in the preceding finals, barring 2008; but he still lost to the Mallorca "freak", as Andre Agassi memorably referred to Nadal as. That just tells you about the ability of Rafael Nadal. But this is certainly not to demean Federer's feat by any means. His place in the pantheon of great players is already established. As Soderling said at the post-presentation ceremony, Roger Federer is indeed the greatest player of all time. Old timers might reminisce dreamy-eyed about Rod Lever and other pre-open era greats, but the reality remains that nobody, absolutely nobody has ever dominated the era of modern tennis like the Swiss maestro has done. In fact, one thing which got buried under the French Open and Nadal-Federer rivalry hoopla, is that Roger is the only man in the open era to win five consecutive US Open titles, a feat unmatched by any one, and even Nadal would need at least five years to emulate it, given that he starts winning it immediately. But even Federer would not even think of putting his feet up and rest on his laurels, until he beats Nadal in his present form in a grand slam final, which he has been unable to do in the last three opportunities. Otherwise it would lead purists to scoff at the very fact that he could not beat his immediate adversary in the latter's prime form. And the perfectionist that Federer is, he definitely would not want people to remind him that. To add to the build-up, contemporaries have still tipped Nadal to defend his Wimbledon title. Would Federer need a better incentive to stamp his authority on the modern era?
This piece on Grand Slam Tennis' greatest player would be incomplete without mentioning the greatest player in Indian tennis history. Whenever Leander Paes puts on his tennis shoes and arrives in the court, he has the Indian tricolour etched on his heart, and in his eyes, be it in a Grand Slam or in the Davis Cup world stage. The French Open Mens Doubles Win with Lukáš Dlouhý of the Czech Republic was his tenth Grand Slam Victory. He has completed the tennis Grand Slam, which is no mean feat, ask Roger Federer. The fact they have all come in doubles and mixed doubles events does not derogate the feat, rather it glorifies it even further, as it simply shows his level of adaptability with different players on different surfaces. Along with Mahesh Bhupathi, he is easily Asia's finest doubles player, and certainly one of the World's best. However, he saves his best for the Davis Cup stage, scripting memorable, jaw-dropping victories over some of World's Finest singles players. By his own admission, nothing motivates him more than playing for his country's pride, and his stirring displays only underline that fact. If only the Indian media had given him more deserved coverage and limelight. Its a pity that Roger Federer's grand slam win makes it to the front pages, and our very own 'Lee' gets his space only in the back page, in some of India's leading newspapers, and 2 minutes of airspace in the high-profile news channels. No wonder our trade deficit is so high, given the fact that we tend to worship 'imported' heroes, and leave our very own legends to languish in the darkness of media ignorance.
However, that will not prevent Lee and 'Hesh from doing what they do best, shine for the country, and put India on the global tennis map. There will be a huge void left in Indian tennis after they retire because there is a lack of depth in the talent pool of budding tennis players in the country. Which should compel us to treasure their achievements and value them all the more; coz just as there is not going to be another Roger Federer in the foreseeable future, similarly there is never going to be another Leander Paes and an alternative to Mahesh Bhupathi, in the very long future. We should just be grateful that we breathed in the era of such legends and of such immortal sportsmen.

Could this be Roger's honeymoon in Paris, finally?

This has been a strange year for Roger Federer, by his standards, to say the least, and by the expectations of his millions of fans. It began with yet another defeat at the hands of his arch-nemesis, Rafael Nadal. For the last four years running, Fedex has slowly, and by his own admission, painfully, started to come to terms with the outcome inevitable with a match against the Spanish one-man Armada. The battlefields kept relocating, the texture of the courts kept changing their colour, but the results never varied, with the odd reversals here and there. The Spanish juggernaut just kept rolling, expanding his empire beyond the clay kingdom of Rolland Garros, to finally stamping his authority on the Centre Court of the holy grail of tennis, Wimbledon; a result that must have put a dagger through Federer's heart. It was his backyard after all, a place where he could win day-in & day-out, sleepwalk through matches without maybe even dropping a set, perhaps even blindfolded. But in Wimbledon 2008, Nadal changed all that perception, and hit Federer where it hurt the most, in his mental framework. Federer now almost has a mental block whenever he gets down to face Nadal. What else could be the possible explanation behind the string of defeats in various courts and tournaments all over the world, including the recent Australian Open, which caused the ice-man of tennis to break down at the presentation ceremony? To add to it, he also lost to all sorts of random players in the run-up to the French Open. So much so that, his victory at the Madrid Open Final against his nemesis did not cause as much jubilation as surprise amongst the fraternity.
Which brings one to the clay court of Paris, where Nadal has ruled over the last four years, annihilating Federer in the most recent final last year. But the clay-court wizard was nowhere near his best against Robin Soderling, an also-ran in the tournaments till now, but now a national hero in his home country Sweden. The outcome propelled the clay court legend and Soderling's compatriot, Bjorn Borg to claim that he could even win the French Open this time round. One wouldn't have the audacity to call that high hopes, but would Federer let the opportunity, which destiny gift-wrapped and home-delivered to his doorstep, go past him? The fourth round match against Tommy Haas, and the semi-final against the gifted Argentine Del Potro, seem to indicate some thing else. Roger repeatedly came back from the brink in those two matches, and the final set in the semi-final brought back memories of that ruthless streak that we all have come to love over the years. Otherwise, it has more-or-less been a patchy tournament for the master. But perhaps, Federer realizes more than anybody else on this planet, that this is the moment for him to seize, which could propel him to all-time greatness, although he is one already. But winning this elusive French Open would help him attain the Tennis Grand Slam, draw himself level to Sampras' booty of 14 slams, and elevate him over the US tennis machine, as Sampras never went past the fourth round of the French, let alone win it.
Could Roger Federer bury his clay-court demons in the Philippe Chatrier Court this time round? Or would the demons devour him once again, this time in the form of a Swede, rather than a Spanish? We're keeping our fingers crossed.