This article is from a fellow Federista-friend of mine, enjoy: Roger Federer is a thing that encompasses all the elements of aesthetic philosophy. Heis a rare alloy of beauty and elegance mixed well with perfection and consistency.You don’t have to be a student of tennis to feel the magic that Federer imparts on tennis court with his racquet. Even if someone is not a fan of Federer, he/she simply cannot reject the idea that he is the greatest of all time.His magical style of play is one of the many reasons that I consider him my hero. Some 9-10 years back, when I was not a great fanof tennis, I remember my father watching tennis on our 21-inch television screen. At those times I longed to watch cartoons for I had no sense of tennis rules, players or even the term ‘grand slam’. But due to my father’s love for tennis, I invariably fell short of asking him to switch to Cartoon Network, and sat there reluctantly watchingthe game I did not understand.But whenever I watched tennis, I always saw that one familiar face. That face was almost always calm as if indifferent to the game. Even if the point was won or lost, that face hardly had any lines of tension or jubilation on it. I was surprised as I never saw such a calm face in such turbulent of situations. I asked my father about the face. He said with an inflated chest, he is Roger Federer, the number one player in the world. That was the beginning of an intangible relation between me and the greatest of all time, Roger Federer. I wanted to be like him. I want to pose the calm face as his in the most struggling periods of my life. I used to give way to frustration when things were not going well for me. But Roger taught me to stay composed. To be honest, wearing that calmface helped me negotiate with troubles very often. Even today, now out of habit, I keep that calm face even when the storm ison the head.It was not just the God-like calm posture of his that brought about a remarkable change in my attitude, but it was also his consistency that moved me. When I look back to the time when cartoons mattered more than tennis players, I saw a distinct quality in Roger — consistency! No matter what court it was (blue, green, red) roger was there at least in the semi finals. He never lost before it. And there was a time, when Roger never lost before the finals. As a school going student, I never managed to get into top five of my class consistently. The idea of his remarkable consistency wasa great revelation for me. I never witnessed such consistency before — not even in my favorite sport, cricket. While I was practicing bearing the calm face, his consistency served yet another target for me. The target of being consistent.Today, however, I am great fan of tennis. I have learned in these years that blue stands for Australian open, red for RG, and green for Wimbledon. In these years I also understand the importance of Roger in tennisdom. He is great not simply because of his great records, but also for the way heplays and for his contributions to society through his fame and wealth.He is undoubtedly the most classic contemporary player. He is also very different from his fellow opponents. He believes in volleys, drop shots, and small rallies which is quite different style as compared to other players who believe in exhausting long rallies, base line attacks and massive forehands and backhands. The latter style is enough to bore you. There is no variety, but only one simple protocol—returnthe ball and wait for unforced errors. But when Federer takes the court, his style transforms the nature of game effortlessly. Magic ensues. Every possible tennis shot can be witnessed whenFederer is playing. His opponent too has to be geared up for the challenge. This is exactly the brilliance of Roger—he forces his opponents to come out of their comfortable cocoon and extracts the hidden magic from the most ordinary player.But Federer is not just the Greatest Of All Time, he is also a great person. Of late, the news of Federer’s meeting with a cancer survivor proves my claim. In India, he cameas a WHO ambassador to spread the knowledge of HIV and also met people wholived with the dreadful disease. In South Africa too his foundation is working to provide education to children.As a sportsman, he built a strong relationship with Rafa at a time when they were the fiercest of rivals on tennis court. His relationships with Hrbaty, Tsonga, Haas provide a good look into the heart of this true gentleman.I grew up watching his calm face and remarkable consistency and achievements.They helped me improve myself. Today, I respect him as a great sportsman and as a great person. He built my childhood. He is building my present. And he will build my future too. I am more than his fan. I am his disciple and He is my Hero.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Aug 2013 23:06:48 +0000
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