AIG Japan Open
Roger Federer looks to continue his amazing race to the top

Photos courtesy of Promoseven Sports

We often expect our heroes to be larger than life. and In the sporting world, we expect the so-called legends of the game to be a little on the wild side. Think Diego Maradona, George Best, Ty Cobb, Muhammad Ali—even Asashoryu. But the stars of the tennis world (and the golf world, for that matter) are often bland by comparison. That’s not to say tennis hasn’t had its share of the wild and whacky. Think John McEnroe, Ilie Nastase and Shuzo Matsuoka.

OK, I’m kidding about Matsuoka; he makes Roger Federer look like Ozzy Osbourne. It’s probably not a problem for the bland boy of Japanese tennis, as he earns stacks of money making bland comments on bland TV programs, but some people would like Federer to be… well, more overtly superstar-ish. It seems that being way, way better than anyone else on the planet doesn’t cut it any more. Pete Sampras had the same problem.

On September 8, Federer picked up his 12th Grand Slam singles title when he defeated rising Serbian star Novak Djokovic 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 in New York. Doesn’t sound like a lot? At age 26, Federer is already just two titles away from Sampras’ Grand Slam record of 14. Vegas bookies are no longer taking bets on whether Federer will break Sampras’ record; now, it’s just a question of how many he’ll end up with. Twenty is not out of his reach. Considering tennis’ long history, to break the record by six titles would be astonishing.

One report suggested that Federer is riding his own wave of indestructibility; that he wins because he knows how to win because he always wins. In the US Open final, Djokovic—a great talent himself at 20—had seven set points against the world No. 1 (where he has stayed for nearly 200 weeks) but was unable to convert on any of them. Federer just has a deeper well of resourcefulness than any other player. Think of him like this: anyone can occasionally hit a great golf shot, but how many golfers can string together 70 in a row?

World No.1 Roger Federer in action at the Dubai Tennis Championships

When you’re at the top, it’s not so much about skill as mental strength. Federer hit some less-than-inspired shots in his semifinal and final matches in New York, but they were crap plays he could afford to make. Federer is not the tallest player out there, he doesn’t have the best serve, and he doesn’t always play the best shots. But his mind is so strong that he can push his game to a fractionally higher level that no one can touch. Sampras often talked about being “in the zone,” and when you saw him play, you understood what he meant. Sampras also played rubbish shots from time to time, but he would always recover.

Federer doesn’t need to shout like McEnroe or Nastase to raise his game. Those two brilliant tennis stars felt the need to externalize what they were feeling to get their games going. Sampras and Federer just feed all that mental energy internally.

You can’t see the wheels turning until they hit that winner for the gods. Then you know.

AIG Japan Open. Oct 1-7. Ariake Colosseum. www.aigopen.jp/07/index.en.shtml