By John Jeansonne
Marksmanship being a major part of the deal in elite international tennis, and Roger Federer having established himself a sharpshooter of rare accuracy and poise, we seem to be dealing with another Swiss legend along the lines of William Tell.
And the U.S. Open, which commences its annual two-week run today, is the latest opportunity to see Federer -- serving or returning, aiming a forehand or backhand -- perform the equivalent of knocking an apple off your head.
(Literally, this kind of thing has been tried in tennis. During a recent publicity shoot in Beverly Hills, according to the New York Times' Play magazine, Serena Williams removed a pineapple from atop a man's noggin with her serve. Though not on the first try.)
So Tell, the Swiss hero of 700 years ago who may or may not have been a real person, has his likeness on Swiss coins. But Federer, a mere 26 years old, is on a Swiss stamp.
"He's the first living Swiss to be put on a stamp, the one-Swiss franc stamp," said Rene Stauffer, author of "The Roger Federer Story; Quest for Perfection" that has just been released in the United States. The original working title for the biography, Stauffer said by telephone from Switzerland, was "Auf dem weg ur perfektion" -- "On the way to perfection."
"But that was too long," Stauffer said, so the German title became "Das Tennis-Genie" -- "The Tennis Genius." For the English version, marketers liked the word "quest," and Stauffer thought that fit, in the sense that Federer's tennis genius not only is ongoing, but in fact is remarkable for "always having new chapters. Like now, there is the rivalry with [Spain's Rafael] Nadal."
The Swiss public, Stauffer said, can't get enough of this national adventure. "Federer is regarded as an ambassador because he is one," Stauffer said. "Everybody knows the aura he has, how much he does besides sports, but the Swiss do tend to forget it's absolutely not normal the way he's winning all these tournaments. They've gotten used to it and maybe don't appreciate it as they should. Maybe it's his fault, because he's winning too much."
This year's tournament offers Federer the possibility of a fourth consecutive U.S. Open title, a streak of dominance no man has achieved since Bill Tilden won six straight from 1920 to 1925. Federer's current run of five consecutive Wimbledon championships is even more overwhelming and he has taken the past two Australian Opens after winning his first in 2004.
The last time Federer lost a match at Flushing Meadows was in the fourth round of the 2003 Open, to Argentina's David Nalbandian, a familiar rival from the two players' rise through the junior ranks. Since first ascending to the world's No. 1 ranking shortly thereafter, on Feb. 2, 2004, Federer has retained the top spot for 181 straight weeks, a stunning record already 21 weeks past Jimmy Connors' previous mark.
Federer always operates with such an unnerving nonchalance, methodically mowing down the best practitioners in the sport -- and so calmy discussing matters in four languages -- that regular patrons of the Open surely would be shocked to read Stauffer's description of a young Federer as "a hot-head" on the court.
In his book, Stauffer wrote of his first glimpse of Federer, at 15, during a quiet junior tournament in his native Switzerland, on Sept. 11, 1996. "On this September afternoon, his temper exploded at the smallest mistakes. On several occasions, he threw his racquet across the court in anger and disgust. He constantly berated himself. 'Duubel!' Or 'Idiot!'"
But Stauffer said by phone that Federer quickly came to the conclusion that failing to control his emotions hurt his tennis, "and he had too much respect for the game and the spectators; that's why, at the big tournaments, he tried to control his temper. He was too ashamed to let himself go at the big tournaments."
By the time the larger world was watching, Federer had gone from being temperamental to simply being an artist, channeling his intensity as few recent tennis stars have.
And, with unsettling swiftness, Federer now is only three major tournament titles short of Pete Sampras' career record of 14. Das Tennis-Genie, indeed.
As for William Tell: His legend seems to have been a Roger Federer overture.
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