Morgan Mehring, Contributing Illustrator
When Roger Federer’s game is discussed, it is often with language like “beauty” and “grace.” His elegance is often referenced, his smoothness lauded continually. Lines are just starting to appear on the face of the Swiss legend, though he still moves as if he’s 25. Some have described watching him play as a “religious experience,” and others have called him “the greatest tennis player of all time.” Yet, this past Sunday, he looked ugly.
It was bizarre to see. Federer, whether he was wiping the floor with the Lleyton Hewitt of the world or staging five-act Greek tragedies with Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, has always worn a face that was the picture of calm. Even at his most frustrated, all that was detectable was the slightest of frowns. Then, in this defeat at the hands of Novak Djokovic, we saw him look ugly. We’ve been trained to ascribe him with grace for so long that his looks of disgust were as shocking as they were odd. Who was this man? Was this Roger Federer, winner of 17 major championships?
Djokovic can do that to people. Though this past match brought the cumulative record to an even 21-21, Federer hasn’t beaten Djokovic in a major since a victory in the Wimbledon semis in 2012. He’s never beaten him in a match that’s gone five sets. The stretchy-limbed Serbian is certainly on his way to challenging Feds’ claim to the throne, as soon as he can transcend this down period for Rafael Nadal. Djokovic was always a more even match for Federer, anyway; though Federer is universally considered to be better than Nadal, the Spaniard sports a career record of 23-10 in their matchups.
And what a match it was, by the way. Though a four set match leaves the feeling of something unattained, it’s practically art when two players of their caliber step onto the court. Federer’s forehand was spraying left and right, but his swooping backhand and still-sizzling serve kept him in a match in which Djokovic’s acclaimed defense was on full display. In the end, though, Djokovic’s conditioning seemed to have left him in better shape, and his quick response to the life Federer showed towards the end of the fourth was something to behold.
In the end, this story is bigger than the match, because these two rise above one match. Their greatness entails that their stories are the stories of years of matches. The stories of Federer, Djokovic and Nadal are irreversibly wound up in each other; it’s impossible to talk about one without mentioning the other two. Yes, Roger looked ugly on Sunday, but, damn him, even his ugliness looked good.
Bernstein is a member of the class of 2018.
