An 18th Major in sight for Federer
Roger Federer held firm against a furious fightback from fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka, edging his former apprentice 7-5 6-3 1-6 4-6 6-3 in a Melbourne Park classic to reach the final of the Australian Open on Thursday.
Respect. Authority. Roger Federer has it. As Stan Wawrinka walked past Federer before their Australian Open semifinal yesterday — wearing the same style of black socks halfway up his calves, his shoes not far off being the same colour as those of his countryman — he stole a quick glance at where Federer was already seated courtside, preparing for their game.
It was almost involuntary, a little twitch of the head to the right as he tried to maintain a stony focused look on the way to his seat. Wawrinka and Federer are close friends.
Well, save for that one time when Federer’s wife, Marika, heckled Wawrinka during the ATP finals in London in 2014, calling him a “cry baby”. They got over that little bump to win the Davis Cup as teammates.
“I remember giving Stan a lot of advice on how he should play certain guys,” Federer told The Guardian this week. “What I like with Stan is, if I would tell him something, I felt like he was able to do it. That showed me that he’s a great player, that he’s got the mind of somebody who understands what I’m trying to explain to him… Then the day came where he didn’t call me so much anymore.”
Wawrinka said he knew what to do these days, how to play Federer and how to beat him. Yesterday, Federer seemed fragile when he began. He smashed his first serve into the top of the net, his second swerved in and forced the error from Wawrinka. His second first serve was also out. The first time he got a first serve in, he lost the point. The second time, he won.
He was nervous. The commentators were nervous.
Winning more Slams meant more to him when we sat down for an interview at OR Tambo International in 2013.
The last time Federer had won a Grand Slam had been in 2012 at Wimbledon.
That year would mark the 10th anniversary of his first Slam win at Wimbledon in 2003. He was the same age as Wawrinka and the talk of retirement was thick in the air.
“Here I am, people talking about me retiring, and I’m like, ‘What are you talking about? Me retiring?’ I feel like I’m in the middle of my career even though I know that the average retirement age is, what, maybe 31, maybe 33, maybe 36. I don’t know what it is. But as long as I love playing, I’ll keep playing.”
His parents had met 6km away from where we were sitting at the Ciba chemical company in Spartan, Kempton Park. A Swiss man, Robert Federer, met English-speaking Afrikaner Lynette Durand.
Federer remembered his trips to SA to visit relatives, of playing on tennis courts in Kempton Park on the East Rand. I told him his mother had said on radio , South Africans should regard Federer as partSouth African.
“She said that?” he laughed. “As your mother once lived in the East Rand, I call you the ‘East Rand’s Roger Federer’. Is that okay?” I asked. He laughed: “You do? Okay, okay…” Yesterday, Sir Roger Federer of the East Rand, found a groove, lost it and then had to fight hard to find it again.
These past few weeks have seen a welcome return of that magnificent forehand, the simple purity of the singlehanded backhand and magical passing shots.
André Agassi put it best this week when he told the Herald Sun we should enjoy Federer while he is still around.
“Roger has gotten me to stop predicting anything, quite frankly,” Agassi said.
“Because I never in a million years would have thought that he could sort of look and be at the level you can see that he’s at [at 35].
“It is remarkable and he might do it for a number more years and he can win more Slams, not just one.”
Over three hours after he had taken that shy look at his friend, Wawrinka hugged Federer having pushed him as hard as he could, but lost. Respect. Authority. We will miss the East Rand’s Roger Federer when he is gone. That day has not come yet.