Roger Federer fulfils grand ambition to take his place at game's summit

By Neil Harman, Tennis Correspondent, Paris
From The Times of London
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/
June 8, 2009

Nothing, not a courageous but ultimately ill-matched Swede, not a crackpot interloper, not those chanting “Vamos Rafa”, not infuriating bouts of drizzle, not the seizures of self-doubt that he would have been inhuman not to feel, was able to prevent Roger Federer joining the Légion d’honneur of men’s tennis yesterday. The best of the best prevailed and how we marvelled at him.

Roger Federer returns a ball to Robin Soderling during their French Open tennis men's final match on June 7, 2009 at Roland Garros Stadium in Paris.(LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images)

Within five minutes of Federer’s 6-1, 7-6, 6-4 victory over Robin Söderling, it began to rain so hard that had they still been out there jousting, a halt would have been called.

The mind went back to last year’s Wimbledon denouement, when Federer got into a huff about the light and it cost him dear, possibly the title itself to Rafael Nadal. If those two are able to contest the same match again in a month — Nadal has a series of tests on his knee today and tomorrow to determine his fitness — it will be the play-off for Federer’s fifteenth grand-slam title.

That the record-equalling fourteenth should come at Roland Garros, a place where excellence as a player was never enough, serves only to enhance Federer’s mystique. Of course, all those he may have expected to play in the later stages were stripped from his path — the highest-ranked player he met was No 5 — but that made the sensation of his becoming the sixth man in history to win all four of the grand-slam championships all the more vivid.

As did the fact that he had to deal with a moment so hideous that it should provoke a big rethink about security. In the fourth game of the second set, at 15-15, a man leapt on to the court and confronted Federer, taunting him, waving a Barcelona football flag and trying to place the red hat he had been wearing on Federer’s head. The Swiss, defenceless bar his racket, initially cowered and had to wait more than ten seconds before the black-shirted heavies rushed on.

Pascal Maria, the umpire, was down from his chair quicker than the security moved in, which is shameful.

For the next three points, Federer was all at sea, it could have done irreparable harm to his prospects. Then, slowly, he rediscovered the elements of his game, which meant that however close Söderling felt he was to establishing a foothold in his first grand-slam final — he had never been past the third round before — he was never really a serious threat.

The Swede’s best chance was to keep the rallies as short as possible, three or four shots at most, and then go for broke with the groundstrokes that had trapped Nadal. That might have been possible had Federer not returned serve as well as he ever has, not been untouchable on the slice, not used the drop shot so cleverly and not served so well at critical moments.

Four of the seven points he needed to win the second set tie-break, from which there was no coming back, were aces. Clutch points to which he found clutch shots — it is the personification of this giant of a player.

PARIS - JUNE 07: (L to R) Roger Federer of Switzerland, Andre Agassi, Jean Gachassin President of the FFT and Robin Soderling of Sweden pose following the Men's Singles Final match on day fifteen of the French Open at Roland Garros on June 7, 2009 in Paris, France. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

There was one potentially nervous moment when he served for the match and, at 30-30, decided to move up the court and attempt to put away a chest-high volley. The ball smacked into the clay five yards beyond the baseline. A break point, could

Söderling possibly use it to his advantage? The ensuing rally was tight, the shots stressful, but Söderling mis-timed first and the ball shot into the sky from his frame. The job was almost done.

At its close, as a forehand by Söderling bobbled into the net, Federer fell to his knees, rose and returned to rest on his haunches, as if he might have been going to be sick. No, he was simply drinking in the moment, letting the emotion wash through his body, that here, on his eleventh visit to the French Open, he had finally prevailed.

This was the first time he had had to play two five-setters to reach a grand slam final. He eked the tension out, there were tortuous matches against José Acasuso, Paul-Henri Mathieu and, especially, Tommy Haas, to whom he was two sets, 4-3 and break point down. He preyed on our nerves and his own. Ultimately his were the stronger.

His record of endurance is astonishing. This was his 38th successive such event and he equalled Pete Sampras’s record in his fortieth overall, whereas the American required 52. There is no doubt now who is the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time). Debate over.

Remarkably, a fortnight ago, the fascination centred on whether Nadal, chasing his fifth successive title on this famed red clay, could possibly complete the calendar grand slam of all four in a year.

It has come to an end with talk of how many Federer can win before it becomes a bit blasé. Wimbledon? He is the overwhelming favourite for sure, the more so if Nadal does not play. The US Open? He has won the last five in New York. Six? Pah. That would be 16 in total, rendering argument as to his place in history fatuous.

Söderling clambered up the rostrum to receive his runner’s-up prize and talked of being given a lesson in how to play tennis. Federer came up, patting the head of the ball girl who had held his hand to its steps, hugged Andre Agassi, whose grand slam on all four surfaces he had matched a decade on and raised the Coupe des Mousquetaires as if he had been handed a bag of feathers. In his giddy state yesterday, he could have lifted an anvil with one hand.