Being a Federer fan is exhilarating. When you see him lifting his trophies, celebrating that myriad of victories, you celebrate with him. It is almost ecstatic, almost Dionysian - and it is wonderful.
But when he loses, his heart breaks. And yours breaks right along with it.
Maybe it's because Roger loves the game of tennis so much, particularly at Wimbledon, that his losses are so heartbreaking. He is steeped in the tradition of the game, of the place, of everything. He places weight on symbols, on symbols like these tournament. And when he loses...
...oh God, I'm crying.
Let me try to be rational here. Tomas Berdych played a wonderful match. He was, in all honesty, the better player, and he deserved to win. And Roger did not play particularly well, especially in the final two sets - but that does not negate the fact that Berdych played brilliant, brilliant tennis. He's made consecutive semis of Slams now and might finally, at long last, be making good on his talent. He is obviously one of the most talented players in the game and it's wonderful that he's finally 'actualising his potential', to use a stupid catchphrase.
But for me, at this moment, I can't laud Berdych, much as his performance was great. My heart is breaking for Roger, because I know his heart is breaking. I know he's won six Wimbledons, sixteen Slams, and he could retire now and still be the greatest player ever.
But the fact remains that he still wants it. And because he wants it, knows he can achieve it, and hasn't... he's disappointed in himself and that makes me sad. This means so much to him - and this time, it is destiny denied.
Afterthoughts (a.k.a therapy)
5 years ago
Posts
2 comments:
Hey Jodi. Sorry for the loss!
There's so, so much tennis left in Federer it's not even funny, I feel. Who knows? The U.S. Open can be a romp for him.
Hey Jodi. I am too depressed to even comment properly. I deleted so many bloggers and twitter people from my account that I thought I had done the same thing to you.
It has been a rough couple of days. This has been without a doubt the worst Wimbledon ever for me. The 2 people that I was rooting for did not make it to the weekend. Venus and Roger. There is just something almost magical in seeing both of them going to the dance together that it just became something that I looked forward to every year.
I love Wimbledon. It is without a doubt my favourite tournament, but the slowing down of the courts and the string technology is destroying tennis.
Have you seen the way these men hit the ball these days. And the women. At this year's FO, I was just shocked to see the amount of spin that both the men and women were generating. When you see players hitting people like Serena, Venus, Federer off the court it makes you wonder when will the ITF step in and start to regulate the technology in use in the sport.
Anyway, hope you are feeling better and can deal with this soon. I am still in the first stage of grief.
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