Down Goes Federer Except Not

I’ve seen Michael Jordan pass a ball to John Paxson and Steve Kerr to win championships. I’ve also been witness to him draining a shot with 6.6 seconds left on the clock to douse any Jazz hope of a world championship. I’ve been party to watching Tom Brady operate in the 2008th year of our lord and I’ve seen each of his last minute drives to win Super Bowls. I’ve watched Tiger Woods go through stretches of near-invincibility on a golf course and I’m aware that Edwin Moses won about a million straight races, but I don’t know if I’ve ever been more aware of watching greatness than I was tonight while watching Roger Federer scrape and claw and wretch and scream his way through five tense sets before finally getting a key break in the fifth to oust some dude name Janko HJFKDJklfajkfs. You see, so often we overlook what true greatness is. We all understand that Jordan and Brady, Woods and Federer are the best there may ever be at their respective sports. We forget that they have to fight to win. I mean, they ‘re the best for a reason, you know. But sometimes, it’s important to rememeber that greatness is not defined by the amount of wins rather it is defined by how one wins.

Tim Floyd, the basketball coach at USC, says he loves basketball because when you watch basketball there is “nowhere to hide.” In football and baseball, a person can hide their emotions behind a helmet or under a hat, but in basketball they’re right there upfront and center. They’re on display for all to see. He said he loved it because you could really see what a person was made of. Did that player wilt under pressure? Well, the answer is written on their face; all you’d have to do is look.

Now, I understand that tennis is not all that popular in the U.S. It’s a given. We’re beholden to football, baseball and basketball. But it’s sad because that means most Americans didn’t care enough to look behind the veil tonight at Roger Federer. Andre Agassi once said he loved tennis because, “tennis is the only sport besides boxing where what you do as a player DIRECTLY influences what your opponent must do.” He went on to say, “and because I can’t take a punch.” But the gist is absolutely right. In every team sport, if you fail, there is someone to back you up, but in an individual endeavor there is no one else. You’re on an island. You can’t hide your emotions from the spectator because they’re upfront and center for all to see, and tonight that was not a bad thing.

Roger Federer was not perfect tonight. He missed more forehands in one match than I think I watched him miss in the last year combined. He looked mortal tonight. But that’s the thing about individual sports. It’s what makes them so cool. Watching Roger Federer at 2 in the morning on the West Coast, I’m reminded that greatness is not perfection rather it is overcoming imperfection.