ATP: The artist as a fighter: The often underestimated side of Roger Federer

Many Federer fans have recently missed their hero’s gala appearances, but the Swiss currently shows his other great strength. A comment by Florian Goosmann.

Roger Federer won his home tournament in Basel for the ninth time on Sunday and celebrated his 99th title on the Tour – another milestone of a great career with a lot of glamour and glamour.

Although: The Maestro didn’t spray that much shine in the end. The last half year, after the victory in Rotterdam and the record as the oldest number 1 in the world, was so lala for Federer. Federer left too much behind: two match points in the Indian Wells final against Juan Martin del Potro, one match point in the Wimbledon quarter-finals against Kevin Anderson and too much sweat against John Millman at the US Open. Especially the forehand jerked, which Federer attributed to an injury in the lawn preparation.

The crazy thing: Many tennis enthusiasts have little to gain from their hero’s recent appearances. Also around his victory in Basel with the up and down matches against Filip Krajinovic and Gilles Simon, there was more of a “There he was so rummaged through” instead of the Federer-typical “What a gala appearance of the Maestro”.

One reason for this, of course, is the concern that Federer may have exceeded his (age) limit; these are concerns that his fans have had for about ten years and that Federer is constantly refuting.

However, Federer’s “rumble performances” can also be viewed positively: Because Federer shows his other side in combat matches, that of the often grumpy tennis worker (“Grumpy Fed”), which should not be underestimated in his case either. According to the old tennis rule: “Winning when you play well is easy. But good tennis players also find a way to win when they play badly.”

Federer can also serve as a role model for the club player in this respect. Many recreational players give away too many matches by trying to win by hook or by crook with “nice” tennis – even on days when combat tennis is the order of the day because the forehand drive flies into the net or the first serve hooks. Whoever wins his matches on such occasions anyway, because he reaches for game B and fights and thugs, is ahead of the gala player by worlds. And when he unpacks the Tweener on a good day, all the better.

To get back to Federer: He could have just said goodbye in (for him) bad matches, marched back onto the training court and only reappeared when everything was running smoothly again – especially since the usual mass of match practice is negligible for him. But Federer is at least as great a fighter as Künstler, who accepts the challenge even in playfully weak phases. And he knows that even the best training session is no substitute for a match won. No matter how you finally decide for yourself.