Think of someone you love, whose love for you is such a given that you sometimes take them for granted.
Imagine that person far away, the hostage of a violent zealot. Imagine your loved one, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, forced to their knees. Imagine that person positioned before a high-definition camera in the desert. Imagine, dressed head to toe in black, the zealot crowding in the picture with a highly polished knife.
The zealot speaks to the camera, his hand on your loved one's shoulder, telling you there is no choice. He tells you that forces beyond all three of you have forced this moment. The zealot tells you that your loved one will die, and that, although he will slit your loved one's throat, he did not choose to.
Imagine the zealot puts the knife to the throat of your beloved and cuts through the skin, tears into the muscles, saws through the tendons, and hits bone. Imagine your loved one gurgling, blood urging out. That's how they die.
Federer fans usually remark on the beauty of his play. His game is one of finesse; his style, one of elegance. His endorsement deals reinforce this perception: while other players pitch soft drinks and tennis shoes, Federer stars in Rolex and Mercedes Benz commercials.
I have always cheered
for Roger Federer. I cheered for him when he was dominant with a number-one ranking. And I cheer for him now that he is tennis' best, oldest underdog.
After the ascension of Rafael Nadal (and then Novak Djokovic and then Andy Murray), Federer's recasting as an underdog gave me a new and convenient reason to cheer for him. But Federer has been a fan favorite most of his career. Why he has always been a fan favorite is not obvious to me; I am skeptical that style of play alone can earn a player such popularity.
Note:
(1) Federer's foil, nemesis, and antithesis is Rafael Nadal (known simply as Rafa). Nadal grinds you down like a stale routine. His game is hustle. Obsession. Compulsion. Nadal will get every ball back over the net, forcing his opponent to eventually lose the point by shanking the ball into the net or out of bounds. (Nadal's game is not without beauty.) In addition to his style of play, another ugly aspect of Nadal is that he is noticeably neurotic, pulling at his clothes and hair compulsively--this aspect is well documented.
(2) The French Open begins Sunday.
