Writer genius pays homage to tennis genius: How Federer’s art triumphs over violence

It is actually astonishing that Roger Federer appears so rarely in the feature sections. After all, what this person has been doing on the tennis court for more than 20 years is nothing more than art. No player has ever made the fastest shots look so easy, no one swings the club more elegantly, no one moves more smoothly.

German-English edition of the essay

The writer David Foster Wallace, who died in 2008 and was on the verge of a career as a tennis player, put this into words early on and, after an interview in 2006, dedicated an essayistic homage to Federer, which now, in winter, is the career of the 20-time player Grand Slam winner Federer, has been published in a bilingual edition by Kiepenheuer & Witsch. If you like tennis, or Roger Federer, or well-written sports stories, read this book for a profit.

Federer is a classic athletic hero

Sport has always lived on the hero myth – which journalists fuel with their stories. The sports section of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” is known for its columnist approach, and the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger” has repeatedly explored the boundaries between sports and sports culture reporting. Tragic heroines like the swimmer Franziska van Almsick, who, despite her elegance and strength, never became an Olympic champion, or all-too-human heroes like Jan Ullrich, who usually competed in vain against the obsessed antihero Lance Armstrong and steered into deep trenches away from the road, are well suited for creating myths. But the best heroes for increasing the social significance of sport are athletes who give their sport a previously unknown aesthetic. The gymnast Nadia Comăneci will remain the greatest athlete in her field for many fans, despite Simone Biles, who has been decorated with far more medals, because she danced with grandeur over the floor and balance beam – as unique as the small, slightly stocky Diego Maradona with the ball danced.

Triumph against violence and aggressiveness

For tennis, the place deserves the unrivaled genius Roger Federer. Novak Djokovic, who recently failed in the final of the US Open to win the Grand Slam and thus the four largest tournaments within one year, stands for a grotesque level of perfection. Rafael Nadal, who like Federer and Djokovic has won 20 Grand Slam tournaments so far, has athletically driven the game into new spheres. A genius, Foster Wallace noted 15 years ago, is only Federer, who has shown again and again how “beauty can bring aggressiveness and brute force to its knees”. Comparable – perhaps – only with the prancing Muhammad Ali, who was seldom superior to his opponents in strength, but always in spirit and creativity.

Federer never had Nadal’s muscle mountains, he never saw the game as a computer program like Djokovic. His immense repertoire of strokes is joined by “his intelligence, his magical foresight, his feel for the ball, his ability to see through and manipulate opponents, to vary spin and speed, to deceive and camouflage, tactical foresight, peripheral vision and kinesthetic abilities” writes Foster Wallace.

Federer looks like a linnet against Nadal or the huge new tennis stars like Alexander Zverev or Daniiel Medvedev (who just won the US Open against Djokovic). These super-fit great talents, who have been drilled since early childhood, can only be tackled with a rare mixture of feeling for the ball, body control, reflexes, ability to concentrate and technique, which should be accompanied by an equally stoic and shrewd player nature. Federer embodies all of this.

He plays how many would like to live

Genius, that means playing the way the fans would like to live. Athletic heroes are projection figures with every movement they make. Federer’s movements and punches look light and easy, almost weightless. They are difficult to predict and vary. This player almost always exudes calm and confidence, trust in his body and his intuition. He takes mistakes calmly, after (rare) defeats he sincerely congratulates the winner. The former world number one is also a role model beyond the sports field. Excuses for defeat are alien to him.

Unlike Djokovic or the manically ambitious Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who publicly criticized the vaccination against Corona, Federer emphasized his concern and the importance of protecting others. If he did not share the science of the pandemic, he would be silent.
If he gets into difficult situations on the pitch, he prefers to free himself with artful strokes like the backward tweener, which he masters better than anyone. He is far more happy about a successful blow from the defensive than about an ace or a tough forehand.

His game was a beautiful river for years

Roger Federer managed to get into the game more often than almost anyone else, to be completely with himself. Tennis players speak of being “in the tunnel”, endurance athletes of “flow”. For years, Federer’s game was a single river to be watched and marveled at its beauty, naturalness and consistency.

Next to the square, the “maestro”, as fans call him, is down-to-earth, cautious, relativizing the importance of sport – knowing that sport has become one of the richest people in his rich country and extremely influential in society. This is why Federer is called a “gentleman” – and smiles calmly at this ascription.
Now the hero is getting on in years. He turned 40 in August, and his body, which had been spared from major injuries for a long time, shows clear signs of wear and tear. In the summer he lost in Wimbledon, the tournament that he won eight times, in the quarter-finals against the very good professional Hubert Hurkacz and had seldom had a chance. A few weeks ago he announced that he would have to undergo another operation. He knows that it is difficult to return to the tennis tour and be successful. He remains confident no matter what life is up to him.

Similar to Steffi Graf, who resigned without causing a stir and from then on enjoyed her private life, one can imagine a quiet retreat from tennis with Roger Federer. He won’t do another year in which he lets himself be beaten by super-fit giants who are inferior to him in terms of talent. This will further fuel his myth as the greatest hero of his sport. Regardless of whether one day Djokovic or Nadal will have won more Grand Slam tournaments than him.

Its myth will grow

David Foster Wallace, a genius of the writing guild, knew in the early summer of Federer’s career that this was a player who was making tennis an art. That this art can be stronger than any violence. And the best thing is when art triumphs over violence. Federer himself believes that violence – in the form of very tall, very athletic players – will soon dominate men’s tennis. Which will enlarge his hero myth.

David Foster Wallace: Roger Federer, A Tribute. Bilingual edition, Kiwi, 2021

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