Rolland Garros

Will Federer be singing the blues?

by Paul Myers

Article published on the 2008-06-02 Latest update 2008-06-02 18:38 TU

Roger Federer at Roland Garros.
(Photo: Reuters)

When I woke up this morning – no, this isn’t a line from a blues song – I saw the rain falling and immediately thought about the repercussions this would have on the day’s schedule at Roland Garros.

I didn’t reflect that the unseasonal downpours might be incipient planetary disintegration due to global warming.

But would the showers delay the start of the last 16 matches on the showcourts at Roland Garros?

Roland Garros is so consuming my thoughts.

By 11 AM, the rain had stopped and the matches got underway. But the conditions were heavy. And the players with their customary fortitude dived into battle.

Roland Garros has been a river of woe for the world number one, Roger Federer. He’s been beaten twice in the finals and without Rafael Nadal on the scene he would doubtless have become only the sixth man in history after Don Budge, Fred Perry, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and Andre Agassi, to have won all four grand slams.

But before I get all too dull about this, the Australian and the US Opens were played on grass until relatively recently, so Agassi is the only one of the happy band to have triumphed on the different surfaces.

Whatever.

The point is Federer is trying to win at all four venues. At 26, time isn’t on his side, especially since the man who’s beaten him in the last two finals - Nadal - is barely 22. And now with 21-year-old Novak Djokovic knocking on the door, Federer had better get that win in there.

Things aren’t looking that good for the one who’s supposed to be the best ever.

The Roland Garros crown is all about legacy. Will we think any the less of Federer because he didn’t win Roland Garros? Will we overlook the five consecutive Wimbledon crowns from 2003 and say: “Yeah Roger, but…” Or the four consecutive US Opens from 2004 and utter: “Called the greatest? You cannot be serious!”

It’s easy to get sucked into the vortex of anxiety because we’re on the threshold of seeing grand history. Obviously it is history every time somebody wins, but this is bigger picture stuff: the chance to say ‘I was there when…’, a collective experience moment.

If Nadal wins again he’ll emulate the Swede Bjorn Borg. He won four straight Roland Garros titles between 1978 and 1981. The Spaniard will become the third man in the annals of the tournament to achieve such an accolade.

And the strange thing is, when all the discussions about spin and bounce and heavy balls is over and done with, not once have I ever heard a top player offer: “You know, the huge gush of cash makes my tills register.”

Maybe it’s vulgar to do so. But honestly no-one ever really talks about the whopping sums on offer for the winners and losers because it’s not an issue for them.

But at age 26, 22 or 21, and one million euros first prize is not a concern? I feel a blues song coming on.