With Roger’s big win(s) in Cincinnati this weekend, it’s getting crowded on the Federer Express. Next stop, US Open. Here are some choice quotes:
Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated sums it up:
Was it really about three months ago that the Fed Express appeared to be sputtering, as the eponym was lacking a single title in 2009, losing to lesser lights and resisting calls to hire a coach, change rackets, consult a psychic and go macrobiotic? . . .Now, he’s poised to win the U.S. Open for the sixth (!) straight time, which, you could argue, might cement his best year yet.
The New York Times headlined its piece: Advantage to the Men with Federer on His Game:
But Federer’s drive is greater even than his genius, which is true of relatively few sports superstars, among them Tiger Woods and Kobe Bryant, Michael Phelps and Candace Parker . . .Because Federer, 28, has shown no signs of complacency after spending 245 nonsuccessive weeks at No. 1, his challengers cannot afford to rest. . .Federer is the reason the depth and quality of the men’s game has never been better. Everybody is forced to raise his effort to match his. When his opponents speak, as Djokovic did Sunday, of the pressure Federer applies, they are not speaking strictly about on the court.
Even the macho Peter Bodo, who in a single article accused Roger Federer of emulating Brideshead Revisted, Big Bill Tilden (wink, wink), and a “cruise ship host” from a “campy television show” (sample line: “What next, lipstick and mom’s pumps?”) has changed his tune (via ESPN):
Federer is the man; anyone who hopes to take his measure will need help from an unreliable source — Federer himself. Nobody swinging a racket today can get the job done without Federer sabotaging himself.
The London Times admits Roger Federer gave Andy Murray “a masterclass”:
Imperious is a word that has been used many times to describe Roger Federer but such was the measure of his authority that even though Murray exhorted himself to contest the climax of their semi-final last night, the world No 1 laid down a massive marker with the US Open little more than a week away that a hat-trick of Grand Slam titles this year is well within his reach.
Brad Gilbert thinks Federer has all the answers:
Any time you see the top 4 together a little more then a week before the US Open a lot questions are gonna be asked, and the answer came back a resounding FED, as Roger Federer came up with convincing wins against Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic to win his first hard-court title of ‘09. Federer is moving the best on hard court that I have seen him in quite some time.
I’m not sure if all this Federer-love in the media is sincere or contrition for writing him off after Australia. Do you believe the hype?
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