But for all the people in Arthur Ashe Stadium who found it far more interesting that the defending champion was in a dog fight, being tested to the limit, it may be a surprise to hear that in profound ways Roger Federer was one of them.
The sheer fun that Federer gets from being pressed to the brink of elimination is likely enhanced, maybe even predicated, on the fact that he came out on top in the match. But after the match, listening to Federer talk, observers had a peek into just how much Federer loves the game, and the battle, the latter perhaps the surest sign that he may well come to dominate the men’s game again.
“It was really entertaining, not only for the fans, but for both of us,” Federer said afterward, trying and failing to recall the last time he had played a five-setter that wasn’t interrupted by rain here at the Open. “I don’t usually get the chance to play five sets. It’s different, it’s fun for a change.’’
“[Five-setters] can be tough physically and mentally,’’ Federer went on. “But in five sets you go through different stages of feelings, of playing well, playing bad.”
Federer’s attitude toward his match with Andreev is also a good way of understanding how the former No. 1 is handling 2008, a year that is being framed by just about everyone as a disappointment. He failed to defend his Australian Open title, losing in the semis to Novak Djokovic, and lost to Rafael Nadal in the final of the French Open and Wimbledon.
But again, while there are plenty who expect reams of words about how frustrated Federer is, how he can’t believe he hasn't won at least one Grand Slam so far this year, or a gold medal in singles at the Olympics, Federer sees his situation in a decidedly nuanced light.
Just his attitude about losing to Nadal at Wimbledon in an epic five-setter is illustrative of an attitude rare among top athletes today. Was he bummed about losing at Wimbledon, to his nemesis Nadal, and just barely missing out an a record 6th-straight Wimbledon?
“After Wimbledon, you know, maybe I was a little bit disappointed, but it's still ‑‑ the buzz was bigger about the great match we just played, so I couldn't really look at this match and be completely disappointed,’’ Federer said.
O.K., how about his dismal summer, where he lost in the second round of Cincinnati, the third round of Canada, and then the quarters of the Olympic games?
“I went through maybe the summer and didn't win a whole lot of matches, but I won the Olympic gold in doubles,'' Federer counters. "So I guess I always had sort of a good spirit.”
The fact is, all the challenges to Federer’s stronghold on the game had to be hard to swallow for a guy who held the top ranking for a record 237 straight weeks until this past August 18, when he relinquished it to Nadal. But it has also, in some profound ways, and even in understandable ways, made the game more interesting.
“It hasn't been that frustrating, you know, to be quite honest,’’ he says about 2008. “I think I'm at a stage today where I just really enjoy playing, you know, much more again. Whereas maybe for a while it was quite, always the same for me ‑- go on court, you win all the time, so maybe you don't take it for granted that much anymore.”
Federer next takes on Gilles Muller, a qualifier, in the quarterfinals. Muller, will come out swinging, having less to lose against Federer than most other players. But Federer accepts the challenge, and sets his site on a title that would change everything for Federer. Because for all the talk of his love of competition, Federer is looking to regain not just the No. 1 ranking, and not just another Grand Slam, but, in what is also, no doubt, equally fun, perhaps the funnest thing of all, a prevailing, wide sense of invincibility.
“That’s the advantage I have,’’ Federer says. “If I were to win a big tournament, you know, again, one of those Slams, whatever, right away I have the invincibility factor again.’’
