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Federer reigns in Halle, Germany for the eighth time, but not all Germans are on the friend list this year.
Roger Federer claimed his eighth Halle grass title with victory over 45th-ranked Italian Andreas Seppi, 7-6 (1) 6-4.
The match was a fairly even affair played out on Federer’s favourite surface, which saw only one break of serve on the last point of the match.
Federer gave a calm and collected serving display throughout the match relying on accuracy to move himself out of trouble. Seppi consistently pushed Federer on serve returning with depth and a high level of power on his groundstrokes, forcing four break point opportunities throughout the match.
The first set tiebreak was a one sided affair that did not truly indicate the level that Seppi had played up until that point. Federer once again showed his calm under pressure and ability to move effortlessly on the turf to deny Seppi any chances to capitalise.
Federer was able to call on his trusted serve, smashing down a total of fourteen aces with a number coming at key moments and on break points.
Seppi’s subtle power game had undone Federer earlier this year at the Australian Open, when the Italian shocked the 17-time grand slam winner in the upset of the tournament.
Much has been said and written about Federer’s longevity and continued success, and it is clear that certain types of players such as Seppi, Kei Nishikori and now Australia’s Nick Kyrgios cause him problems in pushing through the early rounds of grand slams and the ATP World Tour. However, he continues to be a force to be reckoned with – particularly on grass.
Federer’s fourth title of the year places him in good stead for Wimbledon, as he has relied more and more as the years have progressed on lead up tournaments to fine tune his play.
He has won a lead up tournament before each grand slam so far this year aiding the process of transition from the different surfaces. We know Federer has done it all before and really has nothing to prove on the court.
Federer has a clear understanding of his place in the history and culture of the game itself, and knows his own brand reach and value to tournaments all over the world.
He recently reacted strongly to comments from Boris Becker’s new book, where he claimed Roger “cannot possibly be as nice as he seems”. Federer never usually reacts to such things but took notice of Becker’ words noting his disappointment in them.
Becker was clearly jumping on the bandwagon of his own book, getting the desired and maybe unexpected response from Federer. Becker, who himself was a true tennis character and the youngest man ever to win Wimbledon, was making reference to what he viewed as the loss of characters in the game.
Federer’s relatively calm and succinct attitude is clearly at odds with Becker’s view of character in tennis. Everyone loves a smashed racquet every now and then, but Federer removed himself from such outbursts as a young player understanding the importance of mental stability in his future success.
The one outlier to this (that I know of) occurred in 2009 in Miami where Federer, ironically playing Becker’s pupil Djokovic, utterly destroyed his racquet in disgust after a fourth straight forehand error into the net. Shocked, the crowd jeered unable to understand why it was this moment that the Swiss chose to unleash on his Wilson.
Federer has been able to maintain himself at the top of the tree of professional tennis for so long, which is testament to his hard work in maintaining the right attitude and mindset.
It is not only physically demanding but probably the most mentally demanding non team sport around. Success in professional tennis is hard to get, maintaining that success over time is rare.
The ability to keep cool under pressure and not destroy racquets is also difficult. Roger knows what his image means to people – but more importantly he knows racquets aren’t cheap these days.
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