The Nirmal Shekar Column

Interesting week ahead at Wimbledon

Federer finds himself with something to prove — to himself and to the doubters
London: “Federer looks the part, but questions remain,” read a headline in the sports columns of your newspaper on June 30, 2003. The article that followed set out to offer a preview of the second week of that year’s Wimbledon championships.
Since then, tens of millions of words — including every adulatory adjective ever employed in every major language on the planet — have been written about a man who, only six months ago, appeared to be the only popular candidate for the title of the Greatest Of All Time.
If Roger Federer seemed set to provide us the final inarguable answer to a question that has been hotly debated ever since Spencer Gore won the first title here in 1877, taking home the first prize of 12 guineas and a Silver Challenge Cup, then six months later the camps are once again divided. Even as we look ahead to the second week of the 122nd championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, that headline seems to sum up things succinctly all over again.
But then, who would have imagined at the end of last year that questions will again be tossed around, like witchcraft accusations in a medieval village, vis-a-vis Federer’s place in history — and, most of all, about his ability to win another title in his second home!Questions of a different kind
Five years ago here, at the same stage of the championships, the great man faced questions of a different kind; hence the headline. Indeed, as T.S. Eliot wrote in The Waste Land, “Life is but a dream whose shapes return.”
In the event, it may be instructive to look back and see where Federer was then, before moving on to the present. And the following five paragraphs have been reproduced from your correspondent’s report filed on June 29, 2003.
“Predictably, a lot of attention has been focussed on Tim Henman while Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi are clearly the top two favourites with the bookmakers here.
“But, in terms of pure talent, if not entirely on the form displayed during the first week, Roger Federer is my choice for the men’s championship. The 21-year old from Switzerland has so far disappointed in the Slams but this week he has shown the sort of one-pointed focus that he has lacked in the past.
“There is a bit of Pete Sampras in him as he goes about his business quietly on the court, his wonderfully versatile all court game doing all the talking. A few have compared him to the great man and predicted that he is the heir to Sampras’s legacy here.
“But you cannot afford to push the comparisons too far. To me, the second Sampras will be in sight when someone steps in to play for his seventh title on the second Sunday of Wimbledon. Not until then.
“Yet, Federer has what it takes; no doubt at all about that. Sometimes you think that the man is so gifted that he has a problem choosing the right shots at the critical moments.”Fill circle
Now, five years on, Federer seems to have journeyed a full circle and is facing a new set of questions. It may be a strange coincidence but even the date of the final is the same — July 6.
In the middle of a season in which he has won just two minor titles even as his archrival Rafael Nadal has made impressive strides on grass, does Federer have it in him to beat Bjorn Borg’s record and edge closer to Pete Sampras’s all-time high Grand Slam collection of 14 titles?
The rear view mirror of history is a lot more dependable than something like a hunch regarding what lies ahead of us. But this much is clear: after a long spell of relentless domination of the men’s game, Federer has something to prove — to himself and to the burgeoning army of doubters — all over again.
The Swiss master’s first real test in this championship comes on Monday when he takes on Lleyton Hewitt, one of the most accomplished grass court players of his generation. Hewitt, hobbled by a chronic hip problem, is unlikely to stop Federer but a bigger test might come in the semifinals if Marat Safin wins his next two matches.
But the only man who really looks good enough to stop Federer from surpassing Borg’s record is, of course, Rafael Nadal.
The Spaniard played with great authority once again in the third round match against Nicolas Kiefer of Germany late on Saturday evening, finishing his business in straight sets 12 minutes past 9 p.m. in the gloaming.
If Federer and Nadal do meet in the final for a third year in a row, and if the match goes to a fifth as it did last year, the Spaniard is unlikely to throw it all away.
This should really be an interesting week at Wimbledon