Roger Federer Is Way Beyond Tennis Bell Curve: Scott Soshnick

Sept. 7 (Bloomberg) — Remember the kid in class with the Coke-bottle glasses? He or she would blow the grading curve for everyone by getting all the answers right.

Smarty Pants would sit there wearing a job-well-done smirk while the graded papers were being returned.

Meantime, there you were, wondering how the kid did it. After all, you’d say to yourself, you had studied for the test, too. You put in the time and sweat. You had prepared. And yet, in the end, your feedback came with a side order of red ink.

You didn’t hate the brilliant one. Actually, there was admiration for the kid’s ability to deliver consistent excellence.

Maybe, if just once, you could study alongside the brain then perhaps your grades would improve, too. Does brilliance or greatness rub off?

Having spent the past two weeks at the U.S. Open, eating, drinking and dreaming forehand winners and top-spin lobs, watching and listening to the best tennis has to offer, it occurred to me: Roger Federer is the kid with the Coke-bottle glasses.

Consider what Andy Roddick said in 2005 after losing, again, to Federer, this time in the championship round at Wimbledon.

“I’ve told him before, `I’d love to hate you but you’re really nice.”’

Federer aces, pardon the pun, every test, every pop quiz, every homework assignment. There isn’t anything he can’t answer.

He’s the teacher’s pet.

“I didn’t make mistakes,” was the self-assessment Roddick offered after facing Federer in Wednesday night’s quarterfinal.

Not Good Enough

And yet, Roddick’s best wasn’t good enough. Not even close.

The history books will read: 7-6, 7-6 and 6-2. Federer wins. Again.

Next!

Against anyone else, a straight-set defeat on the sport’s biggest stage, in front of a fervent fan base, might’ve sent Roddick reeling and ranting. You might’ve even gotten the kind of sore-loser sass Serena Williams displayed earlier this week. Not this time, though. Not when the opponent is Federer.

“I’m not walking with my head down,” Roddick said afterward. “He’s great.”

Roddick struck just the right balance between respect for an opponent and outright reverence for the man who stands three Grand Slams shy of Pete Sampras’s career record of 14.

After all, Roddick does intend to try, try again.

You Gotta Believe

Here’s the thing: If you don’t believe that you can beat Federer, which many players don’t, then it will never happen. To borrow from Yogi Berra, 90 percent of this game is mental. The other half is physical, right?

You had to be in the room when Nikolay Davydenko, Federer’s opponent in tomorrow’s semifinal, was asked about the world’s top-ranked player.

Davydenko is no slouch. He’s the fourth seed. And yet he’s got absolutely zero chance of upsetting Federer. That isn’t my amateur analysis of the match, either. It’s his. Yes, really.

“I feel like I’m top 10 player,” the Russian said in broken English. “But I’m not, you know, feeling I’m reach level to be No. 1, you know, to beat Federer.”

Few in the world of sports have enjoyed the dominance exhibited by Federer.

There’s, let’s see, good friend and fellow Nike endorser Tiger Woods, whose work ethic is well documented.

`Never Underestimate’

It’s the same for Federer, who prior to the U.S. Open called upon a relative unknown named Jesse Levine to fly to Dubai and help him prepare for the final Grand Slam tournament of the season.

The idea was so far-fetched that Levine, upon receiving the telephone call from one of Federer’s agents, thought it was a friend playing a prank. Only it wasn’t a joke.

It was the world’s top-ranked player recognizing that he hadn’t faced a left-handed player — other than Rafael Nadal — in more than a year. So he called on a college southpaw for assistance. Wouldn’t you know it: Federer faced left-hander Feliciano Lopez in the fourth round, dropping the first set before rebounding to take three straight.

“I never underestimate,” Federer said earlier this week.

Let those words serve as a reminder.

The kid with Coke-bottle glasses is still studying, still learning, still getting better.

And, in Federer’s case, he leaves the court wearing his trademark black outfit and that now familiar job-well-done smirk.

Tennis: Ferrer sheds his clay-court image with victories on hardcourts

The DecoTurf hardcourt surface at Flushing Meadows is resilient and fast, not unlike David Ferrer of Spain.

Until this week, Ferrer fancied himself a clay-court kind of guy, but he is on his way to the semifinals of the United States Open for the first time after defeating Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina in straight sets yesterday, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5.

Ferrer, a 25-year-old Spaniard who had eliminated his celebrated countryman Rafael Nadal at 1:51 a.m. the day before, won the first two sets handily yesterday, but had to fight for the third.

In tomorrow’s semifinals, Ferrer will face Novak Djokovic, who defeated Carlos Moyá in straight sets last night.

“I prefer Carlos because he’s my friend, and a Spanish guy,” Ferrer said in his on-court interview after the match. “I’m very confident. The support of the people is unbelievable.”

Wednesday night, No. 1 seed Roger Federer had called Ferrer “the best returner in the game at the moment, together with Nadal.” After yesterday’s match, Chela agreed, saying he could not find a hole in Ferrer’s disciplined court coverage.

“Everything came back,” said Chela, who won only 59 percent of his first-serve points. “I would hit four or five balls and I couldn’t find a place to put the ball. He returns very well. With other players I could have won those points, but not with him.”

Ferrer could have pleaded exhaustion yesterday after previous matches that were long and late, including a 3-hour-57-minute defeat of Argentina’s David Nalbandian. But Ferrer looked as agile as usual in the bright sunshine at Arthur Ashe Stadium, covering the court through long volleys and delivering several crafty cross-court shots from near the net.

Ferrer said that he was playing the best tennis of his life here on the hardcourts of Flushing Meadows.

“If you told me before, ’semifinal hardcourt,’ I don’t believe you,” he said.

The match took a little more than two hours, but could have been over more quickly had Ferrer converted more than 5 of his 16 break-point opportunities.

Ferrer’s best previous Grand Slam effort was a trip to the quarterfinals of the 2005 French Open, where he lost to Nadal.

A WORLD NO. 1 WINS The No. 1 player in the world was on Court 11. Shingo Kunieda of Japan, the top-ranked wheelchair player in the world, was playing his doubles partner, Satoshi Saida, the fifth-ranked player, in the quarterfinals of the men’s wheelchair division.

Kunieda used an attacking style to defeat Saida, 6-0, 6-2. According to Dan James, the United States national head coach for wheelchair tennis, Kunieda is at the forefront of changing the sport.

“His vertical ability from net to baseline is unparalleled,” James said.

This is the third year that wheelchair tennis has been an official event at the Open. The only rules difference is that players get two bounces to chase down a shot. Kunieda often returns shots on one bounce and sometimes even volleys.

There are three divisions in wheelchair tennis: men’s, women’s and quad. Esther Vergeer of the Netherlands, who has not lost since 2003, dominates the women’s division.

David Wagner of Portland, Ore., is No. 1 in the world in the quad division, which is being held at the Open for the first time. The division is open to players who have a disability in at least three limbs. Wagner took up the game in 1999, four years after a swimming accident.

“I just fell in love,” he said. He has not lost a match since November.

His doubles partner, Nick Taylor, of Wichita, Kan., is the third-ranked quad singles player. Together, they make up the world’s No. 1 quad doubles team.

Taylor was born with arthrogryposis, a disease that affects muscular development. He uses a motorized wheelchair to get around the court.

Because he has no strength in his biceps, he holds the racket under his palm instead of above it. To avoid it falling out of his hand, he fastens it to a small chord that is attached to a handcuff-like device that he puts around his wrist.

Since he cannot lift his arm that far over his head, he serves by flipping the ball up with his feet. His style is the most unique in wheelchair tennis, James said. Taylor learned to play by hitting against his garage wall at age 14, when he wanted to earn a spot on his high school tennis team. He made it.

RAY KRUEGER

AGASSI HAS HIS SAY The caller on the other end of the line told John McGuinness of the USA Network: “I’ve got something that’s really going to make your day.”

the network’s coordinating producer for Open coverage, explained yesterday how Andre Agassi ended up in the broadcast booth for Roger Federer’s match against Andy Roddick on Wednesday night. The day before, Perry Rogers, Agassi’s agent and longtime friend, told the producer that Agassi would be spending one day in New York for his charity and “would love to stop by the booth to do a few games,” McGuinness said.

“A few games turned out to be the match,” McGuinness said.

McGuinness said that Ted Robinson, the play-by-play announcer, had given Agassi “some Broadcasting 101 tips,” earlier in the day, but that it was clear he was going to be special. Once on the air, Agassi analyzed both players’ games more technically than what viewers usually hear.

More impressive was Agassi’s precision in describing the match. After Federer saved a break point, Agassi said, “The score never influences Fed’s swing on a ball.”

His insight was often dosed with gentle humor. After John McEnroe noted that Ken Rosewall only sliced his backhand, Agassi, replied, “I married somebody like that,” referring to Steffi Graf.

When tennis stars court couture

Formidable fashionista editrix Anna Wintour is just crushin‘ on Roger Federer.

The tennis star has even managed to put a smile on that famously pinched face. Thrice Wintour has shown up to cheer Federer at the US Open, swanning magisterially into the player’s box. And before the tournament began, the imperious doyenne of chic hosted a soirée in his honour, tout le monde – well, at least the crème of the monde – summoned to swish in presence of Vogue and vogue.

The world’s top tennis ace – Men’s Vogue cover-boy – is not merely playing celebri-jock pawn, flaunted like a fashion accessory. His Nike contract is about to expire and Wintour, with her global command of the style industry, is rumoured to be providing advice on how Federer can maximize his marketing potential, particularly in carriage trade endorsements beyond the sweatband audience.

She’s said to be highly approving of the Swiss stud’s new Man in Black and vaguely Goth silhouette. At Wimbledon, Federer was all about the crested blazer, worn to and from court. At Flushing Meadows, he’s introduced tuxedo shorts – silk trim along the sides – and black socks to match. “I’ve gotten into fashion the last few years, done my own fashion statements on centre court at Wimbledon,” Federer told the New York Times.

The traditionalist All-England Club frowns on apparel iconoclasm. But this is New York. Moreover, this is Fashion Week in New York, a quirk of the calendar wherein the back-end of the Open rams into the front-end of the schmata spectacle. That makes the Open a Glam Slam.

Cross-pollination between tennis and fashion is everywhere evident as the elite from both universes scramble between VIP loges at either event, courtside to runway front row. Oscar de la Renta also took a seat in Federer’s box. And, with some of the game’s leading vamps – self-professed shopaholics and glamazons – eliminated early, the likes of Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova have more time to ogle frocks at the Bryant Park shows.

Of course, the anything-goes show-courts also provide ample opportunity for trendsetting players to display their threads sense, or lack thereof. Sharapova, before ignominious ouster, unveiled a lipstick red number studded with 600 Swarovski crystals and declared to the audience: This is for you! No doubt the mannequin-slim beauty arrived in New York to defend her title with a slew of fetching ensembles, destined never to escape the closet.

As Sharapova – last year channeling Audrey Hepburn at the Open with her little black dress – explained earlier: “It makes a difference when you feel good about what you’re wearing and you feel good about putting it on. You feel like you’re the bomb.”

Bomb just about describes her brief twirl in Queens.

Venus Williams, safely through to this evening’s semifinal against homely-clad Justine Henin, chose the Open to debut her own signature collection “11” now featured at an American discount chain.

Serena, her line available online, has always been a fashion revolutionary, or overhead smash fashion crime. Recall the catsuit and motorcycle mama knee-high boots she wore on the court here in previous years.

This time, Serena went babydoll – so last season at Bryant Park – with the little pink bow under her heaving chest.

Pity that low ranking meant no TV exposure for American Bethanie Mattek, a portfolio of fashion “don’ts” who must worship at the altar of Britney Spears: Gold dress with mesh cutouts, plummeting silver tank and – tour de force from doubles match – a leopard print thingy with matching visor. Coming soon to a Fredericks of Hollywood near you. Score that a love game – fashion zero.

Blacks Caps set to play two keepers in Twenty/20 world cup

The Black Caps are set to play both wicketkeepers in the inaugural Twetny-20 world cup starting in South Africa next week.

Brendon McCullum will open the batting and field while Gareth Hopkins will take the gloves in the two build up matches against Australia on Sunday and the West Indies on Monday.

Coach John Bracewell says Hopkins is an effective hitter at the end of an innings and it also provides a chance to improve the side’s wicketkeeping depth.

All rounder Jacob Oram will bat at three.The Black Caps first match of the tournament is against Kenya on Thursday.Meanwhile Austrailan captain Ricky Ponting will join the Australia side in South Africa after his wife Rhianna’s health improved.

Ponting had been in doubt for the tournament after staying home when the team left on Monday because of a “private family issue” which he later revealed as an unspecified health issue surrounding his wife.

Shoaib sent home after Asif row

Shoaib Akhtar’s future as an international cricketer could now be in doubt after being sent home from the Twenty20 World Cup after a bust-up with Mohammad Asif.

Shoaib, who was already on probation for a disciplinary breach last month, confronted Asif in the dressing room after training on Thursday.

The incident left Asif with bruising to his left thigh, prompting an internal investigation in South Africa.

“A decision has been taken to call back Shoaib after an initial inquiry,” said Pakistan chief executive Shafqat Nagmi. “The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) fully endorses this decision. Shoaib Akhtar will be returning on the first available flight.”

The decision to send Shoaib home came just five days before Pakistan play their opening World Twenty20 fixture against Scotland.

Media manager Dr Ehsan Malik insisted Asif would be fit to start that game, saying: “Asif has a bruise on his left thigh but he has had X-rays and has been cleared. He is fine as far as I know.” But Shoaib’s future as an international cricketer could now be in doubt.

The 32-year-old was looking to relaunch his career after 16 months in which he has played just one Test and four one-dayers, mainly due to fitness problems. He has been dogged by controversy for much of his career, and was banned for two years after failing a drugs test last October before having the suspension lifted on appeal.

Last month he was fined for leaving a training camp in Karachi without asking permission from the team manager, though the penalty was suspended for two months and the bowler placed on a six-week probationary period, again on appeal.

Shoaib also courted controversy on Thursday when he hit out at cricket’s administrators, claiming rule changes and pitch conditions in the modern game favour batsmen over fast bowlers.

“Cricket should be about fast bowlers, not batsmen,” he said. “Spectators like to see fast bowlers running in, hurting people, and pitches that make batsmen struggle for runs.

“But now we play on good batting tracks all the time, they’ve made laws about bouncers and free hits for a no-ball.”

Nanan picks WI to win Twenty20 W/Cup“

“The West Indies have a good chance of winning the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa” declared former West Indies and Trinidad and Tobago off-spinner, Rangy Nanan.

“We have a good team and the guys played really well in the two Twenty20 matches in England. They played really good and despite losing the second Twenty20 match to England the game was close” said Nanan.

The West Indies team has not been in the best form crashing out of the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies at the Super Eight stage, losing the Npower test series in England 3-0, drawing their Twenty20 matches in England 1-1 and only managing to win the limited overs series 2-1.

Nanan explained that in the limited overs game any team on their day could beat anybody at any given time. He stressed that South Africa and Bangladesh on their day could beat the West Indies since such is the uncertain nature of Twenty/20 cricket.

“Twenty20 cricket is very different because teams cannot recover from a bad spell. This is unlike test cricket where you may have a bad spell but can recover and still win the test match. The way the West Indies played in the Twenty20 matches in England would only give the team confidence ahead of the tournament” said Nanan.

The West Indies team compared to the other nations participating in the Twenty20 World Cup has played very little of the 20 over game. Pakistan, Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa and the Indian reserves have been playing in several warm-up matches in South Africa and Kenya in preparation for the tournament.

“The West Indies have not played much Twenty20 cricket with the majority of the players getting their exposure at the Stanford Twenty20 tournament in Antigua. Despite the Stanford tournament being a regional one it should give the players an idea about what Twenty20 cricket is about and show them what is required of them” said Nanan.

Commenting on West Indies captain, Ramnaresh Sarwan’s comments where he stated that he was happy about the West Indies’ underdog tag, Nanan said that once the team itself was confident the players should not be worried about the “tag” given to them by the tournament organisers and pundits.

“It is important for the team gel and pull together. They need to forget about what is being said and have confidence in themselves” said Nanan. The former West Indies spinner highlighted the importance of Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan to the team.

“Chris is very important because if he gets off the team would do well. He would be able to take advantage of the early field restrictions and put the team in a good position. Sarwan is back in the team and he should bring a boost to the batting and there is also Devon Smith and Dwayne Smith who can be very dangerous when he gets off.

I was surprised Crandon was not given a chance but this is an international tournament and the selectors must know what they are looking for in the team” said Nanan. He revealed that his pick to win the tournament was Australia because of the level of cricket they play as well as the quality of players in the squad. “Australia are clear favourites to win the tournament but it is still very close to pick a winner because of the uncertainty in Twenty20 cricket.

The Aussies are the world champs and South Africa would be amongst the top team because they are playing at home and have that support which could give them an edge” said Nanan. He added that India and England would be in the running to win the tournament alongside the West Indies since the momentum from their series could be carried across into the Twenty20 World Cup.