Confessions Of A Federer Lover • Part 2

Roger Federer of Switzerland in action during his men’s singles quarter final match against Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 24 January 2018. EPA-EFE/SAM MOOY

 

 

By Manny Fanny

 

I have a routine in the 2nd week of the AO. With the extreme time difference from New York and Melbourne, (16 hours!), I am never awake for the start of the feature evening match, which begins airing live at 3:30 am EST (Eastern Standard Time Zone in America).

 

Of course I will record the match for playback at a later time. I usually wake up 6:15-6:30 am and I have a good hour plus of leisure time before I start getting ready for my morning lessons. More often than not, with Roger into the 2nd week, he is the feature night match.

 

When I wake up, I immediately turn on the TV—if Roger has been playing, I have butterflies in my stomach. I will see one of 2 things—either the match will still be on live, in which case 3 hours into it, it could be a war with potentially disastrous results, or the regular 6 am ESPN 2 talk show could be on, in which case, the match is over, likely in 3, at the most 4 sets.

 

I remember last year’s final (epic Roger-Rafa) coming on Saturday night ( I’m off on Sundays), so at 6:15, with megaknotts in my stomach I turned on the tube and the match was on live, whereupon I had another 2 plus roller coaster hours before Fed’s dramatic 5th set comeback win.

 

This morning, at 6:30 the TV went on and Bob Golic was hosting his sports talk show. OK, a straight setter, Fed vs Berdych, a formidable opponent, Fed’s 3rd round conquest in last year’s AO, that signaled Roger’s legitimate chances in his comeback event. Although Roger has dominated Berdych over the years, nonetheless Berdych has bested Roger in some very big events, ie Olympics & Wimbledon.

 

So now I go to the DVR playback from the beginning. I’m looking for a quick Roger start, grab an easy first set, then I’ll fast forward through the next 2 sets of a routine Roger win, wrap the whole replay up in an hour and get ready for work knowing that I’m, I mean Roger, is into the semis to play Chung.

 

Well, not so fast. Berdych comes out big, making serves and punishing his heavy flat groundstrokes into the corner. An ace closes out the first game. Federer struggles in game 2, misses serves, double faults , makes a few unforced errors and is broken! An easy Berdych hold, we’re down 0-3 and suddenly the knots are there with a vengeance. If Berdych has gone on to win the first set, and the broadcast was over by 6:30, does Berdych straight set Federer? This is not what I planned for! Roger gets untracked and holds to 3-5. In the key game of the match, Federer survives a set point, several break point chances squandered, a frustrating malfunction of the Hawk-Eye that led to a testy exchange with the chair umpire before finally cashing in on the break back. 6-all, Roger plays a flawless tie-break. Set won, knots gone! Relaxed, I now zoom through the playback of the next 2 sets for a straight set Fed win into the semis vs the young Chung.

 

Tomorrow I will wake up between 6:15-6:30, flip the switch and enjoy, knotless, either live or by playback, the Cilic-Edmund top half semi for an hour before getting ready for work. Friday morning will be a different story—knots in the belly, Fed vs Chung, live in a war or via playback.

 

Editors Note: Seems everyone finds the timing to watch off, unless you are in that part of the World. We heard from other viewers in America that the TV people • even the international feed, are “over talking” while the ball is in play. yikes.

Robbie Koenig, ️please tell that guy in the booth with you. Nobody wants to hear statistics being bantered around while Roger Federer is giving us a “performance “… We want Silence!

We heard from Irene Lee. She is Happy Happy Happy. Sure hope her wishes and dreams come true.

An image taken with a slow shutter speed of Switzerland’s Roger Federer in action during his men’s singles quarter final match against Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 24 January 2018. EPA-EFE/DEAN LEWINS

 

Roger Federer of Switzerland in action during his men’s singles quarter final match against Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 24 January 2018. EPA-EFE/DEAN LEWINS

 

An image taken with a slow shutter speed of Switzerland’s Roger Federer in action during his men’s singles quarter final match against Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 24 January 2018. EPA-EFE/DEAN LEWINS

 

Roger Federer of Switzerland picks up a feather on the court during his quarter final match against Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 24 January 2018. EPA-EFE/MARK CRISTINO