At an age when most of us start getting jittery about mid-life crisis and just about start accepting our fate, at least in this lifetime, this man re-invents himself and overcomes not only an adversary, an equally great Rafael Nadal, but also more importantly his own doubts and fears.
“It’s okay to lose but still I want it bad enough!” These are the words that echoed the emotions Roger Federer was going through in the fifth set of the epic Australian Open final. For the uninitiated, Roger is a 35-year-old 18-time Grand Slam winner, more than any male professional tennis player. The miracle does not lie in numbers, it lies in the man. At an age when most of us start getting jittery about mid-life crisis and just about start accepting our fate, at least in this lifetime, this man re-invents himself and overcomes not only an adversary, an equally great Rafael Nadal, but also more importantly his own doubts and fears. If you recall 2009, Roger sobbed like a little boy and hearts worldwide bled as he tried to speak but words got choked and all he could muster was, “God! It’s killing me.” Eight years since then, he cried again but hearts felt lighter this time.
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A lot has been said and written about the beauty of his game. What the great Ali sang for himself could very well be true for Roger, “Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee.” Watch that footwork around the court and the synchronized inside out forehand and the lines fit in perfectly. That single-handed backhand brought the fans back to tennis arenas across the world and viewers sat glued to television sets at odd hours in late night or early morning. It seems God really wanted to reward us fans for our good deeds, hence he made the man good looking and graceful too. No wonder when Roger played, the world prayed.
What we witnessed on that memorable Sunday was not just a great tennis match but a lesson in life. There was so much heart and effort on display that it did not matter much who won, the sport was a winner already. A man whom many thought was over the hill ran like a spring chicken, chased down impossible balls, dug deep into his reservoirs of self-belief and produced a gem of the modern sport.
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The following day being a Monday, most of us went to our workplace smiling and for once Monday Blues were taken care of. Offices across the globe reverberated with conversation revolving around the great rivalry, how Roger and Rafa complement each other and how one was incomplete without the other. Experts got busy threading the beautiful backhand that Roger used to draw gasps from the crowd and how it turned the table on the high topspin of Rafa’s monstrous forehand.
Back home after work that evening, some of us understood life a little better. There was no shame in losing if an honest effort to win was made, there was no shame in crying when the result was unfavourable if an honest effort was made, in fact there was no shame in making an honest effort. Sunday, January 29, 2017 provided hope to the hopeless. It put on display the fearlessness of a gladiator willing to go down but without the guilt of not having tried enough. The desire to overcome limits set by the body and the mind took proportions that went much beyond the desire to merely win a contest. It was Bhagwat Gita in high definition
