The Sports Truth

Roger Federer had won eight of nine Grand Slam finals going into Sunday, but the 25-year-old Swiss star said he was particularly nervous.

The same could be said of anyone playing in front of a new friend for the first time. Especially if that friend were Tiger Woods.

The world’s top golfer attended the U.S. Open final as Federer’s guest, sitting in the front row of his personal box. Federer did not disappoint (he rarely does), besting ninth-seeded American Andy Roddick, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, for his third straight Open crown.

Federer said despite all the pressure surrounding the final in and of itself, he was aware of Woods’ presence.

“You get that feeling. It’s like maybe the first time your parents see you do something special, or somebody comes to you, you really maybe look up to,” Federer said. “For me, it’s like when I go out there and I see Tiger sitting there, it’s like, I try to play well, you know? I try to kind of get my act together and focus and get off to a good start.”

Federer achieved that and then some, taking the first set in 29 minutes to set the tone. While the American battled gamely, taking the second set and pushing Federer to the brink in the third, there was little doubt who would prevail. He demolished Roddick in the fourth and final set, allowing the bewildered opponent only 13 points as he clinched his ninth Grand Slam.

Kind of reminds you of watching a certain golfer on Sundays.

“More and more often, over the last year or so I’ve been kind of compared to Tiger, what he’s doing on the golf tour, me doing on the tennis tour,” Federer said, adding that he and Woods had been trying to meet for some time.

“Today was kind of the day where finally we got to meet and chat a little longer. For me it’s very nice to get to meet him finally after all the time we’ve been trying to get to see each other.”

Woods (with wife Elin and Federer’s girlfriend Mirka, below) told Federer he would travel to New York if he reached the final, and the two had an interesting talk in the locker room before the match.

“I asked him how it was for him. It’s funny because many things were similar. He knew exactly how I kind of felt out on the court,” Federer said. “That’s something that I haven’t felt before, you know, a guy who knows how it feels to feel invincible at times and when you just have the feeling like there’s nothing going wrong any more.”

Who’s more invincible? Empirically, it’s a toss-up. The stats are equally gaudy, the weekend performances stunningly peerless. Woods’ 12 majors and Federer’s nine both put them in a class by themselves. Tiger needs seven more to eclipse Jack Nicklaus’ record 18, Roger six to top Sampras’ 14.

Right now, it’s hard to imagine both of them not doing it. The surer bet has to be Woods, though, based solely on the longer shelf life of elite golfers. Having won a dozen major championships in his first decade as a pro (1997-2006), Tiger is in his prime now at age 30. Even allotting for a few down years, he should shatter the Golden Bear’s mark.

This is not to say you should count out Federer. Until Rafael Nadal learns to win on surfaces other than clay, Roger will be the overwhelming favorite every time he steps on the court. He has a more complete game than Sampras at a time in the game’s history when the top ten are relatively tame. It will take an injury, the development of Nadal, and/or the emergence of a new crop of youngsters to keep the man from reaching 15.

Posted in Roger Federer, Tennis, Tiger Woods