Federer’s longevity was well-planned

By Art Spander

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — The temperature was 89 degrees when Roger Federer finished another match without figuratively working up a sweat.

The man seemingly never grows old. He’s 33, which in tennis age is somewhere between remembering what used to be and reminding yourself to retire.

Unless you’re Federer, who said he planned his career to last and not flame out.

And, despite traveling with a wife and two sets of young twins, he figuratively carries no baggage.

Doesn’t carry his opponents either. On Sunday, he beat some poor kid named Diego Schwarzman, 6-4, 6-2. That’s a problem for tennis: the nobodies — Schwarzman, a 22-year-old Argentinean is ranked 63rd — get sent in like cannon fodder to face the stars.

It’s like a high-school kid trying to guard Stephen Curry. You lose confidence as quickly as you lose matches.

Yes, everyone started down there. In his postgame musings to the big crowd at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden’s 16,100-seat Stadium Court, Federer recalled his first appearance 15 years ago in the tournament now called the BNP Paribas Open.

“I was way out there,” he said pointing to an unseen court of the desert complex east of Palm Springs, “in a sandstorm.”

Once a player breaks through, finally gets beyond the first and second rounds, earns enough points to get matched against someone of, for that moment, his or her own skill, it all changes.

For Federer, an emotional player as a teenager in his native Switzerland, the great leap was when he defeated Pete Sampras, a seven-time champion, in the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2001.   

Suddenly Federer was the player the other guys had to get past. And they rarely did.

He took Wimbledon seven times. He has a men’s record 19 Grand Slams. And if he’s still not at the summit, occupied now by Novak Djokovic, No. 2 is impressive. And reassuring. 

“I’m very happy,” said Federer. “I was feeling good in practice. Today I was moving well, which is the key on this surface (slower hard courts) because the easy shots and easy points are not going to happen here like they maybe do in Dubai or Australia or the indoor season.

“So I always have to adjust my game accordingly.”

It was Justin Gimmelstob of the Tennis Channel, a one-time ranked player, who asked Federer if he were surprised by his longevity.

“I organized my career this way,” said Federer, who later in the mass press conference went into greater detail.

“The idea,” explained Federer, “was always trying to be around the game a long time.”

To his satisfaction, to the satisfaction of tournament organizers, the idea was realized.

If the fault of tennis, using an unintended play on words, is that it’s difficult for the young players to move ahead, the other side is that fans cheer for the favorites, not the underdogs. They come to see the stars, to see Federer, Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal, all winners on Sunday.

Without team loyalty, tennis needs individuals who not only are champions but are famous. Federer meets that requirement.

He does Mercedes commercials. He does espresso machine commercials (for the Swiss company Jura Capressa). And he did in Schwarzman in 1 hour 3 minutes.

“Whatever we do, we will plan long-term,” Federer said, alluding to a template designed by him and his advisers. “Sure we can chase money or more tournament victories. We can play more frequently, more often, train harder.

“But we decided to stay around 20 tournaments a year, which is a lower number . . . I want to play good. I want to play injury-free if possible. Of course, we all play hurt. But the goal was to stay around a long time. I think I did get inspired by seeing 32-year-olds, 35-year-olds. They almost did a favor that I could play against them. Would they have retired at 28, I would never have seen them on tour.”

He saw them. Now we continue to see Roger Federer, graceful, elegantly smooth, popular. Every point he scored drew an overwhelming roar. You felt sorry for Schwarzman.

The Tennis Garden is owned by Larry Ellison, and does he need to be identified? (A couple of nights ago, in the first row, John McEnroe sat between Ellison and Bill Gates. Nobody was diving for dropped change.)

“He likes to talk about tennis,” Federer told Gimmelstob about conversations with Ellison, “and I like to talk about other things. He doesn’t just sit there and act like, ‘Uh, I own the tournament.’ He really knows the details.”   

So, in a different way, does Roger Federer, Mr. Forever.

Bleacher Report: Introspective Serena Williams Embraces Role Model Chance in Indian Wells Return

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — She’s spoken out before. Well, shouted out. At a linesperson during the 2009 U.S. Open. Endless invective. Serena Williams was never afraid to show her passion.

Or now after years of boycotting one of the more important tennis tournaments in the world, her compassion.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2015 Bleacher Report, Inc. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

Los Angeles Times: Serena Williams is a little nervous in return to Indian Wells

By Art Spander
Los Angeles Times

It was all about timing and about Time, the magazine. It was about the act of forgiveness, which Serena Williams, after the years and the memories, said she at last found a reason to offer.

Fourteen years ago, in 2001, Williams, a teenager but already a champion, was booed at Indian Wells, booed in a final by a crowd angry that in the scheduled semifinal two days earlier older sister Venus defaulted moments before the start because of announced knee tendinitis.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times: Tennis star Caroline Wozniacki comes out ahead in the long run

By Art Spander
Los Angeles Times

She's the Wizard of Woz, the woman who ran the New York City Marathon — "You don't know what the wall is until you hit it," she said — who posed, tastefully, for the recent Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue . . . who once was ranked No. 1 . . . who only Sunday won the Malaysian Open, her 23rd WTA tournament victory,

Caroline Wozniacki, one of the many stars at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, at age 24 has done almost everything. Other than win a Grand Slam tournament.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times

Bleacher Report: Cilic-Nishikori Final at 2014 US Open Shows Rough Road Ahead for Men's Tennis

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — They figured it out a long time ago in Hollywood and just across the river from here on Broadway: You need a star. It didn’t really matter if a famous actor could act, only if he was famous.

Whether that was because of what he did on or off the screen was insignificant.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: Men's Tennis Begins New Era with Kei Nishikori-Marin Cilic Final at 2014 US Open

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — Up at the Stadium, they said farewell to Derek Jeter on Sunday, gave the Yankee shortstop of 20 years his special day, a couple of weeks before retirement. Twenty-four hours earlier and a few miles away, across the East River, we said goodbye to an era in tennis.

So long to a Grand Slam men’s final which had Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray. So long to what we knew. So long to what we expected.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: Roger Federer Misses Last Chance to Win a Grand Slam Title at 2014 US Open

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — Suddenly, Roger Federer looked older. It wasn’t so much the creases in his face, the age lines. It was the creases in his game. It was the inability to handle Marin Cilic, to whom he never before had lost.

It was the comments after his defeat, the lack of belief to do what he had done for so many matches over so many years, which is make a comeback.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: Dominant Serena Williams Silences Skeptics in 2014 US Open Semifinal Rout

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — She’s rolling now, crushing opponents and symbolically all those who doubted her. (Blush!) A season that seemed destined to go nowhere for Serena Williams, a season that made some of us suggest that at almost 33 years old her best days were over, is now headed to the stars—and the record books.

Was she ever any better than she was Friday afternoon in a semifinal of the U.S. Open? Was she any more dominant, more overwhelming more — yes — awesome? Maybe, but probably not.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: US Open 2014: Roger Federer Defies Age, Shows Champion's Grit in 5-Set Thriller

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — He was down two sets to none, and even Roger Federer thought the end might be near, that he could be knocked out of the U.S. Open, that his chances for that one last Grand Slam had vanished.

Not that he would ever show it on the court.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: Novak Djokovic Affirms Status as World's Best in 2014 US Open Win vs Andy Murray

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — It was warm. It was late. But heat and time couldn’t stop Novak Djokovic. Neither could Andy Murray. On a night that rolled into the wee small hours of morning, Djokovic verified his standing as the No. 1 men’s player in tennis.

He wasn’t perfect and had his lapses, but as John McEnroe who was once in the position Djokovic now standspointed out on the ESPN telecast after midnight, all players have their lapses. The question is how many and for how long.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: How the US Open Became the Biggest, Boldest Tournament in Tennis

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — We’ll borrow those familiar lyrics, about making it here, making it in the Big Apple, making it in the city that never sleeps — or shuts up. They’ve made it here, created an event that fits the city like a traffic jam on Lexington Avenue. And truly, it doesn’t matter if they make it anywhere else.

The United States Tennis Association has a tournament that’s seemingly endless, incredibly noisy and wonderfully exciting, perfect for New York, perfect for the most boisterous and unavoidable of the four Grand Slams.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: Novak Djokovic-Andy Murray QF Will Give 2014 US Open Its 1st Great Men's Match

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — Now it gets serious. Now the men’s game, existing almost in a vacuum while the ladies battered each other and the seedings — joyful confusion, you could call it — grabs its rightful place at the U.S. Open.

Now the big names display what they hope are their big games.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc. 

Bleacher Report: Revived Caroline Wozniacki Eyes 2014 US Open Title After Maria Sharapova Upset

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — We called her the Woz, a word play on the Wiz, and on a court Caroline Wozniacki certainly looked like a wiz, a winner, even if she didn’t own a Grand Slam. There wasn’t a shot she couldn’t chase down; there wasn’t a ball she couldn’t return.

She was No. 1 in the women’s rankings for 67 weeks, and in 2009 she made it to the final of the U.S. Open. A loss to Kim Clijsters seemed only a blip, a hiccup as the tennis people say. The Woz was 19, and had to get better.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Bleacher Report: Meet CiCi Bellis, the 15-Year-Old Tennis Phenom Breaking Out at the 2014 US Open

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

NEW YORK — The lyrics are oh so true. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. And in a few sparkling hours, Catherine Cartan Bellis — best known as CiCi — made it big here. To borrow another very New York label, she’s an overnight success.

They love their new stars. On stage. In sports. But who doesn’t? Especially when that newest star, Mademoiselle Bellis, is a teenager, American and pulled off one of the great surprises in tennis.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Newsday (N.Y.): Novak Djokovic beats Roger Federer in Wimbledon men's final

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

It wasn't Novak Djokovic's first hurrah, his victory Sunday in the Wimbledon men's final, but it might have been Roger Federer's last.

A month from his 33rd birthday, Federer was out to get his eighth All-England title. Djokovic had that in mind and also hoped to rid himself of the doubts about his play in championship matches.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Bleacher Report: Epic Novak Djokovic-Roger Federer Wimbledon Final Delivers Unforgettable Drama

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

LONDON — Roger Federer thought it was going to be enough. Except it wasn't — for him.

For tennis, for those who love any sport for the beauty and tension of competition, for those who love athletic brilliance, it was more than enough.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Newsday (N.Y.): Petra Kvitova wins Wimbledon women's title

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

WIMBLEDON, England — It was less a match than a mismatch, 55 minutes of tennis so one-sided the winner was moved to tears by her domination and the loser felt compelled to offer a partial apology.

Petra Kvitova won her second Wimbledon women's singles Saturday, crushing 20-year-old Canadian Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-0 before a Centre Court crowd which hoped for better.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Newsday. All rights reserved. 

Bleacher Report: Djokovic vs. Federer Wimbledon Final Highlighting the Big 4's True Greatness

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

LONDON — The French had their era and their group. “Les Quatre Mousquetaires” (The Four Musketeers) were tennis champions in the late 1920s and ‘30s. The most famous was Rene LaCoste, nicknamed “The Crocodile,” a logo that went on his clothing line.

Australia took over in the 1950s and ’60s with Frank Sedgman, John Newcombe, Ken Rosewall, Roy Emerson, Lew Hoad and the man who may have been the finest ever, Rod Laver. That’s four plus two, but a justifiable exception.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.

Newsday (N.Y.): Roger Federer will face Novak Djokovic in Wimbledon final

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

WIMBLEDON, England — Old guys rule. In tennis, of course, that means men in their late 20s, like Novak Djokovic, or early 30s, like Roger Federer.

The talk the last few days at Wimbledon was of the new generation, of the kids taking over. It won't happen this year.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Bleacher Report: Ageless Roger Federer Silencing Doubters with Dream Run to 2014 Wimbledon Final

By Art Spander
Featured Columnist

LONDON — It was March, the time tennis players look in the future — bright or bleak — and try to accept where they might go compared to where they had been. In the California desert, Roger Federer sounded like a man of acceptance.

“If I can’t play for No. 1,” he told the media at the BNB Paribas tournament in Indian Wells, “I’ll play for winning titles.”

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2014 Bleacher Report, Inc.