Roger Federer's Startling Serve

Yesterday, as all avid tennis fans would know, Roger Federer edged past Nikolay Davydenko, in a scoreline match that belies the complexity of the tactical and mental battle that really went on - 2-6 6-3 6-0 7-5.

Up till about 6-2 3-1 40-15, it seemed we were witnessing the upset of the tournament, with Daydenko having Federer on the proverbial string, in unadulterated control of the match, and the masterful Swiss at a critical impasse in his rivalry with the Russian. It seemed that the old adage—nothing can last forever—and that all streaks must end sometime, would prove true again.

Maybe 22 semis was just about as good as the world was going ever to get.

But there was another stunning moment in that match we should probably all turn our minds back to: the 0-40 situation Davydenko had in the fourth on Fed's serve, up 4-3.

Against most players, and certainly for the players Davydenko faced in the 13 straight wins he had enjoyed to that time, (including perhaps the sub-par two Federer matches) these were de facto set points.

In this moment of crisis, when a fifth set seemed in the making, Federer revealed true character, his true character, in an unbelievable combination of moment and magic, and more astoundingly, the mundane. Five straight first serves, with pinpoint accuracy, concluding with considerable verve, on an ace. It was a characteristic  Federer moment, at which all the world seems to stop , and everyone is choking with emotions of exclamation that just cannot find expression.

As I emphasised, however, it was the sheer mundanity to which Roger had reduced such magic, that cry, amidst all challenges, of the simple against the complex. The enigma of Federer is that he is just that, both simple and complex.

To serve five straight first serves at such a crucial point, as would only allow Davydenko one more game in the match, was incredible, but also incredibly simple, in a sense. Tennis is both a highly complex, and yet highly simplistic, game.

It is in this way that Federer reflected in that sparkling moment the mundane - not only the nonchalance with which he produced those five serves, but also just as a summation of life, of the world. In some highly warped way, sport reflects human existence and life, and in some highly warped way the crises and joys of sport reflect the way we as human beings encounter the highs and lows of our lives.

It is no comparison to see Federer serving to save three consecutive break points against a mid-life crisis, for instance, but it is the human psyche, in these moments, that all of us can relate to. Federer found a horrendously easy solution to what seemed insurmountable scoreboard pressure. Maybe we can never compare global warming and playing tennis, but we certainly see that the only thing we can control in these situations is the mindset, the approach to crises.

Nevertheless Federer's serving yesterday was hardly mundane, and to return to the "complex" part of the simple-complex dichotomy I have sketched, what made it more amazing was the realisation that it was going to be stupendously difficult to serve five first serves at 0-40, against one of the best returners on tour.

Without blowing his horn too much, it is hard to imagine anyone else on the tour who might compare with Federer's adept ability to combine moment with magic. Ivo Karlovic, maybe, and perhaps most other big servers, but to have served like Federer did yesterday, and at other big enough moments in his career, at the biggest stages in the world, is simply phenomenal.

Recall the U.S. Open final in 2007, when Federer served five or so first serves in a row from 5-6, 15-40 in the second set against Djokovic, to turn round what seemed an impossible situation.

Or the Wimbledon final that year, with four straight unreturnables at 4-2 in the fifth?

How about serving four straight aces against Rafa at the Masters later that year?

What about holding serve 15 straight times in the fifth set in the Wimbleodn final last year?

I dont think we can emphasise enough how much "Roger Federer Magic," and the technical complexity involved in it, is grounded in his serve.

Of all the beautiful components that comprise the most fluid and flowery game in tennis, perhaps his serve is the most sublime.

In an era when the power game has made winning so complicated and physically and mentally challenging, Federer showed us yesterday yet again another secret weapon in his seemingly infinite armoury: his ability to use momentum and his serve, to turn around a rather sticky and difficult match, or at least, in that set, to have greatly reduced the complexity of it.

Maybe he won't win another Grand Slam, with the competition and desire of so many young, and arguably equally talented players on tour, but at least with this serve he may just stick in there often enough to get him a couple more.