THE BLACKBURN REPORT

News and Opinion Based on Facts

Monday, January 24, 2011

Stan Wawrinka versus Roger Federer


Stan Wawrinka , from Switzerland, played one of the greatest tennis players in history today in the quarterfinals of the Austrtalian Open.
The commentator Pat MCEnroe expressed the opinion that Wawrinka caved.
I don’t think so.
He played Federer at his best.
Few can stand up to that.

Tonight Federer looked thin, I mean athletically thin.
He had the eye of the tiger.
Like Ali in the Ring, Federer seems to float across the court.
Coiling his body into every shot, every shot a power shot.

Federer  is truly a phenomena.
He is the Muhammad Ali of Tennis.
I mean, in athletic terms.
He is a step ahead of, a blur faster than his opponents.

As a personality, he is different in some ways.
Federer seems appreciative of his opponents.
As people and as players.
He doesn’t seem over-impressed with his own accomplishments.

He loves tennis.
He loves to talk about tennis.

He was being interviewed after a tough match and while mentioning some of the hard fought rallies and rugged points, Jim Currier asked, “But you like that though, don’t you?”

Federer’s face lit up, “I do. I like the pressure, I love it.
The hard points and the difficult shots are the most fun.”

I’d advise anyone interested in watching a living legend in his prime, watch the rest of the Australian Open.









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