Tennis: Federer out in front

Roger Federer has so far dominated Wimbledon. Picture / Reuters

Sport is littered with names you think you should know.

In another time, another place, they would be lit in neon upon your consciousness, instead of collecting dust in the recesses of your mind.

Perhaps the best example is Raymond Poulidor - he would rate in nearly everybody's top 10 Tour de France riders of all time, yet he never won a tour. He had the misfortune of riding in the same era as Jacques Anquetil who, when he wasn't winning it himself, was pouring all his energies into making sure Poulidor didn't win.

People don't remember Danny Harris and Harald Schmid with the same clarity they remember Edwin Moses, in whose brilliant 400m hurdles trail they followed for years.

In 30-odd years, names like Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick might elicit a similar effect. Theirs could be the relative anonymity of playing in the Roger Federer era.

Sure, Hewitt has two Grand Slam tournaments in the bag - Wimbledon 2002 and the US Open 2001 - and American Roddick won his home championship in 2003. But Federer's brilliance threatens to reduce all others to bit-part players. He has a chance to further that dominance tonight when he meets either Roddick or Thomas Johansson in his bid for a Wimbledon hat-trick.

Federer's game is ideally suited to grass. But, then again, he has a game ideally suited for every surface bar the grinding red dirt of Roland Garros - and no one doubts he will win there one day.

"I've got to bide my time, keep grinding away and try and look for the answers I guess," said the 24-year-old Hewitt, who was swept aside 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 - his eighth successive defeat by Federer. "I feel like I'm the second best player around right now. It's just that the best player is pretty bloody good."

Hewitt, the last player to win Wimbledon before Federer burst through to take the title in 2003, denied the Swiss had a psychological edge, despite his overwhelming superiority in the past two years.

"I don't think (my record) psychologically had much to do with this match," said Hewitt, who last beat Federer in a Davis Cup tie on hardcourts in 2003. "You're always looking for ways to improve, otherwise there's no point in continuing to play.

"Roger is one of the best players I've ever seen, he can mix it up so well," Hewitt said. "He has a great slice, a great forehand, a great serve and he moves extremely well, which is key on this surface. He can serve and volley and stay back. He's got a variety of shots at his disposal."

During his quarter-final with Heineken Open winner Fernando Gonzalez, Federer met an opponent at the top of his game and found he was struggling on his own serve.

But Federer, who has won four Grand Slam titles, can beat opponents in many ways. He adopted a defensive game; stayed back and chipped, blocked and harried the Chilean into a hail of errors, or found an inconceivable angle.

In the semifinals he knew that wouldn't be enough. Hewitt is the modern game's equivalent to the tennis club concrete wall. You can't engage in long rallies with a wall. You have to blast through it early.

In the final, Federer will face a different sort of challenge. Roddick, he of the bazooka serve, has the game most likely to upset Federer on grass, provided he gets past Johansson in their rain-interrupted match overnight. The Swiss will have to absorb early, then counter-punch as Roddick's shoulder feels the pinch.

There is more to Roddick than a big serve. One-weapon players, like Roscoe Tanner and Greg Rusedski, don't accumulate the type of success he's had. But when the pressure comes on, his volleying can become erratic and a big server is vulnerable behind a poor volley.

Federer knows this. Worse, Roddick knows Federer knows this.

Finding chinks in Federer's armour is more difficult. His poetic, one-handed, topspin backhand might momentarily need its radar readjusted but on grass the slice can compensate until he finds his range again.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY