We like fairy tales, only very few believe in them. We are lucky to witness near miracles. In this Australian Open 2017 men’s final, both miracles and fairy tales seem to happen. I would not forget about this “against all odds” win of Roger Federer in my life.
I love tennis. The challenge is thrilling, there is that desire to play better and the happiness, associated with the presence of mind in the playing moments, delivers even at tough moments in life.
I follow men’s tennis and watch reasonable number of full tennis matches. Watching a full match is very different from catching highlights. In a full match esp. best of five, there are lots of twists and turns, ups and downs, the break points and serve for the match. It is like many life events on display in one tennis match. A great match can be so inspiring. There is often that reverse of fortune, if one player can save many breakpoints, he would break his opponent in the next game. That is a lesson of hanging tough and before one knows it, the good fortune may show up; or if one does not seize opportunity, it would be lost.
Every fan has different favorite tennis players. How much I hope Lendl would have won Wimbledon. He tried so very hard, he skipped French open for 2 years and focused on grass practice, but it was not meant to be, and he ended up as 2-times Wimbledon finalist. It was a good moment when Murray, his pro·té·gé, won it twice years after. That 2002 US open win of Sampras over Agassi was heart warming, though the result did not come as much as a surprise as Sampras beat Agassi in 3 US open finals prior, at that stage, Sampras was no longer in love with the sport.
No player tops my admiration towards how Federer plays the games and how much he is in love with tennis. It is unimaginable if a tennis lover would not also love Federer the same. When he plays well, he is not playing points by points, his play is a flow of different shots, with smooth transition between points, and the spectators are as emotionally vested in the match as the players. It is so different from his contemporaries who often play the attrition game with strenuous and at times monotone shots. The 2006 to 2008 Wimbledon final between Federer and Nadal made an unforgettable trilogy, though the ending was a heartbreaker for Federer fans (and me). It still hurt to read the book on the match years after. The 2006 to 2008 relentless pursuit of French Open got us mostly disappointed how he often seemed to play so tight in Roland Garros against 
Nadal. The 2009 devastating loss of Federer against Nadal in AO final also hurt, in a match that Federer knew he should have won. That same year, Federer was rewarded with the elusive French Open, followed by a Wimbledon win. Those reverse of fortune is so telling that there is always something after the toughest setback. Tennis is greater than any player, but Federer comes that close to equate to tennis.
Reading through interview transcripts is my way to know the players, rather than through the eyes of the journalists. There are way more nice guys in tennis, they are not perfect, they are all insanely competitive, most have extremely positive mindset, overall, they are genuine people. Many ponder this 18 Grand Slam makes perfect exit for Federer. My guess is that he would play until his body tells him to stop, until then he would continue to enjoy those moments of competition, shot making and simply playing. He accepts that he would not win (as) much, which makes every win even more special. And he would be happy as he knows each win makes all the people he care about happier than him.
So many have been written about the AO 2017 final. Federer got to his elusive 18 majors, he won 4 top-10 players along the way, he did three 5-setters, he had medical time out in two matches, he won a major final against his nemesis Nadal after 10 years, he won it in his very first tournament after a six-month injury break. Any of these made great storylines. What is forever heartwarming is that in this tournament, he has played with courage, he has played freely, win or lose he has played his own attacking game, he has shown belief, and above all, he has played with joy. In that final match, he is connected with everyone he cares about, he is connected to past, present and future tennis. That is just beautiful.
oliviatamccue 
[…] is a miraculous year in the world of tennis. After the magical Australian Open Win, the Federer Express kept the dream alive as he won his 8th Wimbledon Title. At this dinosaur […]
[…] back to college, my spouse and I slid back to empty nester. Australian Open came and gone, the miraculous 2017 and the slightly less but still spectacular 2018 did not repeat. Towards the end of the month, […]