Federer Still Majestic in Defeat

During Roger Federer’s hugely enjoyable defeat to Novak Djokovic in their opening World Tour Finals group match on Tuesday night, there was a moment when it became apparent that the Swiss master must go on playing until his legs beg him to stop.

A set and 2-1 down in the second stanza, Federer pulled out a marvellous hold to love, dispatched with the imperious arrogance that we saw so often in his pomp.

There were further moments of outstanding aesthetic and technical beauty, such as an impudent flicked return that caught Djokovic cold en route to a break of the Serb's serve, or the dominant tie-break that saw Federer level at one set apiece.

Whatever the detractors calling for his retirement may say, Federer is still the main attraction in men’s tennis. His popularity remains so much greater than that which accompanies Rafael Nadal (and that accompanied Pete Sampras) that you have to accept the sport of tennis is about much more than just the art of winning. Anyone present at the O2 or watching attentively at home would have noticed the bombastic roar that accompanied every flashing return, every crushing ace, every impudent flick of the backhand.

Federer's popularity is particularly notable when he plays indoors.

When the roof was called for in the second set of Federer’s 2012 Wimbledon final victory over Andy Murray, there was silent collective shrug among British tennis fans, probably including Murray himself.

A set to the good and apparently en route to a maiden Grand Slam title, the somewhat premature decision to draw Centre Court’s new roof – and spend the best part of 45 minutes allowing the court to acclimatise to the new conditions – played into Federer’s hands. For this was no longer a conventional grass-court final (grass being a surface that Murray has pretty much dominated in recent years), but an indoor title showdown. And Federer is arguably the greatest indoor player of all time.

Federer’s alarming 2013 slump is not entirely unexpected; the passing of time diminishes the physique and, while the Swiss was never overly reliant on strength or speed, the marginal decrease in his overall ability is inflated at the upper end of the rankings, in the latter stages of the five-setter.

But, as he showed in Bercy last week, Federer is still one of the sport’s prime indoor movers.

And again, even in defeat, in London Federer again proved he is a force to contend with under a roof.

Indoor tennis – particularly on the hard courts – is a technical leveller. The impact of the conditions is all-but eradicated, unless one has an aversion to the inevitable heat generated between a roof and four walls. You no longer have to hit through the wind or – in the case of the tactically unparalleled Murray – use the forces of nature to your shot-making and point-building advantage.

And technically Federer, still, is unrivalled. The delicate hands of Richard Gasquet and the searing winners of Stanislas Wawrinka come close, while the overall packages offered by Dokovic, Nadal and even Murray are of course now superior, but in terms of racquet manipulation and point anticipation Federer cannot be touched.

Realistically he will have to win most of his matches in two sets to have a chance of claiming a record seventh World Tour finals title; as soon as stamina and fitness enter the equation, the 32-year-old will struggle to cope with the power of Nadal, the flexibility of Djokovic (pictured at his bendy best below) and both men’s endless reserves of energy.

We saw that quite clearly tonight; Federer found the extra reserves needed to claw the second set back from Djokovic, but once it entered a third he faded badly. He simply cannot go the distance with the super-fit Serb – or Nadal, or Murray – at this stage of his career, certainly not enough regularity.

Of course Fed is unlikely to add another Grand Slam to his armoury; given the outstanding athleticism of the ‘big three’, he is unlikely to go the whole way in London (I would be delighted if he proves me wrong).

And of course the other big players are amazing to watch; in addition to his physical superiority and almost psychopathic mental strength, Djokovic also made some marvellous shots, such as the diving backhand across court that caught Federer cold during their second set tete-a-tete. Nole is clearly a vastly superior athlete and, as such, the better player.

But perhaps more than other sports, tennis is as much about entertainment as it is the pragmatism of victory. Gasquet, and fellow Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, are equally unlikely to clinch an elusive Major, yet they remain immensely popular draws on the tour. Fabrice Santoro never broke into the top 10 but, a master of the trick-shot, he put bums on seats into his late thirties.

Should Federer wind down his career simply because he is no longer the best? Fans accustomed to his winning ways should remember that true support comes through thick and thin; even in the twilight of his career, Federer is still a joy to watch. Certainly more so than the drudgery of Nadal and David Ferrer's one-sided, baseline bar-fight earlier.

So just lower the expectation, sit back and prepare to be entertained, for aesthetically Federer remains the world’s number one.

Joe Hart’s Arrogance

Social media was awash with debate as to whether Joe Hart should have been dropped for the match against Norwich City this weekend. There is no debate. If he was a keeper not from these shores, then he would have been dropped long ago.

For Hart, read Manchester United’s Massimo Taibi. Taibi actually took the man-of-the-match award in his first game against Liverpool but was sold after only four appearances for the club having been labelled ‘the Blind Venetian’ – however, if his errors were catalogued alongside those of Hart, they would pale into insignificance.

Is Costel Pantilimon good enough to replace Hart in goal long term? In short, no. While he did not concede on his Premier League debut – that achievement must be given context: prior to the game, Johan Elmander, Gary Hooper and Ricky van Wolfswinkel had mustered a total of only six shots on target this season. They fared little better against City.

This was not a rigorous test of Pantilimon’s credentials but he was shaky enough at the three corners the visitors did muster to confirm that he is no solution to City’s goalkeeping woes. Don’t take my word for it though; take the word of Victor Piturca, his national team coach, who dropped him from the Romania squad for their World Cup play-off against Greece.

The question remains though, who or what is the solution. Is Hart? At the moment the answer is no. However, was he ever? How good is Joe Hart?

There is no doubting that he is a great shot stopper but that is a pre-requisite of a goalkeeper. If he were to be ranked in the list of England keepers of the modern era he would probably fall somewhere alongside Nigel Martyn. Martyn, a purveyor of the great saves but not a great keeper. This is not meant as a slight on either man. They are both solid Premier League goalkeepers.

The only shame is that England have no modern day David Seaman. The media, Hart’s coaches and the fans had Hart down as Seaman’s heir apparent long before he had a true test of his credentials. England’s short-sightedness is the stuff of legend abroad. It is mocked. Take for example Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s quotes after he scored four against England in a friendly last November.

"That's the way it is with the English," he said. "If you score against them you're a good player, if you don't score against them you're not a good player. I remember Lionel Messi before the 2009 Champions League final for Barcelona... then he scored against Manchester United and suddenly he was the best player in the world. Maybe now they'll say something like that about me."

There was hyperbole before the Euros in 2012 that Hart was on a level with Gianluigi Buffon, Iker Casillas and Manuel Neuer. He grew into that talk; at the time the hype bred confidence and for any player – but particularly goalkeepers - confidence is paramount. Look at Gareth Bale. Shorn of confidence, he was almost a makeweight in a deal that would have seen Spurs pay Middlesbrough £15 million and Bale for Stewart Downing; buoyed by confidence, he later became the world’s most expensive player.

However, as soon as that confidence becomes arrogance, it is a slippery slope to comeuppance – Hart’s descent commenced at the quarter-final stage of the Euros. Arrogantly shouting in the face of wily old dog Andrea Pirlo as the maestro stepped up to take his penalty. Pirlo’s response? A panenka. The result? Comeuppance.

Hart has not been the same since. It is a long road to redemption for a goalkeeper whose confidence must be shot to pieces after a terrible run of form, but it can be done. Look at the example of Bale or David De Gea, who could have fallen to the wayside in the same vein as the much maligned Taibi after a tumultuous start to his Manchester United career but showed great mental strength to improve as a player.

Can Hart do the same? Only time will tell. He must know his limitations and work on those – decision making can be worked on, so too command of the area but with Hart there is a reason there was hype. He is a good goalkeeper but he needs to work extremely hard to be talked about at the top table of world goalkeeping.

‘World class’ is an overused term but central to any player who has left a mark on the world game is an inner mental strength to rise above doubts but also to not let the hype go to his head.

Hart has failed at the latter, it is now time to see whether he can make a better fist of the former.