What is it that makes the playing style of Roger Federer so easy and pleasing to the eye? What sets him apart from his peers in the aesthetic department?
Could it be his poise, ever balanced in his every stroke? Yes, but almost all the top players are perfectly balanced too. Could it be his nimbleness, light on the feet and breathtakingly agile? But the best movers in the game such as Lleyton Hewitt, Novak Djokovic, and Kei Nishikori (to name a few) share the same trait. Now, how about his “effortlessness”, the ability to make the game look so easy to play – and watch? Again, Roger is not unique in this area – Tomáš Berdych, for one, produces the most powerful strokes almost matter-of-factly as if he was merely rallying, with little hint of maximum exertion. Still another: David Nalbandian, the sole player to defeat the Big Three (Roger, Nadal, and Djokovic) at the same tournament, makes returning 200km/h serves – and with conviction to boot – seem like a breeze. So then, what aspect(s) that Roger possesses that differentiates him from the rest in terms of athletic beauty?
In a word, grace.
Grace in the balletic kinaesthetic sense that Roger has in abundance. Take almost any picture of him playing (with the above being an example) and it is cover-worthy for a book or article for its “picturesque” quality. No other tennis player has that grace in abundance – we merely resemble scuffling sportsmen while Roger, a dancer. But what exactly constitutes Roger’s gracefulness?
Surely, all the aforementioned qualities – poise, nimbleness, effortlessness – and if we were to list down more – his stature, his appearance, his gait, his gaze, and whatever constituent parts unique to his body and contributive to his beautiful playing style – but in all these discrete qualities we will not find the whole truth to his grace.
Instead, a unifying force must also be considered which we can also term “grace”, but in the sense of “charis”, a Greek word denoting – among other things – “giftedness” or in the vernacular, “talent”. Thus, talent is what unifies all the stylistic features of Roger’s play style and is what enables him to execute at will all that he posseses, intends and finds graceful. Is this talent innate or merited through hard work? Fundamentally, the former, for how can one merit something one does not already have or bestowed upon? Even Spud Webb who is the shortest man (5’7) to be able to dunk a basketball in the NBA must have a body and mind to work with in the first place to be able to jump 46 inches vertically off the ground (for how many 5’7 men you know desire to execute a slam dunk to such an extent as to train for it – and succeed?). And apart from innate athletic ability, talent is also highly personalised (stylistic) which makes Roger one-of-a-kind: not even Grigor Dimitrov who most resembles Roger’s playing style is exactly similar.
Grace then, is to my mind the key to Roger’s alluring playing style which surpasses all, and we have only to rightfully respond to grace with – yet another aspect of – “grace” (Latin. grātia), that is gratitude.
*Image source: wallpapers.com
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