Fedegraphica by Mark Hodgkinson

Author:Mark Hodgkinson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MBI
Published: 2016-07-09T16:00:00+00:00

Federer on the practice court with Tony Roche.

‘Oh my God, I made it to number one,’ Federer said after beating Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero in the semi-finals of the 2004 Australian Open. That, according to Annacone, was the easy part. ‘I remember Pete telling me once that it’s way harder to stay there than it is to get there, as you have to figure out your evolution once you have achieved being number one. It’s not that you don’t enjoy the accomplishment of being number one, but you have to consider why you’re playing and how you define yourself as a tennis player. So you’re thinking, “What do I do? Is it now about winning tournaments? Or solely about winning majors?” Players like Pete and Roger need to have a clear idea of what they want to do next.’

Motivation, though, hardly seemed to be a problem for Federer. He finished as the year-end number one on five occasions, one fewer than Sampras. Federer cared deeply about being number one: for years one of his top priorities for the season ahead was to hold on to that ranking. Yet before the start of the 2005 tennis campaign, and after a successful year that included three Grand Slam titles, he was frustrated that he had not had enough time to work on his game. ‘The past year has been impossible. I went from tournament to tournament to tournament, and then I had to rest, so I didn’t feel as though I had as much time on the practice court as I would have wanted. Practice is a must. If you don’t practise, you won’t improve. You’ll stay in the same place and the other players will catch you up. I’m determined to stay ahead of the rest.’

Only a privileged few get into triple figures for consecutive weeks at number one. Jimmy Connors held office for 160 weeks in a row, Ivan Lendl for 157, and Sampras for 102. Federer’s 237 weeks trumps them all. ‘It’s very hard being the world number one for a long time,’ Sampras said. ‘I don’t think it’s humanly possible to keep that up for more than a few years. Eventually you’re going to have a let-down. Being number one is something you carry with you from tournament to tournament. You go to a tournament and you’re dealing with a lot more than the other guys. You’re dealing with the expectations and the demands and the media. It takes it out of you. The guy who is ranked number twenty, all he is focused on is his tennis. It’s an individual sport so you can’t deflect anything. You can’t hide at any time. It’s on you. Being number one is an all-year-long commitment, and the tennis season is a long year.’

According to Annacone, to thrive as the world number one, a player must be able to ‘manage all the expectations of that position, and at the same time make sure that his career trajectory is going in the right way’.

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