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swiss indoors

Mondays with Bob Greene: Roger Federer wins Swiss Indoors

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STARS

David Ferrer beat Marcel Granollers 7-5 6-3 to win the Valencia Open 500 in Valencia, Spain

Roger Federer beat Novak Djokovic 6-4 3-6 6-1 to win the Swiss Indoors in Basel, Switzerland

Ana Ivanovic beat Alisa Kleybanova 6-2 7-6 (5) to win the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali, Indonesia

Ivan Dodig beat Igor Kunitsyn 6-4 6-3 to win the President’s Cup in Astana, Kazakhstan

Peng Shuai beat Ayumi Morita 6-1 6-4 to win the Taipei Ladies Open in Taipei, Taiwan

Stefan Edberg beat Marat Safin 7-6 (5) 2-6 10-8 (Champions tiebreak) to win The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman Legends Championships in Grand Cayman

Italy beat the United States 3-1 to win the Fed Cup final in San Diego, California, USA

SAYINGS

“It’s obviously a beautiful moment. It’s always very emotional and just a good feeling. I’m very happy. I’ve had a great history here. I can’t believe I’ve been in the final so many times and I’ve won already four times. I couldn’t be more happy today.” – Roger Federer, after winning his hometown tournament in Basel, Switzerland

“Overall it was a good week. The only thing today, which I think was bad, was the third set. I lost a little bit of balance and a little bit of focus and in a split second I was already 5-1 down and there was no way back.” – Novak Djokovic, after losing to Roger Federer in the Swiss Indoors final.

“We ended up with a pretty good tiebreaker, so it was a good end to the match. I was the lucky one today. It’s always a point or two that makes a difference. I think he could have won easily.” – Stefan Edberg, after edging Marat Safin in Grand Cayman.

Roger Federer

“I never played (Stefan), just watched him on TV, but I loved all his matches, of course, at Wimbledon, and I love the way he played. He’s in great shape. He serves well and moves around pretty good. He’s good. He’s really good.” – Marat Safin, after losing to Stefan Edberg in a senior tournament.

“The second set came down to mental strength and just believing in myself. I managed to stay calm so I was happy to close out the match. … It’s great to win another title. I am thrilled and it’s a big step for me. The last few months have been great and really exciting, and it’s a good way to go into next season.” – Ana Ivanovic, who won the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions.

“There was a lot of big hitting out there today, it was power doubles and we decided to switch back to our normal sides for the breaker to hopefully change momentum and it worked. We just caught a little spurt of good luck and it took us to the match.” – Bob Bryan, who teamed with his twin brother Mike to win the Swiss Indoors doubles title.

“Billie Jean King is one of the sport’s all-time greats, both on court and in all her accomplishments away from tennis. She has been an active and successful contributor to Fed Cup, and her fight for equality in sports and society has had an immensely positive effect on the competition.” – Francesco Ricci Bitti, International Tennis Federation president, in presenting King with the 2010 Fed Cup Award for Excellence.

“I just got married a few days ago, but I was given the chance to play doubles with Andy at a big tournament, and we made the most of it.” – Jamie Murray, who skipped his honeymoon to play doubles with his brother Andy. They won at Valencia, Spain, their first doubles title as a team.

“It’s amazing. Not many people can say they have won a title with their brother. It was the first time that Jamie and I have won a title together, so it’s one of the best wins of my career.” – Andy Murray.

SPARKLING AGAIN

Ana Ivanovic took another giant step in her return to top-flight tennis by winning her second tournament in three events. This time, the Serb beat Alisa Kleybanova to capture the Tournament of Champions and move back into the Top 20 in the WTA rankings. In 2008, Ivanovic won the French Open and reached number one in the world. But she slumped to 65th in the rankings in July, but will close out her season ranked 17th in the world.”There will be some ups and downs until I get to that level where I feel comfortable playing against top players all the time, but I feel very confident about my game and my fitness,” said Ivanovic, who turned 23 during the Bali, Indonesia, tournament. “I feel my game is getting close to where it used to be and I’m even more aggressive, and experience-wise I’m much more mature and a more complete player now.” Against Kleybanova, Ivanovic weathered some heavy hitting and served well. She closed out the victory with her eighth ace of the match. It was Ivanovic’s 10th WTA singles title, having won at Linz, Austria, three weeks ago. Prior to that, she hadn’t won a tournament since 2008.

STEFAN SHOWS. SAFIN

Marat Safin got to see up close and personal why Stefan Edberg is in the International Tennis Hall of Fame. In their first career meeting, Edberg defeated Safin 7-6 (*5) 2-6 10-8 (Champions Tiebreak) to win The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman Legends Championships. It was Edberg’s first career title on the Champions Series, the tennis tour for players age 30 and over. The ATP Tour careers of Edberg and Safin did not overlap. Edberg’s final year was in 1996, two years before Safin had his break-our year. “It’s fun when you get into a Championship tiebreaker because you know you’ve got another r5, 10 minutes and you can give everything you have. You know it’s going to be over,” said Edberg, who at 44 is 14 years older than Safin. “That’s the good part about tennis, when you feel that you’re getting towards the end and you still have the chance to win. You can see the finish line.”

STARRING

Billie Jean King has been given the 2010 Fed Cup Award for Excellence. Francesco Ricci Bitti, president of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), and Mark Stenning, CEO of the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum, presented King with the honor during the Fed Cup final in San Diego, California, USA. King, a member of United States teams that won seven Fed Cup titles in a stretch from 1963 to 1979, posted a Fed Cup record of 26-3 in singles and 26-1 in doubles. She won her last 30 consecutive matches. As captain, King led American teams to four Fed Cup titles.

Italy’s Francesca Schiavone was given the 2010 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Heart Award during the Fed Cup finals. Schiavone edged out fellow nominees Flavia Pennetta of Italy and Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Liezel Huber in voting by the public. The Italian was presented with a silver Baccarat bracelet and a check for $10,000, which will be donated to her chosen charity,

SIBLING SUCCESS

American twins Bob and Mike Bryan showed the Swiss Indoors crowd just why they have clinched the year-end number one ATP Doubles Team Ranking. The Bryans defeated Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic 6-3 3-6 10-3 (match tiebreak) to win their 11th tour-level title of the season. The Americans finish the season as the number one team for a record sixth time in eight years. It also was their 11th victory in 11 finals this year, and the second time in their career that they have won 11 titles in a single season. The 32-year-old twins could boost that since they are entered in two more tournaments: the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, France, and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London, England. And they improved their Open Era record by winning their 67th career title.

Brothers Andy and Jamie Murray teamed up for their first ATP Tour doubles title – 66 behind the Bryan brothers – when they edged Mahesh Bhupathi of India and Max Mirnyi of Belarus 7-6 (6) 5-7 10-7 (match tiebreak) to capture the Valencia Open. The Murray brothers had previously reached finals in Bangkok, Thailand, and Valencia, Spain. The recently married Jamie postponed his honeymoon when he had a chance to play doubles with his brother in a big tournament.

STANDING DOWN?

Australian Rennae Stubbs is considering retirement. Winner of four women’s doubles and two mixed titles in Grand Slam tournament play, Stubbs says she will play the Australian Open in January and then, if she is selected, Australia’s first-round Fed Cup tie against Italy in Hobart the following week. “If we win Fed Cup and get to the semis, there’s a small possibility that I’d still like to be a part of that journey, having been on the train for so long,” Stubbs said. “But the plan is that Fed Cup will probably be it. (Retirement) is 99.99 sure. I don’t think it will ever feel totally right, but I’m as certain as I can be.”

SCHOLARSHIPS

Bulgaria’s two top players – Grigor Dimitrov and Tsvetana Pironkova – will receive monthly stipends from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) until the London Games in 2012. The scholarships, provided under the “Olympic Solidarity” program, were made possible after the Bulgarian Tennis Federation applied to the Bulgarian Olympic Committee for the program. The two tennis players now have a big chance to participate in the 2012 London Games. Dimitrov is currently ranked 112th in the world in the ATP Tour rankings. Pironkova, who reached the semifinals at Wimbledon, is 35th in the WTA rankings.

STOPPED BY INJURY

Add another player to the growing injured list – Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, who withdrew from tournaments in Basel, Switzerland, and Paris, France. “I injured my right shoulder in Vienna and have been advised to rest so as not to cause any further damage,” Baghdatis said on his website. “I am disappointed that the season has come to an early end, but I am very happy with my progress in 2010.” Hampered by injuries, Baghdatis dropped out of the top 100 in 2008, but he has climbed back up to number 20 in the ATP Rankings.

STORM SETTLED

Roger Federer and the Swiss tennis federation have apparently resolved their differences over the superstar’s last-minute decision to withdraw from the Davis Cup tie in Kazakhstan in September. The 16-times Grand Slam tournament champion was criticized when he withdrew two days before the tie, which Switzerland then lost 5-0. Federer has played 37 Davis Cup ties, although he has limited his play since 2005. “I had a good conversation with the president of Swiss Tennis and all is under control,” Federer said.

SKIPPING GAMES

Pakistan has withdrawn its tennis team from the Asian Games because its top player, Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, refuses to play the event. Instead, Qureshi, one of the top doubles players in the world, will continue to honor his international commitments. Qureshi represented Pakistan at last month’s Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India, and has been a Davis Cup stalwart for his country. But Qureshi is the only Pakistan tennis player who had qualified for the Asian Games. “One can participate in the tennis event at the Asian Games level only through qualification,” an official of the Pakistan tennis federation said. “We have no other player who has qualified for the event.”

SETTLING A DISPUTE

A Swiss court has ruled that three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker must pay the minister who presided over his wedding. Settling a long-running dispute, the court ordered Becker to pay USD $2,067 to the pastor who oversaw his second marriage to Dutch model Sharlely Kerssenberg in 2009. A six-time Grand Slam tournament champion, Becker was also charged USD $2,347 in legal fees. The sum is much less that that sought by the minister, who claimed he was due a fee of some USD $9,981. Becker sold broadcast rights to RTL television of Germany to air his June 2009 wedding ceremony in Saint-Moritz, Switzerland, while another channel broadcast his marriage announcement to nearly 10 million viewers.

SEE ALL

The BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., will become the first tennis tournament to feature replay technology on all of its courts next year. The tournament, scheduled for March 7-20, combines both men’s and women’s tours. Tournament director Steve Simon said by having the replay technology on all eight courts will make the tournament the most accurately officiated in the world. Most tournaments feature Hawkeye replay technology on up to three courts.

SAMIR’S THE ONE

So what if Samir Iftikhar failed to show up for his semifinal match for more than 45 minutes after its scheduled start! So what is his opponent had already been awarded the victory by default! Tournament officials and Iftikhar’s father talked Ageel Khan, the top seed at the Pakistan National Hard Court Championships, into playing the semifinal anyway. And, let’s make it the day after it was originally scheduled. “I accepted this demand because everyone was coming to me and saying that I should play the match,” Khan said. “I did not want them to say that I was afraid of Samir and was running away from the match. So I accepted to play this match again despite that the referee had already declared me the winner.” The 18-year-old Iftikhar beat Khan 0-6 6-4 6-3, then went on to win the men’s title by downing Jaleel Khan 6-1 6-3. But Iftikhar wasn’t finished. He played a third match, beating Muhammad Abid 6-4 6-0 to also win the Boys 18 title at the Pakistan Sports Complex in Islamabad.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Astana: Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins beat Michail Elgin and Alexaqndre Kudryavtsev 6-3 7-6 (10)

Basel: Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan beat Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic 6-3 3-6 10-3 (match tiebreak)

Taipei: Chang Kai-chen and Chuang Chia-jung beat Hsieh Su-wei and Sania Mirza 6-4 6-2

Valencia: Andy Murray and Jamie Murray beat Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi 7-6 (6) 5-7 10-7 (match tiebreak)

SITES TO SURF

Paris: www.fft.fr/bnpparibasmasters/2010/

Ortisei: www.itfvalgardena.com

Phoenix: www.goldwaterwomensclassic.org/

Sydney: www.thechampionsdownunder.com.au/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$3,075,000 BNP Paribas Masters, Paris, France, hard

$88,000 Val Gardena – Sudtirol, Ortisei, Italy, hard

WOMEN

$75,000 Goldwater Tennis Classic, Phoenix, Arizona, USA, hard

SENIORS

The Champions Downunder, Sydney, Australia, hard

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$150,000 Ritro Slovak Open, Bratislava, Slovakia, hard

$50,000 JSM Challenger, Champaign, Illinois, USA, hard

SENIORS

Emirates NBD The Legends “Rock” Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Why the Swiss Indoors is like a Grand Slam for Roger Federer

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Roger Federer hits the courts this week in his hometown of Basel, Switzerland for the Swiss Indoor Championships. Roger is a three-time champion at the event, but it was, at one time, an elusive title for him as it was not until 2006 that he won his first “hometown” title. Rene Stauffer, the author of the Federer biography THE ROGER FEDERER STORY: QUEST FOR PERFECTION ($24.95, New Chapter Press, www.RogerFedererBook.com) details Federer’s first playing experience in Basel in 1998 in this exclusive book excerpt.

In recognition for his results in Toulouse, Federer received a wild card entry into the Swiss Indoors, Switzerland’s biggest tournament, from tour­nament director Roger Brennwald. This tournament guaranteed him a prize money paycheck of at least $9,800. The tournament took place at St. Jakobshalle in Basel’s south side, within walking distance of Federer’s home in Münchenstein. This event, played originally in an inflatable dome in 1970, is one of the most important indoor tournaments in the world that almost every great player has played in. When a virtually unknown Czech player named Ivan Lendl defeated the legendary Björn Borg in the Swiss Indoor final in 1980, it garnered major headlines around the world. The 34th and final duel between John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors took place at the Swiss Indoors in 1991.

Roger Federer

Future world No. 1 Jim Courier won his first ATP tourna­ment in Basel in 1989. Stefan Edberg won the Swiss Indoors three times and Ivan Lendl won the title twice. Borg, McEnroe, Boris Becker, Vitas Gerulaitis, Goran Ivanisevic, Yannick Noah, Michael Stich, Pete Sampras and Guillermo Vilas are also champions of the event.

For Roger Federer, the Swiss Indoors is like a Grand Slam tournament. The St. Jakobshalle is the place of his dreams, like Centre Court at Wimbledon. In 1994, he was a ball boy at the event, grabbing balls for such players as Rosset, Edberg and Wayne Ferreira, who won the title back then. Now, four years later, he was a competitor in the event. His first-round match was against none other than Andre Agassi. In his youthful hauteur, Federer boldly stated “I know what I’m up against—as opposed to Agassi who has no idea who I am. I am going to play to win.”

But Agassi, the former No. 1 player ranked No. 8 at the time, was without question a larger caliber opponent than what Federer faced in Toulouse. Agassi allowed the hometown boy only five games in the 6-3, 6-2 defeat and said he was not overly impressed by the Swiss public’s new darling. “He proved his talent and his instinct for the game a few times,” the American said kindly. “But for me it was an ideal first round where I didn’t have to do all that much and where I could get accustomed to the new conditions.”

On October 29, 2006, Federer achieved on his major goals as a professional tennis player winning in Basel after seven attempts. As excerpted from the book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com), Federer hosted a pizza party for ball kids at the Swiss Indoors after he finally won his hometown tournament with a 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (3) final-round win over Fernando Gonzalez of Chile.  “It’s a dream to finally win my home tournament,” said Federer, “This is an exciting moment and one of the nicest titles (out of 44) of my career.” In the on-court trophy ceremony, Federer, a former ball boy at the tournament, told ball kids, “Don’t go away, there’s pizza coming for you later, that’s something I remember from here.” Writes Rene Stauffer in QUEST FOR PERFECTION “He did not forget that years before, he too was a ball kid at the event.”

Federer’s First Season-Ending Championship

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Roger Federer
Roger Federer

Roger Federer is playing in the ATP World Tour’s season-ending championship for an eighth time in 2009 at the O2 Arena in London. It was in 2002 when Federer first qualified for the ATP World Tour finale as a xx-year-old. Rene Stauffer, the respected Swiss tennis writer, chronicles Federer’s first appearance at the ATP World Tour Finals in this excerpt from his book THE ROGER FEDERER STORY, QUEST FOR PERFECTION ($24.95, New Chapter Press, www.RogerFedererBook.com). This chapter, chapter No. 14, is called “Red Dawn In China.”

Roger Federer’s title in Vienna represented a big step towards qualifying for the Tennis Masters Cup in China. Federer passed Albert Costa, Andy Roddick and Tommy Haas in Champions Race to rank No. 7 after his victory along the banks of the Danube. His ATP ranking, based on the 52-week results, also rose to a career-high No. 7—the career-high ranking that his countryman Jakob Hlasek achieved in 1989. After a quarterfinal finish at the Tennis Masters Series event in Madrid, Federer moved to No. 6 in the rankings—marking the highest ATP ranking ever achieved by a Swiss player. His trip to China was well within reach, but now he wanted to finally win “his” tournament—the Swiss Indoors in Basel. After finishing runner-up the last two years, Federer seemed poised to finally capture his hometown tournament. In the quar­terfinals, Federer faced Roddick for the first time in his career and defeated the 19-year-old American 7-6 (5), 6-1 in an exciting match that lasted until midnight. In the semifinals, the brawny David Nalbandian, Federer’s rival from junior days, spoiled Roger’s hometown title dreams, winning a 6-7 (2), 7-5, 6-3 decision after trailing 7-6, 3-1.

The final ATP event of the year is the Tennis Masters Series in Paris, played at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, a majestic entertainment arena located on the north bank of the Seine featuring manicured grass-covered sides on its outside walls. The event usually decides the final qualifiers for the year-end Tennis Masters Cup and 2002 was no different. Federer of­ficially booked his ticket for Shanghai when Tim Henman lost in the third round to Nicolas Escude and Federer straight-setted Tommy Haas to reach the quarterfinals. With his goal achieved, Federer’s quarterfinal with Hewitt lacked the tension of his previous matches, and he lost to the world No. 1 in straight sets.

Federer traveled to Shanghai in November of 2002 as the No. 6 ranked player in the world. At age 21, he was the youngest player in the Tennis Masters Cup field, had nothing to lose as a first-time qualifier and there­fore, he was duly relaxed during the event. “Everything after this will be an encore,” he said. The Tennis Masters Cup took place in one of five gigantic exhibition halls that were reminiscent of airplane hangars in the Pudong district of Shanghai, a faceless area between the airport and downtown.

For Federer, his trip to the Tennis Masters Cup in China was unique. “This is no ordinary tournament; it’s an adventure,” he said juggling tennis balls in front of his hotel and parading up and down along the edge of a four-lane main road in a publicity photo shoot for photographers. He was playing in the Far East for the first time and immediately felt comfortable in his new surroundings. He enjoyed the unique atmosphere of the 11,500 square meter Expo-Hall, whose 10,000 spectators turned the place into an electric atmosphere.

The Tennis Masters Cup was the biggest, the most expensive and the most widely-covered professional sports event in China at the time. For most Chinese, tennis was relatively unknown. It was an undiscovered sport that they didn’t yet really understand. Whenever players double-faulted, the specta­tors would scream. Enthusiastic Chinese journalists would pose the strangest questions in press conferences. “Why are you always smiling, Mistel Fedelel? Because you are in such good shape?” a Chinese reporter asked Federer in broken English. Following another match, French Open Champion Albert Costa was asked by a Chinese scribe, “You always used to eat bananas when chang­ing sides. Why not today? Perhaps because you don’t like Chinese bananas?”

Federer, the Masters rookie who came to China with his mother Lynette and girlfriend Mirka, basked in the preferential treatment accorded to each of the eight participants. “I feel special here with the entire hullabaloo and the many body guards,” he said. “They read your every desire from your lips. It’s fortunate that there are so few players here.” At Shanghai, it became even more clear that Federer possessed a certain star quality and that he wasn’t blinded by the limelight. He loved the attention and flourished in it.

The Tennis Masters Cup is a round-robin event with the eight qualifying players paired in two round-robin groups of four. In his group, Federer ranked Andre Agassi as the favorite and himself and Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain as the leading contenders for the No. 2 position. Federer’s assessment quickly proved to be wrong. Federer beat Ferrero in his opening round-robin match and then defeated Jiri Novak for a 2-0 round robin record. Federer then clinched his round-robin flight when Agassi lost to both Novak and Ferrero. No longer with a chance of making the semifinals, Agassi hastily left China in disappointment, using a hip injury as the reason for his withdrawal.

In the semifinals, Federer faced Hewitt, who already clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking for a second year in a row. The Australian barely qualified for the semifinals and benefited from Carlos Moya winning a three-hour mean­ingless match over fellow Spaniard Costa, where a Costa victory would have him reach the semifinals rather than Hewitt. Although Federer lost five of the last seven matches with Hewitt, he reasoned his chances of beating him and winning the first big championship of his career were very attainable.

Federer started his semifinal with Hewitt in furious fashion, taking a 3-0 and a 5-2 first-set lead, but Hewitt ran and fought as if his life were at stake. Hewitt fought off five set points and rallied for a 6-5 lead. Serving for the set, Hewitt staved off another five break points, before capturing the first set 7-5. Federer, however, was not ready to surrender. The second set turned into a wild back-and-forth struggle. Hewitt served for the match at 5-4 and held match point, but Federer broke back for 5-5. After holding serve for 6-5, Federer evened the match by breaking Hewitt’s serve, connecting on his fourth set point of the game.

The Chinese fans went wild—out of their seats, screaming and cheering. In the commentary booth high above the stadium, Heinz Günthardt and Stefan Bürer, the Swiss TV commentary team, described the tension and fast-paced action to the audience back in Switzerland, where it was Saturday morning and many people postponed their weekend shopping to watch the dramatic match with their new sports hero.

As the match extended into a third hour, the breaks seemed to fall in favor of Federer. Leading 4-3 in the final set, Federer held two break points to put him in the position to serve for the match. Both opportunities, however, were lost and Hewitt held for 4-4. Hewitt then subsequently broke Federer’s serve the next game to serve for the match at 5-4. The Australian reached his second match point—and shockingly double-faulted. Federer then broke Hewitt’s serve to square the match at 5-5. Serving with new balls in the next game, Federer committed two consecutive double-faults to allow Hewitt to break him back and gained another opportunity to serve for the match. It took Hewitt another four match points before he finally corralled Federer and advanced to the final with an epic 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 victory. Following the match, Hall of Fame journalist Bud Collins walked into the press room and asked his fellow scribes, “Have you ever seen a better match?”

In the craziest match of his career to date, Federer was aware that he let victory escape from his grasp. “I have no one to blame but myself,” he said to a small group of Swiss journalists who traveled to China. “Luck wasn’t on my side. I blew a big opportunity. That hurts.” A vacation in Phuket, Thailand helped heal the wounds.

Roger Federer’s Pizza Party

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Roger Federers pizza party
Roger Federer's pizza party

On October 29, 2006, Roger Federer achieved one his major goals as a professional tennis player. As excerpted from the book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com), Federer, after seven attempts, hosted a pizza party for ball kids at the Swiss Indoors in his hometown of Basel, Switzerland as he finally won his hometown tournament with a 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (3) final-round win over Fernando Gonzalez of Chile.  “It’s a dream to finally win my home tournament,” said Federer, “This is an exciting moment and one of the nicest titles (out of 44) of my career.” In the on-court trophy ceremony, Federer, a former ball boy at the tournament, told ball kids, “Don’t go away, there’s pizza coming for you later, that’s something I remember from here.” Writes Rene Stauffer in THE ROGER FEDERER STORY, QUEST FOR PERFECTION ($24.95, New Chapter Press, www.RogerFedererBook.com) “He did not forget that years before, he too was a ball kid at the event.”

Federer, who has won the event the last three years and will again play the tournament next week, was unable to play the event in 2004 and 2005 due to injury. The following is another excerpt from THE ROGER FEDERER STORY, QUEST FOR PERFECTION, that describes Federer’s 2004 withdrawal;

By early October, Federer already won ten titles in the 2004 season. His match record stood at 69-6 and there were still four tournaments remaining on his schedule. Two more important ATP records were within reach—most victories in a season (86) and most tournament titles in a season (12), both set in 1995 by the left-handed Austrian clay courter Thomas Muster. But then, the unexpected happened. Federer withdrew from the event in Madrid because he didn’t feel sufficiently rested after his world tour. He preferred to concentrate his energies on winning the event that was as high on his wish-list as the French Open—the Swiss Indoors. At the tournament’s Monday opening presentation in Basel’s town hall, Federer was in a fine mood, upbeat and told all the assembled media how well prepared he was for the week. However, just a few hours later, he was overtaken during a practice session by what must have been the curse of Basel—he suddenly felt an unusual pain in his left thigh. The pain persisted during his practice session on Tuesday. He hastily underwent a magnetic resonance imaging examination, which re­vealed a muscle fiber rupture—an injury common for tennis players. Instead of his long-desired triumph in his hometown, the Swiss Indoors brought him some of the bitterest hours of his career. He showed up at the St. Jakobshalle Tuesday evening—when he was scheduled to make his tourna­ment start—wearing street clothes. He withdrew from the tournament and explained to the media and the public what happened. “I never imagined that it would turn out like this,” he said. “I had made perfect preparations and had a good chance at winning the tournament.”