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Bionic Poster
Excerpts from article :
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2015/06/swiss-army/55285/#.VYd1W_lViko
After visiting Brazil for the first time, in 2012, Federer told the Swiss paper Tages Anzeiger, “I met more fans that collapsed in tears than elsewhere. It was amazing how many were shaking. I had to practically take them in my arms and say, ‘It’s OK, it’s OK.’”
Yet even among that globe-spanning cross-section of humanity, Michele Drohan, a Massachusetts native and Manhattan resident who has never set foot in Switzerland nor spoken with Federer face-to-face, says she “automatically wins any contest in which someone tells me they’re a bigger Federer fan.” Her trump card? The “RF” logo she has tattooed on the inside of her left wrist.
What’s the man behind the Maestro like? Not surprisingly, Taylor was a bit tongue-tied when she met him for the first time.
“But he made it easy,” she says, “because he looks at you and talks to you. He really does care what you think. He really has an inner light.”
For Drohan, being a Fed fan feels personal. She doesn’t mingle or commiserate with an online community, and even believes that Federer “takes the rap” at times for his followers, whose fanaticism has helped inflate his status to saint-like proportions and given him an unwarranted reputation for arrogance.
“I think some of that is transferred from his fans to him,” Drohan says. “I’ve always found his humility charming. He’s really pretty guileless.”
But Drohan echoes other Federer fans when she describes his appeal. While she loves the flair in his game, and she’s thankful that he “saved tennis from the [Lleyton] Hewitt era,” she’s more impressed with how he carries himself as a person.
“He represents the game well,” she says. “He plays fair, he doesn’t look up to his box and he connects well with his fans. I guess I’m proud of the way he conducts himself. He embodies what I think an athlete should be.”
A similar phrase comes up often when you talk to other Federer fans: “He plays the game the way it was meant to be played.” Where he was once a throwback, Federer, with his one-handed backhand and net-rushing style, now looks like the sport’s one remaining connection to how it was played in the last century. Federer has always been a crowd favorite—during the Open era, only Borg has been as universally popular—but the audiences have become bigger and more vocally partisan as he has reached his 30s and begun to succumb to the vulnerabilities of age. He’s still the great one, but now he’s a little like us, too.
At Roland Garros in 2012, Federer screamed at his Parisian faithful to “Shut up!” and stop distracting him. But they went right on paying tribute to their god.
The latter incident points to the way Federer’s elegant image has become a given at this stage in his career. He’s been presented that way for so long that any discordant notes he might strike are washed away with his next display of shot-making brilliance.
That presentation isn’t a phony one. There’s a reason that his fellow players have made Federer the president of the ATP’s player council, and given him the tour’s Sportsmanship Award 10 times. But his strengths have also been judiciously marketed, first by IMG and now through his own agency. It's an image that, like Federer's game, is nothing if not versatile. At the 2007 US Open, “Darth Federer” was born when Nike created black tuxedo shorts for him to wear during night matches. “I thought it really looks cool,” said Federer of his attire. “In New York you can do such a thing. Nowhere else in the world.”
He has worn a white jacket on Centre Court. He’s sponsored by Rolex, Moët & Chandon, Credit Suisse, Mercedes-Benz and Lindt. He travels the world with an entourage that can resemble a small army. If Borg was the right player for the rock-star age, Federer is the right player for our new Gilded Age.
How does Federer feel about being the object of all of this devotion? According to him, his life requires some compartmentalizing. “I have to constantly remind myself again about where I come from,” he told Tages Anzeiger in 2012, “and tell myself who I am. I also like the normal life—back to reality, family, friends, just quiet, please. And then sometimes I dip into the other incredible life I have.”
Federer’s most dedicated fans often see a less-branded and more down-to-earth version of the man in their interactions with him. Like the Queen, Federer sends his fans a Christmas message on his website, thanking them for their support. He says their passion continues to motivate him, especially at smaller events. Near the end of 2013, his most frustrating season, when early-round losses and a back injury had many speculating that he might retire, Federer said he was inspired by the energy of the Chinese fans who came to see him practice in Shanghai.
“I expected some people to be there,” Federer said at the time, “but not hanging over the fence and holding up a banner, ‘I believe in you’. It gives me unbelievable motivation, inspires me to train hard, work hard, push further.”
For Colleen Taylor, it was hard to see Federer relinquish the grip he had on the game when he was at his best, and hard to see him begin the long, inevitable decline every champion faces.
“I went through a period of mourning,” she says. “But now I feel like I was lucky to be around for his prime, and I’m OK with whatever happens. I’ll enjoy what’s left, because there won’t be anyone like him for a long time.”
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2015/06/swiss-army/55285/#.VYd1W_lViko
After visiting Brazil for the first time, in 2012, Federer told the Swiss paper Tages Anzeiger, “I met more fans that collapsed in tears than elsewhere. It was amazing how many were shaking. I had to practically take them in my arms and say, ‘It’s OK, it’s OK.’”
Yet even among that globe-spanning cross-section of humanity, Michele Drohan, a Massachusetts native and Manhattan resident who has never set foot in Switzerland nor spoken with Federer face-to-face, says she “automatically wins any contest in which someone tells me they’re a bigger Federer fan.” Her trump card? The “RF” logo she has tattooed on the inside of her left wrist.
What’s the man behind the Maestro like? Not surprisingly, Taylor was a bit tongue-tied when she met him for the first time.
“But he made it easy,” she says, “because he looks at you and talks to you. He really does care what you think. He really has an inner light.”
For Drohan, being a Fed fan feels personal. She doesn’t mingle or commiserate with an online community, and even believes that Federer “takes the rap” at times for his followers, whose fanaticism has helped inflate his status to saint-like proportions and given him an unwarranted reputation for arrogance.
“I think some of that is transferred from his fans to him,” Drohan says. “I’ve always found his humility charming. He’s really pretty guileless.”
But Drohan echoes other Federer fans when she describes his appeal. While she loves the flair in his game, and she’s thankful that he “saved tennis from the [Lleyton] Hewitt era,” she’s more impressed with how he carries himself as a person.
“He represents the game well,” she says. “He plays fair, he doesn’t look up to his box and he connects well with his fans. I guess I’m proud of the way he conducts himself. He embodies what I think an athlete should be.”
A similar phrase comes up often when you talk to other Federer fans: “He plays the game the way it was meant to be played.” Where he was once a throwback, Federer, with his one-handed backhand and net-rushing style, now looks like the sport’s one remaining connection to how it was played in the last century. Federer has always been a crowd favorite—during the Open era, only Borg has been as universally popular—but the audiences have become bigger and more vocally partisan as he has reached his 30s and begun to succumb to the vulnerabilities of age. He’s still the great one, but now he’s a little like us, too.
At Roland Garros in 2012, Federer screamed at his Parisian faithful to “Shut up!” and stop distracting him. But they went right on paying tribute to their god.
The latter incident points to the way Federer’s elegant image has become a given at this stage in his career. He’s been presented that way for so long that any discordant notes he might strike are washed away with his next display of shot-making brilliance.
That presentation isn’t a phony one. There’s a reason that his fellow players have made Federer the president of the ATP’s player council, and given him the tour’s Sportsmanship Award 10 times. But his strengths have also been judiciously marketed, first by IMG and now through his own agency. It's an image that, like Federer's game, is nothing if not versatile. At the 2007 US Open, “Darth Federer” was born when Nike created black tuxedo shorts for him to wear during night matches. “I thought it really looks cool,” said Federer of his attire. “In New York you can do such a thing. Nowhere else in the world.”
He has worn a white jacket on Centre Court. He’s sponsored by Rolex, Moët & Chandon, Credit Suisse, Mercedes-Benz and Lindt. He travels the world with an entourage that can resemble a small army. If Borg was the right player for the rock-star age, Federer is the right player for our new Gilded Age.
How does Federer feel about being the object of all of this devotion? According to him, his life requires some compartmentalizing. “I have to constantly remind myself again about where I come from,” he told Tages Anzeiger in 2012, “and tell myself who I am. I also like the normal life—back to reality, family, friends, just quiet, please. And then sometimes I dip into the other incredible life I have.”
Federer’s most dedicated fans often see a less-branded and more down-to-earth version of the man in their interactions with him. Like the Queen, Federer sends his fans a Christmas message on his website, thanking them for their support. He says their passion continues to motivate him, especially at smaller events. Near the end of 2013, his most frustrating season, when early-round losses and a back injury had many speculating that he might retire, Federer said he was inspired by the energy of the Chinese fans who came to see him practice in Shanghai.
“I expected some people to be there,” Federer said at the time, “but not hanging over the fence and holding up a banner, ‘I believe in you’. It gives me unbelievable motivation, inspires me to train hard, work hard, push further.”
For Colleen Taylor, it was hard to see Federer relinquish the grip he had on the game when he was at his best, and hard to see him begin the long, inevitable decline every champion faces.
“I went through a period of mourning,” she says. “But now I feel like I was lucky to be around for his prime, and I’m OK with whatever happens. I’ll enjoy what’s left, because there won’t be anyone like him for a long time.”
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