The Pursuit of Perfection... on a Grand Scale

Even when Roger Federer gets sick, it works to his advantage... or so it would appear after two brilliant matches in Melbourne.



Even food poisoning, while it may have made him appear mortal for about a week earlier this month, can't allow the men's field to catch a break with the world's best player.

No tune-up matches? Potentially tired? Ripe for a bad day and, egads, an early-round loss?

Yeah, right.

All Federer's done is put together back-to-back matches that have exhibited a dominance like no one has ever seen in a grand slam event. Through two rounds, he's lost six games... in total. His latest masterpiece was a 6-1/6-2/6-0 clinic against Fabrice Santoro, only the player who's played in more grand slams (62) than any man in the history of the sport. Yet again on Day 4, Federer made perfection seem possible, and his pursuit of it as intriguing as any five-set duel in a final could ever hope to be.

As when Tiger Woods puts up a 22-under par score while his closest competitor is left at least a dozen shots in his wake, Federer smothering an opponent with every shot in the book (and a few that shouldn't be, or aren't at all) is must-see stuff.

At the start of a season where he could secure immortality, Federer so far looks up to the challenge. Could it be that his offseason exhibition tour with all-time slam champ Pete Sampras has actually managed to make him a BETTER player even more focused on carving out a place in the history of the game so far up in the clouds that future generations will marvel at the audacity of it all?

Ummm... yeah, maybe.

Mister Federer is ready for his close-up.






All for now.

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