The Swiss Back Down to Earth With Federer

If you have followed my articles in the past, you may remember me blasting the French tennis fans for their outrageous critique of Amélie Mauresmo, Richard Gasquet, and others. You may remember me ranting about how unfair the British have treated Tim Henman over the years, and how Henman was never going to be able to satisfy their expectations.

Well, I am at it again. Although I have a few things to say, I will not be as harsh on the Swiss tennis fans. First of all, their situation is different than the Brits and the French. The Swiss are not starved for some player to rise to the top and give them the pleasure of looking down from the summit. Sure, the French have had successful players like Yannick Noah and Amelie Mauresmo over the years, but never an absolute reign on No. 1. For the Brits, the most proud moment on the men's side has been the invention of the name "Henman Hill" for the grassy area with the big screen, actually named Aorangi Terrace, on the grounds of Wimbledon.

The Swiss, on the other hand, have tasted perfection, the apogee of the tennis world, "the view from up above" if you will, for so many recent years with the likes of Martina Hingis and Roger Federer that for them the name of the problem is not starvation, but rather luxury. There is a whole generation of young Swiss tennis fans who are not even familiar with the idea of not having a player in the top five. Stanislas Wavrinka, the "other" Swiss player, gets the same treatment as the corner store owner, yet he is ranked in the ATP top 10!

Secondly, the Swiss' critique of Federer, even as of late, has remained "clean." After all, this is a country known for its immaculate appearance and its obsession for order and structure. In other words, they have steered clear of the "below the belt" comments, at least the severe kind to which the likes of Henman and Mauresmo have been subjected in abundance.

Last, but not the least, there are sufficient number of "Rodgeur" defenders among the Swiss, leaving Federer with still plenty of support, unlike the lonesome positions endured by the others. I was talking to a Swiss friend of mine who casually called them "raleurs," meaning grumpies, a group of whiners.

Nevertheless, I do have a few things to say to my Swiss friends, too.

My friends, your days of luxury are over. Of course, there is always a chance that Roger Federer could return to No. 1 (although with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic around, he will never be as dominant as before), or that another Swiss player in the future could be at the top.

But don't think for one moment that you will have the luxury of another champion who conducts himself with class, shows respect for all other human beings while out-performing them on every level in the domain of performance stays above them, who remains somehow friendly to the media, who chooses to continue paying taxes instead of escaping to Monte Carlo (yes, this is a big issue with the European tennis players), and on top of all that, who is friendly with the ball boys, the guys who prepare the courts, and the waiters in the clubhouse!

And those of you who are positioned on the extreme...

In other words, you Swiss media members, who for one reason or another were in dire need to prove yourself right because you said a while back "he is expired" and yet, that day where you can say "I told you so," that day where Federer was going to be simply a lowly No. 2 player, was somehow not seeming to arrive...

Those of you, Swiss or not, who could not stand his plain but steady girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec, who found her too ugly, too boring for a man of such stature like Federer, who felt that Federer should have had a bombshell next to him, a la "all other celebrities" because, um, Roger has money...

Those of you ladies, again Swiss or not, who could not stand Mirka once again because she got to enjoy a different kind of luxury, one in which she gets to shop at the most exclusive stores, one in which she stays in the top hotels in the world, one in which she gets to display all her expensive earrings every time the camera focuses on her during the numerous Slam finals, in short, those of you who were waiting for the day where you can blame this "lucky" girl for Federer's descent, not considering once that maybe Mirka's qualities, not seen to the naked eye, may have a lot to do with Roger's success...

Those of you Swiss sports fans, who could not care less about tennis, and the man who kept on covering your cherished sports pages, even during the days of Euro 2008 (held partially in Switzerland, mind you?), those fans who kept blaming tennis and Federer for not being able to read enough about their "futbol" team who choked a lead away and was booted out of the competition very early, after losing to Turkey in the dying seconds of their match, those fans who find hitting a round hairy ball over a net to be trivial...

You guys can rejoice, yet remain nervous over the prospects of Federer finding his form once again and "Federer-express" over you once again.