Keith Dugganwas present as Roger Federer met the press ahead of his opening game on Sunday
IT IS surely Beijing's good fortune that these Olympics fall at a perfect time to stage the latest chapter in the fascinating rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The Swiss genius must be regarded as a totemic figure by the Chinese, whose faith in the luck of the numeral eight has been symbolised in the date and time of tonight's opening extravaganza.
This day also marks Federer's birthday, an occasion he will mark by carrying the Swiss flag into the Bird's Nest. Yesterday at lunchtime, Federer made a scheduled appearance at Olympics-land, strolling into a hugely crowded conference room and answering questions with his usual combination of absolute charm and mild self-effacement. Interest in Federer has deepened since that transcendent Wimbledon final in July, when he relinquished his reign after five years of supremacy in that unforgettable fifth set played out in the London dusk.
Since then, there has been indifferent form and suggestions that Federer has, for the first time, been battling the kinds of demonic mental torments that can unhinge the most gifted of sportsmen. There have even been rumours that he was bound to go the same way as Bjorn Borg and quit the sport while in full possession of his rare gifts.
Perhaps those were the reasons that people stood outside the conference room doors to hear his views yesterday but there is also no doubt that Roger Federer has become one of the public sensations of world sport.
The era of the press corps as fans with typewriters may be locked in the 20th century but in this steamed-up room in Beijing yesterday there were any number of fans with video phones and other recording devices eager to record their own Federer moment for posterity. Plenty were swooning - and it had nothing to do with the balmy weather.
Federer causes a stir. It is the chief reason that he cannot stay in the Olympic village this week, opting instead for the seclusion of a hotel suite. He stayed in the athlete's quarters in Athens and Sydney and, as he reminisced, it was clear that he enjoyed engaging with fellow competitors, but since then Federer's star has continued to soar and when he walks around the compound now, other Olympians revert to unabashed fans.
"I go down to see the other Swiss athletes and to get the Olympic feel," he said. "But I went there the other day and it is not possible. I cannot escape. There are so many athletes that want pictures and I don't mind it . . . but every day for I don't know how long? It is not the ideal preparation for winning a gold medal. I went through them at Athens and Sydney and I know what the experiences are like. Here, I am trying to prepare for the perfect way."
If Federer has truly been feeling the strain of being the poster boy of international tennis and of late finding himself eclipsed by the passionate power play of his Spanish adversary, then he masks it well. Tennis badly needed a performer capable of challenging Federer's seemingly effortless mastery of the game and the emergence of the fiery Nadal has bestowed the sport with the latest in a rich lineage of enduring tennis duels.
"I think so. Absolutely. Our rivalry is great right now. It is not just since Wimbledon. We have already played one another 15 times. He is only 23, I am 27 so I feel we could play maybe 20 more times. So it is going to be great for the next generation as well and it is good to have this because I didn't really have that many rivals over the past few years. With Rafa there is something special to it - we played six grand slam finals and have very different characters but you know, it is very much on the fair play side and I feel we will definitely leave our mark on tennis."
Federer makes his Beijing debut on Sunday, when he plays Russia's Dmitry Tursnuov, and as he stared into endless flashing light bulbs and cameras broadcasting his latest appearance around the world, it was hard not to feel a little sympathy for the guy who has it all. It was clear as he spoke that he was nostalgic for the relative obscurity that he enjoyed eight years ago in Sydney - when he was also flag bearer for Switzerland.
It was at those games that he met his partner, Mirka Vavrinec, as well.
"Yeah, eight years ago, meeting my girlfriend at the Olympic Games was obviously also a highlight of my career," he smiled when asked about that time.
"Carrying the flag was a different highlight. I don't know what's nicer but I guess it was meeting the girlfriend because we have been together for eight years whereas the flag . . . it was only there for 10 minutes."
When Federer leads the Swiss delegation into the Bird's Nest tonight, he will cause a blinding volley of camera flashes and probably a few screams of delight. He has given himself a day off tennis as a birthday treat.
"Hope to get a big cake," he grinned. "And to make sure I don't trip when I walk into the stadium with the flag. This is going to be the most unique birthday of my life - unless I have a baby on my birthday or something, and that is not planned right now."
Like all the great entertainers, he left them laughing. Federer comes across as hatefully perfect - in addition to re-imagining the borders of tennis, he is fluent in five languages, does untold work with disadvantaged children and, unlike most major sports stars, enjoys laughing at himself - were he not so genuinely charming. And, of course, that quality was at its most vivid in the twilight of Wimbledon, when he accepted his defeat to Nadal with a sense of grace that befitted the occasion.
Yesterday, he insisted that he has moved on from that disappointment and that winning his first Olympic gold would represent a full atonement.
"In my position, it is right up there with the Grand Slam. It is a different feeling because you feel as though you are carrying your country as well. It would mean as much as Wimbledon victory. It is up there."
