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By Blair Henley | Wednesday, March 26, 2014

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Roger Federer Fans

Daniela Dominguez (left) flew from Uruguay to Miami to see Roger Federer in person. She'll head home with his autograph. 

(Photo Credit: Christopher Levy)

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. — It has been 10 months since Roger Federer’s disastrous loss to Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round of the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, the loss that had the entire sporting world sparing a thought for his dying career. That streak-snapping Grand Slam exit and the abysmal summer of back problems and racquet experimentation that followed forced Federer’s followers to acknowledge that their time with the suave Swiss might, in fact, have an expiration date.
 
Those dark days have come and gone, at least for now, and the term “vintage Federer” is being thrown around like confetti on New Year’s Eve. Perhaps none are more thrilled than the “super fans” who anxiously study his every move.
 
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Any tennis enthusiast can appreciate the aesthetics of the 32-year-old’s classical style of play, but not everyone subscribes to the “religion” of Roger Federer, a one-way relationship that runs far deeper than average fandom. Federer’s faithful wake up at all hours to watch his matches, their moods determined by his failure or success. They come to tournaments draped in Swiss flags and doused in body paint. They feel an unexplainable kinship with him, some stalking message boards for a chance to sing his praises or defend his “greatest of all time” status in the face of equally rabid Rafael Nadal fans.
 
It was easy to spot Daniela Dominguez (left, above) and her friend Bettina on the grounds of South Florida’s Sony Open. They stood proudly displaying homemade “RF” posters conveniently fashioned into oversized necklaces, perfectly complimenting their red and white feather boas. Dominguez had flown in from her home in Uruguay for the chance to see her idol in person. She got her wish.  
 
“I was able to get his autograph, and I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I was trembling and crying. I don’t know what happened. For 10 years I’ve been looking at him on the TV and I had it in front of me. I could touch him. I finally got what I wanted.”
 
Dominguez watches every televised Federer match, no matter what time of the day or night. “And you can’t talk to her while she’s watching,” her friend chimed in.
 
“He’s perfect,” Dominguez said, explaining matter-of-factly why she was willing to fly internationally to see him compete in person. “Everything about him is perfect – as a man, as a player, everything.”

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Joanne Payson has been courtside for many Federer matches, each one indelibly seared into her memory. She was sitting in “row J” in Arthur Ashe Stadium when Federer lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2011 US Open semifinals after being up two sets to love.
 
“Djokovic just swung wildly and got lucky,” she said of the Serb’s unforgettable return winner while down match point. “[My sister] and I couldn’t sleep that night. We were on the phone re-watching the entire thing, not believing it. It was heart wrenching.”
 
Payson spoke with Tennis Now from box seats at the Sony Open where she proudly displayed her professionally made banner: “Federer the G.O.A.T. Nobody does it betterer,” it read. She has a cache of memorabilia and Roger Federer magazine covers at her home in Hobe Sound, Fla., even dressing up as Federer’s close friend Anna Wintour for Halloween. Like Dominguez, she watches every televised match featuring her tennis hero, waking in the dead of night often “without an alarm clock.”
 
“Watching Roger is like watching some ethereal, incredible classical dancer who has trained as a classical dancer all of his life and suddenly took up tennis,” Payson said, her voice trembling with emotion. “It’s like he’s my son.”
 
Even 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert is mesmerized by Federer. Like Payson, she admits to having a parental attachment to him.
 
“There is something about Roger which just tugs at the heartstrings,” Evert said in a 2013 interview with The Tennis Space. “I don’t know what it is, I can’t say exactly, but he gets to me. It’s almost as though Roger could be my son. I’ve been in this game for more than 40 years, and there has never been a player who has made me as emotional as Roger has, not even close.”
 
Though common sense confirms that Federer is not, in fact, perfect as a player or a person, he’s done a remarkable job in the Internet age of maintaining a reputation as clean and crisp as his Wimbledon whites. To be sure, Federer has had testy moments on the court and with the media, but his track record has proven handy in wiping away the occasional transgression. For his efforts, he has been rewarded with fans loyal to the point of hysteria.
 
Like history’s most iconic rock stars, Federer has a way of convincing people he’s hitting his one-handed backhand or flipping his impossibly voluminous hair just for them. But during a sizable portion of 2013, it appeared he was in the process of packing up his electric guitar, or racquet in this case, for good. Now, with a title and two finals under Federer’s belt in 2014, “super fans” of the Swiss have been given new life with their beloved. And they aren’t about to let it go to waste.

Follow Blair Henley on Twitter: @blairhenley
 


 

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