Roger Federer's grace under pressure

Long before Roger Federer won his 15th Grand Slam tennis title after four hours and 17 minutes in Wimbledon on Sunday, Andy Roddick hit a huge forehand in the second-set tiebreaker.

The ball landed on Federer's backhand side, but somehow he caught it with his racket, returned it cross-court, over the net, into open space and past Roddick. "Come on!" Federer cried, believing that there was still a way to win. He believed because he is Roger Federer. When the ball seems out of reach, he always manages to get it. When the game is at a turning point, he always serves an ace with pinpoint accuracy. And he does all this while staying cool, looking immaculate, never grunting or shouting at the umpire. Roger Federer must be the kind of person Ernest Hemingway had in mind in 1929 when he talked about "grace under pressure".

"Tennis," says English writer Martin Amis, is "the most perfect combination of athleticism, artistry, power, style and wit." As the greatest player in the history of the game, Roger Federer is also the most perfect combination of athleticism, artistry, power, style and wit.