Tursunov Took Shots at Roger in Facing Federer book

Steve Tignor did this interview with the author of Facing Federer, it’s pretty insightful and interesting…

Stephen Tignor: It seems like you talked to pretty much everyone remotely related to the sport of tennis in this book. But they seemed happy to talk about their personal
experience with Roger Federer, no matter how small it was. And it seems like
virtually all of those experiences were positive.

Scoop Malinowski: The entire book is a positive experience. Every single person associated with the sport respects Federer to the max. Which really is a remarkable credit to Roger Federer. I loved how everybody, from a ballkid, to supermodel, to low ranking journeyman, to world heavyweight champion, they all had something interesting and revealing to say about Roger Federer. The process of making this book from day one to the completion was just a barrel of fun and excitement, except of course for the suffering of the final editing stages, but that’s part of our job as writers 🙂

Steve: First, what gave you the idea to do a book like this, a sort of oral history of a person by those around him? I know you’re a boxing guy is there a similar book about a fighter? I imagine one reason to do it about Federer is that everyone would be happy to recount their moment with the maestro. I know you asked me about him, and I mentioned that I had first met him in Key Biscayne in 1999, when he was 18. He had lost in the first round at that tournament, and he was still saying things like, “If I make it on the tour…” It’s interesting to think about how much can change for a person.

Scoop: I still remember the line you gave me, Roger told you, “If I even have a career…” That loss in Miami was to Kenneth Carlsen. Federer was still struggling that summer too. He lost in the second round of qualies at the US Open in 99 to Ivo Heuberger in straight sets. The idea to do this book first hatched from a cover story about Federer that I did for Moves Magazine about five years ago, it was a collection of memories, anecdotes and quotes by Roger and about Roger from all kinds of perspectives. The article was a different style but it was well received because the content was interesting and quality. You know how some paintings are photo realistic and some are the total opposite, like Picasso or Van Gogh… I had the idea in my head to dabble with a different kind of writing style, like how an abstract painting is different…creative, unpredictable, strange, odd. My first tennis book was published two years ago, about Marcelo Rios. I did this book in this different style. Not many read it but some of the few who did loved it. Nick Bollettieri was one who told me he enjoyed the Rios book, he said it was ‘Magnificent, excellent.’

Encouraged by the small success of the Rios book I decided to expand the original Federer magazine feature into a book using this different style. I started compiling it all together and laying the foundation. Then last summer I got a new urge, to try a new direction, asking players to please describe the feeling of stepping on the court to play Roger Federer? Rick Leach was the first player I approached at court seventeen at the US Open during a rain delay, he was coaching Leander Paes in a doubles match. I remember his reaction…it was kind of a thrill for him to share memories of his two ATP doubles matches against Roger. Inspired by this I kept going and asked as many players as possible about their experience of playing Federer. Another high point during this early stage was interviewing Attila Savolt at a Starbucks in Sarasota, FL last winter. His segment really pumped me up, it’s one of my favorite parts of the book. The more players I talked with, even arch rivals of Federer, they all enjoyed talking about Roger and shared so many fascinating insights. I was thrilled with how the project was growing. So I decided to change the book to focus mostly on the ‘Facing Federer’ aspect because I felt it was the strong point of the book and it’s a catchier title than ‘Roger Federer: Portrait of a Champion’ which is too vague. Also, boxing did influence this book as there was an excellent book called ‘Facing Ali’ by Steven Brunt which I read about ten years ago. This book certainly deserves some inspirational credit also. Boxing and tennis are the same thing, like Tracy Austin memorably once said on USA Network, “Tennis is a fistfight with out the fists.”

Stephen Tignor: I like your comparison to a different kind of painting. At first I wasn’t sure what to make of your book, where to start with it. But then I realized that you can start pretty much anywhere and jump around from entry to entry. I have to say it’s pretty addictive—you get a lot of looks at Federer, but you also get a little look at the personalities of a all kinds of players, from Hall of Famers to journeymen, and you see how different their perspectives are, not just on playing Federer but on tennis in general.
I also found it interesting how the perspective on Federer changes from one generation to the next. You have Rafter, who was 3-0 against Federer says that Roger was pretty intimidated by him, as well as “soft in the head,” at the start of his career. Then you have younger guys like Steve Johnson, who find it nerve-wracking just to walk on court to practice with him, because “you don’t want to be the guy he doesn’t ask again.”
I thought one of the more interesting takes came from Dmitry Tursunov, who is roughly Federer’s age, and is pretty realistic about playing him. He says, surprisingly, that Federer “is not the most talented person in the world.” Tursunov says that at all levels the naturally intimidation of having to play a higher-ranked or more famous player automatically gives that player an advantage. To him, Federer isn’t as “scary” face as his fans and the media make him out to be. It’s more like, “Going on out on a date with a hot girl. You’re probably going to try to make stupid jokes and you’re going to feel like an idiot after that.”
Tursunov doesn’t mean that Federer isn’t the best player around, or that he didn’t earn that intimidation factor. But what he’s saying is interesting to me because I think it helps explain why some of the top players can be so dominant, even though there’s really not that much separating them on any given day from 50 other guys on tour. Tursunov points to Nadal who is the one guy who is disciplined enough to play his own game in the face of Federer’s aura anyway. As Tursunov says of Rafa, “If Jesus comes down and starts floating on the court, he still plays the way he’s playing.”
But really, that’s just one of a lot of interesting takes on Federer and the psychology of tennis matches. And you’re right, Attila Savolt, who says that his girlfriend told him Federer was staring at her all the time, is one of the best.

Scoop: Ha. Tursunov is so hilarious and intelligent. What an excellent source he is for a reporter. And don’t forget, English is his second language too. And another remarkable thing about Tursunov is he came up with this material completely spontaneous, I asked him out of the blue to talk about Federer while he was picking up balls at the Sony Open this year after practicing with a junior. This interview with Tursunov was another high point.
That was one of the big surprises doing this book, I had no idea what any player was going to say. The fear was they might go vanilla. Usually in post match press conferences, players are mostly guarded about what they say about a match or opponent, as if they know other players and coaches will read what they say and they don’t want to make the mistake to give any kind of edge. With Federer, almost every player, really went above and beyond what I was expecting. I felt like they confided private information. This shows how much and how highly they respect Federer. Patrick Rafter was fantastic. Talking about taking the young Roger was closing the gap on him each match and also taking him out for beers to soften him up. Rafter just said recently on Twitter he looks forward to playing Roger on the senior tour to give him a chance to avenge the 0-3 head to head. Steven Johnson was interesting how he admitted feeling stress but obviously overcame it since he got to hit with Roger eleven more times. I thought it was cool how Johnson said that he actually felt a sense that Federer was there for him, “he’s always there to help you if you need it.” Somdev Devvarman also said something similar. Those are amazing quotes. Federer truly personifies the essence of a champion maybe better than any other champion in the history of sport. It was such a thrill to do this project, it was so inspiring on many levels both professional and personal. Thanks for taking the time to read it and discuss it with me Steve. So much appreciated.