Martin Marks: Wimbledon, Live from Frankfurt
In our family, to think of Roger Federer as anything but the greatest player in the history of the game of tennis is nothing short of heresy; to extol his virtues would be like trying to fit one more angel on the head of a pin. And this was it, Federer versus Robin Soderling at the 2009 French Open, a historical event on par with witnessing Lord Nelson versus Napoleon at Trafalgar, Henry V versus Charles d’Albret at Agincourt. Now, Federer’s grail, his first win at the French Open, lay in sight, and with that victory, a chance at canonization like Saint Sampras before him. The red clay at Roland Garros never looked so promising.
And then, during the second set, with Soderling to serve, a man wearing a red shirt leaped from the bleachers and descended onto the court and ran up to Federer and put a hat on our hero’s head. My father was following the match on a very high-definition television, a device which renders all sporting events and nature shows so immediate that 15 minutes in, I get a headache and have to remove my glasses. Thus, I was in the next room, watching on a far less resolute screen, as security guards chased down the spectator. Then a more familiar disruption of play took place: The phone rang. After years of such calls, I already knew who it was, and already knew not to pick up the phone.
My father answered. I could hear him as he spoke with clipped yet patient pauses between his sentences. “They’ve stopped play. A spectator’s run onto the court. Yes, you heard correctly. He’s carrying a flag. No, not Soderling or Federer. Darling, the spectator! It’s a red flag. Moderately sized. About a foot by a foot and a half. He’s run to the other side. Now they’re carrying him off. No, I do not know which country has a red flag.”