Superhuman ceases to be super

Explained as such:

Washington Post:

“I had moments out there where I really felt, ‘This is how I normally play on hard court.’ You know, half volleys, passing shots, good serving, putting the pressure on, playing with the wind, using it to my advantage,” Federer said. “I definitely had moments during today where I thought, ‘This is how I would like to play every time.’ So it was a very nice feeling to get that that feeling back.”

“This is how I would like to play every time”—the pathos of Federer’s collapse is how purely mental it has been. *Why* can’t he play the way he used to play? There are no physical impediments; he is neither injured nor old. People talk about the fact that he had mono earlier in the year, but it’s not like he’s out there in long matches out of breath. It’s just that the beautiful machinery of his game was based on a feeling of total mastery, and when that feeling disappeared, he couldn’t even go through the motions (literally) in the same way. Federer wasn’t great as a young player. He lost to players his own age, players he would later beat. He did not become stronger or develop new shots or a new serve. It was more like one day his tennis game became perfect, and remained perfect for five years. And then one day it ceased being perfect, and he still can’t understand why.

from someone else’s tumblr

I refused to watch the match because I’m a wimp and I knew Mr Pants-Terselit was going to keep butting until he got what he wanted.

And he did.

C’est triste.