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The Art of Roger Federer

In some of my papers I refer to research from the 1980s which showed that, since modern day tennis serves are too fast to gauge the direction of the ball after it has been hit, tennis players anticipate its direction by looking at the movements of their opponent.

The New York Times has a fascinating video which explains how Roger Federer's footwork makes him such an effective player. He really is pretty awesome. He's up there with Michael Jordan as one of the greatest sports persons ever.

Some years ago David Foster Wallace wrote a brilliant essay on Federer for the New York Times.

In the first photo you can see how he is actually directing the ball with the shadow of his hand! The man is a genius.

Update: OK, he lost in the US Open finals, but this is an incredible shot.