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From prodigy to supreme excellence

By Greg Garber
ESPN.com

Sunday, June 7, 2009

PARIS -- In his very first service game, Roger Federer hit a drop shot so sublime it may have evaporated. It was a deceptively gentle backhand flick of the wrist, and the ball nearly grazed the net cord before bouncing about a foot in the air and spinning back toward the net. It was, upon reflection, the yin to Rafael Nadal's yang of a punishing topspin forehand that had dominated Roland Garros for the past four years. Sometimes, in the frenzy of the moment, we forget to appreciate F ...

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