The Artful Roger's done it again.

I can't help it. I luuuurve Roger Federer. Forget Agassi and Roddick (and his much ballyhooed mojo). Federer's damned near unbeatable. Also he's Swiss, which means his passport's way cooler than yours, and his public transportation back home is the best in the world. I admit, I have a soft spot in my heart for any athlete (or team) from my family's adopted home (see also Simon Ammann, the ski-jumping imp who looks like Harry Potter), but with Roger, you just have to bow down.

Unless you're a staff writer for Reuters, in which case, you have to write the following somewhat hysterical headline: Federer Wrecks Agassi's Dream.

Some nuggets from the article:

On the fourth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on New York, 35-year-old Agassi graced the city with a display that was in equal part stubborn and inspired before bowing to the superiority of the superlative Swiss.

Alliteration is fun! As is a very personal fixation on Agassi's "dream":

The world number one was almost apologetic at having deflated a raucous 24,797-strong crowd who had been living out their and Agassi's American dream when he led 4-2 in the third set.

I don't want to cast aspersions on this reporter, but I think the article is a little, well, weird - implying at times that Agassi (who I think took only one set of the match) was robbed. Roger's made out to be this Big Bad Swiss (is there such a thing?) who ruined everyone's Sunday. Then there's the refrain of the Sept. 11th anniversary and the American vs. the Swiss. I mean, the Swiss are pretty innocuous, and this is tennis we're talking about here. Dial it down.

In the fourth set and it was hard not to feel sorry for [Agassi] as he was passed repeatedly.

One final, mis-timed backhand put him out of his misery and allowed the Swiss to turn triumphantly to his supporters in almost the only part of the stadium that had wanted him to win.

Ok, fine. It's the U.S. Open after all and Agassi is an American "sentimental favorite." But Roger has lost only three of the 74 matches he's played this year. Want it or not, he's probably going to win.

Anyway, read the whole article. It's interesting in a weird "hey, did anyone read this before they published it?" kind of way: Federer Wrecks Agassi's Dream

One more thing about Roger and I'll stop. He's at the top of the heap, a star athlete and whatnot, but he has no agent or hard-core management team chasing down endorsements, no entourage, no one speaking for him to the press or telling him what to wear when he goes out. He could be raking in millions, but isn't. He appears to legitimately enjoy playing tennis. Strange, right?

Just sayin'. With all the BS these days with "juiced" athletes getting gentle wrist-pats for cheating, other megastars shilling for anyone and everyone (see Derek Jeter's recent Ford campaign, which makes me want to poke out my eyes... but that could be related to my anti-Jeter bias), not to mention the over-inflated egos and dramas of some of these people... it's nice to see a guy out there just playing some damned tennis. And he's Swiss to boot. What's cooler than that?

(image via BBC.co.uk)