The greatest essay about Roger Federer—and tennis in general—has already been written: “Federer Both Flesh and Not” by David Foster Wallace, or as it has become better known known, “Roger Federer as Religious Experience.” Wallace details what makes watching Federer play such a fascinating experience, and how he does things with a tennis ball that no one else, not even rivals Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic, is capable of.
Alec Dent is a former culture editor and staff writer for The Dispatch.
