Roger Federer's Miracle Shot: Genius or Just Dumb Luck?

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By Sam Laird2014-01-02 22:29:54 UTC

We learned yet again last summer that Roger Federer is one of the planet's greatest human beings. But if you needed any reminder that he's still among the world's preeminent tennis players, Fed supplied ample proof with one miraculous shot at the Brisbane International event this week.

Playing doubles with Nicolas Mahut against Jeremy Chardy and Grigor Dimitrov, Federer retreated to hit an overhead return. He misjudged, however, and ended up striking the ball with the frame of his racket (rather than the net). The result, however, was nothing short of amazing.

Federer's return looped high into the air and out of the TV broadcast picture before returning to Earth with so much backspin that it landed on his opponents' side of the net for just a fraction of a second before bending the laws of physics to bounce back over the net and score an improbable point for Federer and Mahut.

Federer's opponents appeared bewildered, but the living tennis legend stayed predictably humble about the atypical point, waving off the crowd's cheers with a sheepish grin. YouTube footage of the highlight has been viewed more than 350,000 times since Wednesday.

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. On this play, Federer was both. When a tennis icon has lady luck backing up his immense skill, there's nothing the rest of us can do but sit back, watch and appreciate the show.