world turned upside down by polkadot (Teens and Up)

[krisherdown.livejournal.com]

Fandom: MEN'S PROFESSIONAL TENNIS RPS
Pairings: Roger Federer/Tommy Haas, Benoit Paire/Stanislas Wawrinka, Tommy Haas/Sara Foster
Length: 4661
Author on LJ: polkad0tting
Author website: polkadot on AO3
Why this must be read: Roger Federer of 2013 sometimes seems as if he's the old man on the tour.  Many of the players he grew up with have either retired (Safin, Roddick, Ferrero) or have long-ago faded (Hewitt, Nalbandian).  The players he's lumped together with (Nadal, Djokovic, Murray) are 4-5 years younger, at very different points in life.  With all that in mind, it was a breath of fresh air when this fic was posted last month.  This fic is actually about Tommy Haas, who, at age 35, has been playing out of his mind well.  He's also the only "peer" Roger has left on tour.

The fic itself begins with an event from the 2000 Olympics: a starry night involving a very drunk silver-medal-winning Tommy and "a scrawny 19 year Swiss kid" who just lost the bronze medal match.  That blurry memory comes back to Tommy in 2013 as he watches Roger's friend Stan practicing with a relative newcomer (this author has a series involving Stan/Benoit that I quite enjoy as well) and starts seeing things he'd never seen before regarding Roger.  I'd also nominate Sara Foster as best tennis player wife ever for her reaction to his revelation.

Excerpt:

Roger’s doing that slightly huffy thing he does sometimes where he acts like he didn’t hear you and he’s oh-so-busy in his locker. It intimidates some of the younger players, who are still getting used to being in close proximity to the GoAT. It doesn’t intimidate Tommy.

He pokes Roger in the side, just where he’s ticklish. “Don’t get all high-and-mighty on me, Your Worshipfulness. I know there’ll never be another you, you’re the greatest, yada yada yada. I meant, what’s up with this Benoît and Stan?”

“Nothing’s up,” Roger says stiffly, stepping sideways before Tommy can poke him again. “They play doubles together sometimes.”

Tommy gives his back an unimpressed look. “Uh-huh. Tell that to somebody who buys your crap, genius. C’mon. What’s up?”

Poor Dan, passing by, gives Tommy the widest-eyed look he’s ever seen. Tommy just grins at him. You speak German, you’re gonna hear Tommy needling the Fed sometimes. It happens. Get used to it, kid. And hey, count your blessings - some of the things the Spanish guys say to Rafa are so, so much worse.

world turned upside down