Style, elegance, charisma, grit, perseverance, passion, success, greatness, fame, you just run out of words and superlatives when you describe this man. Born in Basel, Switzerland, grew up as a ball kid, played tennis at a level that was beyond comprehension, brought smiles to millions, achieved success like no other and now has himself placed in the great galley of tennis history. You talk about magic on the tennis court, talk about perfection on the court, talk about brilliance, this guy has it all. The first player to clinch 20 majors, the player with 310 weeks at the No. 1 rankings with a record 237 consecutive weeks, the guy with 1251 ATP singles match wins and 103 ATP singles titles, Roger Federer is a player who has redefined the game of tennis, a generational tennis icon and a legend.
The first time I noticed him
I was a cricket and football guy in my school days. I watched the game and played too with my friends. I didn't have smart phone at that time, cricket and football was all about sports for me then. I was and am a huge football fan by the way, I was that hardcore Chelsea guy who loved Torres and Fabregas. It was a day in 2015, I was just watching TV and while changing channel I saw two men in white dress in a green field hitting ball back and forth. I knew the sport was lawn tennis but I didn't recognize any of the player. Having never watched tennis before, I decided to watch the match. The two players kept hitting the ball to one another. I looked at the scoreboard at the bottom left of my TV screen and saw this Serbian player had more points than the Swiss guy. Finally, the match ended and the tall Serbian guy won the match. I later realized that it was the final of Wimbledon 2015 and the two players were Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. I didn't understand the game rules and tactics much then. The only thing I still remember is that Novak served an ace to Roger, that's it. I went to school the other day and googled about Roger, Novak, Wimbledon and other tennis things. Then I found out that the Swiss guy had already won 17 Grand slams and was considered as one of the greatest. That was the first time I really noticed Federer. Then came Wimbledon 2016. I wanted to see how Roger played. He did play well but couldn't win the championship losing to Milos Raonic in quarter's or in semi's. Andy won the Wimbledon that year. But I kept watching his past years' match highlights, watching him win so many titles. I watched highlights of his match against Rafael Nadal ( who is my favorite tennis player, sorry Roger ) and against Novak. I enjoyed watching him. I kept googling his career stats, he even then had won so many titles. I found out that despite losing Wimbledon final against Novak, he had previously won 7 Wimbledon titles with consecutive 5 titles between 2003-2007. Seeing posts about him, watching his match, I found out that he was a generational talent who just made tennis look ridiculously easy. His game was pleasing to the eye. So, these were some of my early impressions of him. Yes I did watch him at the later stages of his glorious career, when he was not as dominant as he was in 2006, but someone had said it right, it's never too late.
2017- The magical year
It is fair to say that the 2010 decade of men's tennis was dominated by Novak. In 2011 Novak become No.1 for the first time. Then he won like every single match he played. He beat Roger and Rafa multiple times to clinch major titles. Roger's prime years were between 2003-2010, when he won so many trophies, but after 2010 the Djokovic era started and Roger started to slightly fade away. Between 2011 to 2016 he won only 1 grand slam. People started to doubt whether the prime Roger was gone. After 2015 Wimbledon, he took long break, didn't play many matches. People were starting to talk about whether he would return back to tour or not and if he returned how would his form be like. Then came the 2017 Australian Open.
Australian Open is perhaps my favorite grand slam tournament of the calendar. Roger was playing at that event. He just came from a long break, wasn't at his best and was no way near favorites to win the title. Ironically, he played very well. His movement was exquisite and I have to say his movement at that event was better than ever. His forehand was working, backhand was working. He just had this amazing touch of genius that was full of fineness. He played at the very top level. I remember the semi's was against his fellow countrymen Stan (One of my favorite player on tour). The game went to five sets and Roger somehow played better than Stan and won the match to reach the final. On the other draw, Rafa was making an amazing comeback from injury and had prevailed into the final. Amazingly the final would be played between Roger and Rafa against all odds, nobody expected both of them to be in the final. The stage was set for a final between two giants of the game. A rivalry that had redefined the tennis history for once and forever. I vividly remember the match. Being a Rafa fan, I cheered for Nadal but Roger came out on top at last by producing some of his best tennis. Needless to say it was the best tennis match I had ever watched despite the fact that my guy ended up losing. The level of tennis was god level. Roger won that amazing match and clinched his whopping 18th grand slam title.
He then went on to win the Indian wells and Miami masters, completing the 'Sunshine double' to clinch his 26th Master's 1000 title. He also went onto win his 8th Wimbledon title defeating Marian Cilic in the final. Federer's 2017 season marked a return to Grand slams wins since 2012, the most titles since 2007 and the highest win percentage since 2006. Statistically this season was his best since 2007. He skipped the entire clay court season that year. He played the Laver cup and won both of his single matches against Querrey and Kyrgios and sealing the win for Team Europe. Roger also won the Australian open the following year. In 2018, Roger won his 6th Australian Open title defeating Marian Cilic in the final and became the only tennis player to win 20th Grand slam title.
The tennis of Roger
Roger is a moderately attacking player. He plays close to the baseline and doesn't hesitate to come to the net and to be honest his net game is fabulous. He has mastered that typical approach of serve and volley. He has an excellent drop shot, his touches are magical. He has a single handed backhand. The most standout point of his game is his forehand. One of the most tactically precise forehand in all of tennis. Having said that his serve is very underrated, in my view ( he has served around 10000 aces ). Of course his favorite surface is grass but he is equally good at all 3 surfaces. It is ironical that he has won Roland Garros only once.
Roger's achievements
He has won 103 ATP singles title, the second most of all times. He was ranked world No.1 for 310 weeks with a record 237 consecutive weeks. He has 1251 ATP singles match wins. He was the runner up in the Men's singles final at the Olympics 2012. He has 8 career doubles titles. He has won Wimbledon 8 times, consecutively five times between two 2003-2007, most by any player, US open consecutively five times between 2004-2008, French Open only once and six AO. At age 27, he surpassed Pete Sampras' record of 14 major men's singles titles at Wimbledon in 2009. He has won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for an amazing 13 times. He has won the Laureus Sportsman of the year award for a record five times. He is routinely one of top ten highest paid athletes in any sport. He is also the first player to have reached ten consecutive men's Grand slam tournament finals. He has won ATP player of the year five times and has been named the ITF world champion five times. He has won the ATP fan's favorite award a record 18 times consecutively and many more.
The retirement news
On 15 September, 2022 Roger brought tears to millions of eyes through an Instagram post where he wrote that the Laver Cup 2022 would be his final professional tennis match. That news made every single sports fan very sad because a sporting icon was going to put an end to an illustrious career. Tennis fans, sportspersons, media journalists all paid their tribute to the great man and acknowledged what impact he had on and off the tennis court. He teamed up with Rafael Nadal to play double's match for team Europe. Sadly they lost the match and the event. Team world won the Laver cup for the first time.
For me personally, I have never seen an sporting icon quite like him. Even though my favorite player was Nadal, I just could never stop admiring the genius of Federer. Wherever he goes, wherever he plays it's like he was playing at home as people cheered so much for him. He is a kind, humble, genuine human and a perfectionist on the court. With his retirement not just tennis has lost an icon but the sporting world has lost a great individual. He redefined the game of tennis, inspired generations including me, achieved the impossible, made millions fall in love with his game of tennis, Roger Federer you truly are a legend. Thank you so much for your contributions to the tennis world. I wish you best of luck for the days to come. Without you tennis wouldn't be the same.
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