The thing about Roger Federer is this: my Federer is different from yours, despite obvious overlaps. This is true not just of great sportsmen, but great artists and musicians too. The matches and statistics are just a Google search away; the emotional connect to each follower is unique.
There are only two questions to be answered about Federer. Is he the greatest of all time? And, would he have been a lesser or greater player without the accident of playing in the same era as Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, each a contributor to the legend of the other two?
Let’s settle the ‘greatest’ argument first. The requirements are simple enough. On the measurable scale, an all-round game, record, consistency, longevity. On the incalculable, aesthetics, conduct, ability to inspire and be the face of the game, respect for the sport but with a healthy perspective about its place in the scheme of things. You can add more. In the end, the judgement is subjective.
Slamming records
Federer and Nadal have played each other in 9 Grand Slam finals, a record also shared by Djokovic and Nadal
Only two players to win at least 100 matches at a single Grand Slam — Federer, at the Australian Open (102) and Wimbledon (105), and Nadal at the French Open (112)
No player has won more matches at Majors than Federer at 369
Starting from his main draw debut at the 1999 French Open, the Swiss appeared in 81 Slams — a record he shares with Spaniard Feliciano Lopez
Federer reached the finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments in a single year thrice — 2006, 2007 and 2009 — a feat unmatched
Most number of appearances in Grand Slam semifinals (46) and quarterfinals (58)
* All records are for men in the Open era (from 1968)
Sport has no call to be beautiful, but the greatest must reveal its beauty, sometimes to the extent that the score itself becomes irrelevant.
Federer’s backhand, his inside-out forehand are things of beauty deserving museum space next to a Beethoven composition or a Monet painting.
He enhanced our ability to appreciate grace on the sports field.
Real and artificial intimacy
Federer stands alongside Pele, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Garry Sobers — the greatest of all time who not only taught us about the grandeur of sport, but helped us understand ourselves better. We measured our lives in the heat and cold of their performances, and when they retired, a part of us died. Their stories became part of our story, and thanks to the romance of the moving…
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