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Greatest ever? Swiss fits the bill
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-08 09:21 PARIS: For many observers that surely is the end of the argument - Roger Federer is the greatest tennis player of all time. The Swiss star's 6-1, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 triumph over Sweden's Robin Soderling here yesterday gave him a first French Open title, after three straight losses in the final, and completed a rare career Grand Slam on all four surfaces.
It also brought him level with Pete Sampras on 14 for the number of Grand Slam titles won and at 27 he likely still has four or five years left at the top to add to that total. The lack of a win on the clay of Roland Garros and the need to at least match Sampras have been the two reasons most commonly given by those reluctant to accord Federer the supreme accolade of best ever. But in the space of one chilly and wet Parisian afternoon, the man from Basel has blasted away those reservations. Level with Sampras, he wins easily on countback having won a French Open title and been in four finals compared to the American's meagre haul of one semifinal appearance in Paris during his career. Past greats like Bjorn Borg, Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe simply do not have the Grand Slam silverware to compete with the Federer legacy. Agassi himself left no doubt over his feelings when he and wife Steffi Graf visited Roland Garros ahead of the men's final. "If he wins he'll know for the rest of his life what an accomplishment he has achieved," said the American who was the only other player in the last 40 years to have won all four Grand Slam titles.
There remains though the enigma of Australian legend Rod Laver, the only man to have pulled off two Grand Slam sweeps in 1962 and 1969. He won 11 Grand Slam titles in his career and was prevented from playing in them for six years after turning professional in late 1962 at a time when only amateurs could compete. But the competition at that time was nothing like as fierce as it is nowadays as the sport has gone global with notably players from the former Soviet bloc entering the picture after the fall of communism.
"You just can't say for sure that Rod Laver was not better than Federer. There will never be a best player of all time. I find it shows a lack of respect for the past greats, to even pose that question," he said. For others though, the debate is a valid one and in many ways it is more than just a matter of the number of trophies won. Federer spent 237 weeks as world No 1 before losing his Wimbledon title to Nadal last year and in Paris he was playing in a record equaling 19th Grand Slam final. He won both Wimbledon and the US Open five-times in a row. AFP
 Grand Slam victories 2003 Wimbledon bt Mark Philippoussis (AUS) 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 7-6 (7/3) - Federer, 21, wins first Grand Slam title to turn potential into silverware. His victory, five years after winning the junior title, also ended all doubts about his nerve on the big stage. 2004 Australian Open bt Marat Safin (RUS) 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 6-2 - Federer, who had replaced Juan Carlos Ferrero as the new world No1 by reaching the final, celebrated in style by beating Safin, who had been in fine form in Melbourne seeing off Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick. 2004 Wimbledon bt Andy Roddick (USA) 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 - Less than a month after a disappointing third round exit at the French Open, Federer bounces back. 2004 US Open bt Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) 6-0, 7-6 (7/3), 6-0 - Federer becomes the first man in history to win his first four Grand Slam finals, and the first since Mats Wilander in 1988 to win three majors in a year. 2005 Wimbledon bt Andy Roddick (USA) 6-2, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 - Federer joins Pete Sampras and Bjorn Borg as the only players to win three Wimbledon titles in a row in the Open era. 2005 US Open bt Andre Agassi (USA) 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-1 - Federer wins sixth Grand Slam title and shatters 35-year-old Agassi's dreams of becoming the oldest winner of the title. 2006 Australian Open bt Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) 5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2 2006 Wimbledon bt Rafael Nadal (ESP) 6-0, 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (2/7), 6-3 - Federer becomes only the third man in the Open era after Bjorn Borg and Sampras to win four Wimbledons in a row. 2006 US Open bt Andy Roddick (USA) 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 - Federer wins third successive title in New York and becomes first man in the Open era to win three successive Wimbledon and US Open titles in the same years. 2007 Australian Open bt Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 6-4 - Federer wins 10th Grand Slam title and extends his winning run to 36 matches. Also first man to win a Grand Slam title without dropping a set since Borg at the 1980 French Open. 2007 Wimbledon bt Rafael Nadal (ESP) 7-6 (9/7), 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 2-6, 6-2 2007 US Open bt Novak Djokovic (SRB) 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 - Federer wins fourth consecutive US Open despite trailing by a break in each. He becomes the first man to win Wimbledon and the US Open for four years in a row, and the first to win four straight US titles since Bill Tilden in 1923. 2008 US Open bt Andy Murray (GBR) 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 - The Swiss wins 13th Grand Slam crown and fifth consecutive US Open title. He moves one Grand Slam title ahead of Roy Emerson and one behind the record 14 won by Pete Sampras. "I'm not going to stop at 13," says Federer. 2009 French Open bt Robin Soderling (SWE) 6-1, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 - Federer finally wins the French Open after losing the previous three finals and equals the record 14 Grand Slam wins of Sampras. |
