Federer's Redemption

As I watched Roger Federer accept his French Open Championship trophy, it is almost impossible not to feel such elation for him.  His cold,  icy demeanor on the court is always shed immediately after a tournament is complete.  Tennis fans have seen his tears many times, though usually they are tears of joy.  Last year at this time, however, they were tears of sadness.  He had been embarassed at the French Open final by Rafael Nadal in a tournament that looked as if he had the ability to finally overcome the player that prevented his Grand Slam.  He openly cried on the court after the match, something that had never been seen previously.  Nadal was seemingly overtaking him as the premiere player in the world, and Roger's time to become a Grand Slam Champion was dwindling.  How someone so obviously emotional can keep his focus during his matches is a mystery.  But he does, and today's Championship match is a perfect example of that.  After being up 2 sets to none, and with only one game in his way to being the champion, Roger was clearly holding his tears back.  After he fought through his emotions and Soderling hit a forehand into the net, Federer fell to the court in tears of elation.  It was a wonderful scene, one that gave me chills when NBC replayed it a few times.  If you missed this touching moment, click on the title of this entry.

His resume is now full of more accomplishments than anyone else in Tennis history.  He is one of six people to complete a career Grand Slam.  He is now tied for the most Majors in history with 14.  He will certainly win at least one more before his career is up.  Of the last 16 majors in tennis, Federer has been in the Finals of 15 of them.  Everyone knows he dominates on grass and hard courts.  Not only those, but in fact Federer is a spectacular clay court player.  He has been to the French Open final for the last four years, though he has only won this most recent visit.  Mary Carillo, an experienced and trusted analyst, stated during this match that she believes he is the third best clay court player of all time: trailing Nadal and Bjorn Borg.  So if he has 13 majors on the big surfaces, at least one major on the clay, and is considered dominant on all surfaces, then one would have to say that he is the greatest tennis player of all time.  Even the great Bjorn Borg, whom any player who faced him considered him the GOAT, was not able to complete the career Grand Slam.  

Of course many people would say that this French Open championship was tainted.  The fact that Nadal was ousted with an apparent knee injury before Federer had to face him is something that will be discussed on sports talk radio (I figured I would pre-empt the talk).  But in reality it doesn't matter.  Injuries and the ability to stay healthy is a major reason why we consider some of the people we do as champions.  Certainly there would be players in any sport that would have hall of fame careers but were de-railed with injuries.  The truth of the matter is that Federer winning the French without having to face Nadal does not taint his accomplishment.  It is part of being a champion...when you have an opening you pounce on it.  You don't always have to be the best person or team, but you always have to take advantage of weaknesses and be the best in certain moments.  He certainly was the best in this tournament, pouncing on his opportunity today.  He looked completely dominant facing the man that knocked out Nadal earlier in the fortnight.  He almost never made mistakes, and his forehand was unstoppable.  When he is in a groove, he seemingly glides to the ball and creates great shots out of defensive positions.  Today was no different.  Winning convincingly in straight sets solidifies his spot as a great clay court player.  He is certainly the greatest tennis player of all time.