MADRID, 16 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Roger Federer will surely be remembered as one of the best tennis players in history, not only for winning 20 ‘Grand Slam’ titles, currently the third best at the men’s level, but for having changed the conception of this sport and having led surely the most successful and dominant generation that has existed so far.
The one from Basel, one of the most beloved and respected tennis players, ends his career after turning 41 years old on August 8 and weighed down in his last seasons by physical problems in his knees, curious for someone who never retired from a match in his career, but leaving a legacy on the track for new generations and possibly future ones.
This admirer of Stefan Edberg, who was his coach, Boris Becker and Pete Sampras, won almost everything since he began to dominate tennis from 2003, with 1,251 wins, almost 82 percent, 20 ‘Grand Slams’ and 103 titles, figures that show its quality despite sharing the stage with the other two best in history since 2005.
Federer reigned thanks to an indisputable talent for this sport, supported by a sensational serve, an ease in volleying that makes him still the ‘king’ of his beloved Wimbledon, but, above all, a forehand that is and will be the envy of the circuit. Technically, and despite suffering at times with his backhand, he was close to perfection and that could be verified from a very young age.
Capable of playing at a high level on any surface, Federer, at the age of 19, won the first of his 103 titles in February 2001, on the indoor carpet in Milan. At the end of that year he was close to the ‘Top 10’ (13), and in the following year he took a step forward at a time when there was no great dominator, with three titles, including the Masters 1,000 in Hamburg and a final in Miami against Andre Agassi, although it was a negative year in the ‘greats’.
And the history of tennis began to change in 2003. Already installed in the ‘Top 10’ and emerging a rivalry with Lleyton Hewitt, despite his ‘all-rounder’ status, he showed that his tennis was perfect for grass. He won what would become one of his favorite tournaments, Halle, which he won ten times, and weeks later glory came at Wimbledon, his favorite tournament. He defeated Mark Philippousis and enjoyed the first of his eight titles at the All England Tennis Club, where he is a true idol, as was seen in the last edition when he was tremendously applauded in the tribute to the champions.
Three years later, he already had a total of nine ‘Grand Slams’ under his belt and Pete Sampras’ record of 14, which years before seemed impossible to beat, was within his reach. Only Roland Garros resisted him, partly because of the appearance of Rafa Nadal, who denied him many more successes, especially on clay and with whom he would start one of the greatest rivalries in this sport, also forged in a strong friendship.
FROM THE TEARS OF MELBOURNE TO ENTERING HISTORY
40 games, with 24 wins for the Spaniard and finals to remember such as Wimbledon in 2008, where the man from Manacor ended his streak of five titles in a row and ended up snatching number one in August in which he had a record of 237 weeks in a row, or the following year in Australia in which the one from Basel ended up crying at the awards ceremony and his famous: ‘This is killing me’.
The apparently cold player from Basel showed that he was human and was able to remake himself by entering history twice. Months later he ended his ‘curse’ in Paris to close the ‘Grand Slam’. He did not go against his great rival, eliminated in the round of 16 by the finalist, the Swedish Robin Soderling. Later, he regained his throne in London and matched Pete Sampras in number of ‘greats’ on a circuit where Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were already appearing. The well-known ‘Big 4’ was born, led by the Swiss.
These four tennis players would take complete command of the men’s circuit and would monopolize almost all the ‘Grand Slam’ titles for many years. Against the Serbian he played even more duels than with Nadal, 50, and with the Scotsman, 25, while he was getting ‘older’ and possible heirs were coming out in his style. Grigor Dimitrov or Stefanos Tsitsipas are some of those examples that have not been able to even come close, and now some point to the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz.
Federer was able to survive against his three great rivals and the new ones that arrived. He continued to win until in 2016 the first serious problems began to appear in his left knee that reduced him to seven tournaments and not lifting a trophy for the first time since 2000. But he did not give up and in 2017 he wrote another page with his titles in Australia, in another great ‘battle’ with his friend Nadal, and Wimbledon, surpassing Sampras’ seven, to touch the 20 ‘big’ ones and then become the second oldest, at 35, to win a ‘Grand Slam’ in the ‘Open Era’ after Ken Rosewall.
He still had class and strength for more. He rounded out his career the following year with a new crown in Melbourne and touched on glory for the ninth time on the London grass, dropping two match points to Djokovic. Then, it was the right knee that martyred him. Not even the pandemic gave him much more room to recover. On July 7, 2021 he played the last of his 1,526 matches, in his green temple, losing to Hubert Hurkacz. More than a year later, tennis loses its knight of the 21st century, without a doubt one of the great ‘GOAT’ of the sport and who pushed his rivals to be better.