Roger Federer's Place in History....and Now
In winning the French Open championship Sunday, Roger Federer further cemented his legacy among tennis' all-time greats, as if he needed to achieve any more.
Federer jettisoned Robin Soderling of Sweden in straight sets in the Final, a match that featured some vintage Federer backhands and aces. Noticeably absent was clay court specialist and world #1 Rafael Nadal who was upset by Soderling early in the field. Pundits point to this fact in explaining Federer's French victory, which completes the Career Slam and ties Pete Sampras' record with 14 grand slam victories.
Many consider Nadal to have inherited the role of world's greatest tennis player from Federer in recent years, as evidenced by his rise to the top of the rankings, several major titles, and favorable head-to-head record against Federer. Three consecutive French Open Final wins and last years epic Wimbledon victory against Federer certainly point to Nadal's prominence. Indeed Nadal has looked like the superior player in recent days and the 27 year old Federer has shown signs of decline from the rarified air of his tennis prime. This year's French, however, represents an unexpected twist in the Federer-Nadal saga with Federer capturing his Career Slam on what has been Nadal's turf.
Federer and Nadal's careers may be on inversely proportional trajectories, but with upcoming summer slams at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, Federer has golden opportunities to wrestle the #1 ranking back from Nadal and cement himself as the greatest tennis player ever. He may not be done just yet, and the summer of 2009 will go a long way in determining that.
“I knew the day Rafa won’t be in the finals, I will be there and I will win,” Federer said. “I always knew that, and I believed in it. That’s exactly what happened.”