91Èȱ¬

He's that good he doesn't even get a number? Wow.

"World number Roger Federer says he still has plenty to achieve "

Roger Federer is the greatest tennis player of all time. Supremely talented, very smooth style, great competitor, exceedingly consistent (22 semifinal appearances and slightly less final appearance in Slams, very few injuries.Reslience in oodles, came back from a down when he had been written off to win three more slams. Great personality, courteous. What more can one ask for! He has given tennis fans much, much pleasure with his exploits.

Great interview - I'm glad he won't be retiring for a while... we've got five more years to enjoy him before the kids start going to school (and they can't travel with him), right?

My high opinion of Roger took a big hit when he had that blazer with 15 on it at center court - it seemed awfully pretentious and, given what we'd just seen from Roddick, presumptuous too. As for him being smug and arrogant - yeah, sure he is, more the latter.

But his arrogance is mostly supreme confidence, and more importantly, he's earned the right to be. Unlike so many other top sportsmen, he manages to remain a gent most of the time. (To the extent that, when he does swear at officials, I'm quite relieved he's still human.) And he's supercommitted to his super-supportive wife - that really impresses me.

For sure, tennis would be a lot poorer had he never been born. I wouldn't buy his clothes, but I would buy his tennis rackets. And I love that he buys the ball kids pizza at each tournament. (He still does, right?)

There's still lot left for him to do
- Grand Slam doubles title (what I admire the Williams sisters for, even if I'm no Serena fan)
- Olympic singles gold medal (I like that this article mentions that)
- leading Switzerland to a Davis Cup title (best performance so far: reaching semis in 2003)
- winning the Hopman Cup (oh wait, he did that with Hingis in 2001)
- beating an uninjured Rafa at the French Open (though I think poor Rafa now will always be injured somewhat, poor lad)

jon
imho fed is the greatest of all time
BUT
if that's what you call deconstruction or thoughtfulness about his sport i suggest you go and have some tennis lessons

I cannot believe you have described his eyebrows - "definite twinkle beneath those magnificently bushy eyebrows of his"
I dont believe you can actually calculate how the whole rally is going to go from the first shot itself. I think you have to take it shot by shot. But i am just a rookie tennis player.

Roger alwayes symbole of true calss and act ,
and am totaly agree with him , now he have another priority , and interest besaide Tennis , he have two kids and wife ,
despaite all this he was able to win another GS in Aussie this year
so all his fans we should not pacinc in recent poor perforem for him
he will rebound and back on right road in RG isa ,
py the way I'm happy to register on 91Èȱ¬ website , I love this Channel so much
bye

A lot of people seem to confuse confidence with arrogance. The "15 blazer episode" seems to have been done to death .. but one more time ... Fed has said he knew nothing about it until the jacket was brought onto court for him to put on. And the 15 was so small, that unless Sue Barker had mentioned it, not sure many people would have even noticed it. Its not as if the jacket had a huge 15 in gold numbers emblazoned on the back like a football shirt! In fact, I thought it was rather understated in view of the fact that he had just broken the Sampras slam record.
I admire the guy tremendously for the way he conducts himself on court and particularly off court. Tennis has never had such a wonderful ambassador ... I always think he's a great credit to his parents and probably his wife too who, as he has said, "got me from boy to man".
As long as he has fun playing the game, who should dare ask this legend when he's going to quit. If he can bring as much fun to the court as Fabrice Santoro did when he got to his mid-30's, Fed will be more of a joy to watch than even Fabrice.

Great man..Federer! i sincerely pray that he clears out the titles left for the year and then bow out... the ovation is definitely so loud now. Can't imagine Fed dropping off the top spot.

Much as I'd like Federer to eclipse Sampras' record for most weeks at No. 1, I don't think it's as easy as avoiding an appalling French Open. Thanks to his (by his standards) 'appalling' form from the Oz up to now, I reckon he needs a final appearance in Madrid and semi final at Roland Garros to be sure of holding off Nadal. It should have been easy but he made it hard for himself with results on the American hard court swing and the start of the clay season.

Without a shadown of a doubt also one of the most arrogant sportmen ever. He self proclaimed in an interview just recently he was destined to win FO and that you only need legs, a good forehand and backhand to win on clay. Whether this was a shot at Rafa Nadal remains to be seen. Gone are the days when truely great player batte for every point to win slams. Now you have half decent players in the draw of slam who do not have a game good enough to even play in the great era's of the 90's. The funny part of all this, he has been dominated by his closest rival Rafa Nadal since he first join the tour and that has still not change. Name the greats like Pete Sampras, Borg, Laver, have they ever been dominated by the closest rivals no.

@Football_Monk as your username would suggest, you're probably more of a football person than a tennis person. I think it's really rude of you to underestimate his achievements like that.. this man is clearly one of the greatest tennis players of all time if not THE greatest so say what you will about his rivalry with Rafael Nadal but at the end of the day the record books show that he is clearly doing something right. Please don't call him arrogant either, he is one of the most graceful sportsmen ever. "Gone are the days when truely great player batte for every point to win slams" - thats absolutely ridiculous.. how would Roger have so many slams if he didn't put his all in every time?????? Please don't be ignorant to his achievements.

all profi athletes can learn from federer in victory and defeat...

I dont think this interview really tells us a great deal. Federer is bound to say hes motivated to the press. The proof of the pudding is in his performances on court and since the Australian Open he has played like a man who doesnt give a damn.

Its only this week in Madrid where has started to look like getting his head down and playing - coincidentally 2 weeks before the next major.

I expect Roger to have another post Wimbledon sojourn before deciding to get some practice in a week or two before the US Open. Post US Open you can expect a 4 month holiday with a bit of a light hit around at the 02 thrown in in November.

This is what it now comes down to for Federer. He isnt at all motivated by any tournament other than the slams. He is only prepared to put any effort into a tournament if there is a slam around the corner.

I will contradict myself slightly now by saying that i am a great fan of Federer and recognise him as the best player ever and possibly the best there ever will be - but the slams are what it now comes down to. Its sad in a way but undoubtedly true. And when he starts to struggle to get the motivation to go down to Australia in January - which in the next year or two i believe he will do - then you'll know that the motivation is ebbing away year by year.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

What made the difference and enabled Federer to win Madrid, Roland Garros and Wimbledon last year? Isn't it obvious? Rafa Nadal's knees, of course. Nadal was on course to wipe the floor with Federer after totally destroying him tennis-wise and emotionally at the 2009 Australian Open. I like and admire Federer but can we have a reality check here - if it hadn't been for Nadal's injury I couldn't see anyone stopping him. Nadal is in a different league spirit-wise, he's a street-fighter whereas Roger is a class act but lacking Rafa's grit. When the knives are drawn Federer is second best to Nadal.

Jonathan Overend writes:"Twelve months ago, Federer arrived in Spain with a bad back and an eight-month title drought. Then, in the space of three months, his life changed forever as he mopped up in Madrid, Roland Garros and Wimbledon before becoming a father for the first time.

What made the difference?"

I have a three word answer: Nadal's knee injury.

One big thing that Roger can still aim for - this year actually - is the calendar year slam. It's possible.

On the Fed v Nad comparison, Rafa is better on clay and Roger is better on all other surfaces. He has a superior all round game.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Nadal's game is partly based on pushing his body and upper and lower limbs to the limit, and so perhaps it isn't a surprise that he can and does breakdown.

The wear and tear on his body is enormous, and this of itself is inherently riskier than Fed's own approach.


I can see that some of you have advanced the "what if" Amendment, as in "What if Nadal hadn't been injured..."


My answer to the "What-if" crowd, is this;

Nadal could very possibly retire before Federer, because Nadal does not
play within the limits of his physical capabilities all of the time.



Then...
What will you "what-if" merchants be saying at that point, in say 2013...


"What-if" Nadal hadn't pushed himself too hard earlier on in his career, he'd be playing into his late 20's, and winning a few more Slams in the process....?

I suspect not.


I'll finish by saying that physiological underpin performance and players ability to continue to play on a regular basis.

Therefore let's not let the "91Èȱ¬r Simpson's" on this thread advance the argument that we should imagine Nadal's best set ever, and compare it to Federer's best set ever, and then decide (somehow) which player is "best." (for goodness sake)

A mouth watering start for the european tennis season. I have not seen Nadal play for a while - I hope he has recovered enough to play his cavalier tennis.

Federer is still supremely fit any weakness or hesitation on Nadal's part and he stands a chance even on clay.

Just love watching these two play.

If I remember rightly the Madrid awards ceremony last year was distinctly pythonesque ....

To all those people that keep referring to Roger Federer as the Greatest
player ever, term which's been applied to other players as well, I have to say that, I was blessed to have seen Rod Laver at his best, and for my
money, he'll be the best

It's a bit futile to call someone the greatest ever since every epoque is unique with different conditions etc. However, I would like to remind people that Bjorn Borg retired at 26 with 11 slams and didn't compete in the Australian Open.Laver was ineligible to play in the slams for 6 years after turning professional.Who knows how many titles they missed out on.If Nadal stays fit, who knows how many slams he will rack up.

You know it always surprises how interested people can be in tennis - basically I think people should look at John Beattie's blog on rugby instead. Just a suggestion.

Treborobert, Nadal had no knee injury whatsoever when he was beaten last year by Federer in Madrid and by Söderlng in Paris. He was perfectly fit - and upbeat about his chances - in the second and third rounds of the French Open (he had a bye in the first). Nadal's knee injury - the details of which have never been made clear - was mentioned for the first time several days AFTER he had been soundly beaten by Söderlng in the fourth round at RG. No-one. not even Nadal himself, had noticed or mentioned the slightest physical problem before that. Nadal wore no knee strapping in Madrid or Paris in 2009 either.

It is absurd to say that Federer's success has anything to do with Nadal's knees. This year will prove that.

Roger has the ability to achieve so much more than he already has, and an Olympic Gold in singles is one of them. The sheer artistry of his game combined with his agility and skills, plus his prudent selection of playing schedule will stand him in good stead for a long time.

Hello Treborobert
Like the stir you created and the defense it drew. I enjoy this kind of ribbing among sports fans. Roger just loves the game he will play on, dreaming how he can tinker around to find a crack in Rafas game to maybe sneak another slam victory against him once in a while. Meanwhile the Rafa looks as terrifying as he ever has been this year. He looks like he eats, sleeps and shits clay. He has those snorting, amazingly severe eyebrows when he is onto the ball like he wants to murder it. He and the Fed are two different species or races. Thinking this relieves me. I can enjoy them, each one for their own qualities. I don´t care who is best, so long as they keep drawing the best out of each other.