First there was Tennis, and then there is Roger Federer. Yes, this is the evolution of tennis. Tennis is incomplete with this name- Roger Federer.
The 35 year old Swiss star wins his eighth Wimbledon and 19th career grand slam title. With this victory, Federer surpassed Pete Sampras and became the only player of the modern era to win eight men’s singles championships at the All England Club. Federer’s 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 win, which came just three weeks before his 36th birthday, was arguably the most remarkable of his storied career. Federer won his eighth Wimbledon trophy and 19th Grand Slam championship overall by
overwhelming Marin Cilic in merely 1 hour and 41 minutes.
In 2003, a 21 year old player from Switzerland sporting a ponytail and a wispy beard won the Wimbledon title for the first time in his career. 14 years later, Roger Federer is still winning Wimbledon titles.
His first major title came at Wimbledon in 2003 and was followed by others in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. He won again in 2009 and 2012. But then he lost finals in 2014 and 2015 to Novak Djokovic.
He couldn’t be sure another final let alone title was possible a year ago, when he lost in the
semifinals, and then took the rest in 2016 to let his surgically repaired left knee to heal.
This caps a remarkable reboot for Federer, who departed Wimbledon a year ago with lot of doubts. His body was letting him down for the first time in his career. He skipped the Rio Olympics, the US Open and everything else in an attempt to try to get healthy.
While his peers Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic succumbed to their physically failing bodies, Federer waltzed through the tournament and won the final against a compromised Marin Cilic at the loss of just eight games. With 19 Grand slams,
Federer stands tall over all his competitors and is in no mood to stop.
He went on to win 29 consecutive sets that helped him clinch his ninth title at the German city and eighth crown at Wimbledon. He joined Bjorn Berg(1976)as the only man in the open era to win Wimbledon without losing a set.
When asked about what still keeps him going, Federer said “I love to play. I have wonderful team. My wife’s totally fine with me still playing. She’s my number one supporter. She is amazing. I love playing the big stages still. I don’t mind the practice. I don’t mind the travel. The goal is definitely to be here (Wimbledon) again next year to try and defend.”
He is not of course the same 21 year old boy who had a pony tail when he beat Mark Philippousness in the 2003 Wimbledon final, Or the teen, who two years earlier, beat Sampras himself at Centre court in
the fourth round. Now he is a father of four, and both sets of twins.
Everybody remembers his name with an amount of respect. This is not just because he is a legendary Tennis player.
Even the sports players themselves consider Federer as their icon. Out of the court too, Federer is legendary figure to be followed. With his calm and composed nature and well-mannered behavior, he easily makes those around him his fans. And this quality made the god of cricket Sachin Tendulkar the greatest fan of Federer.
We should borrow the words of Martina Navratilova, the nine time Wimbledon women’s single champion to define Federer;
“it’s a combination of how many Grand slams have you won, how many tournaments have you won, how many years you were number one and he’s got all those combinations.”
