2009 US Open: Defining Greatness

(Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

The 2009 U.S Open is upon us once more. The time of the year when Roger Federer picks up his ‘guaranteed’ grand slam. In 2008, Federer’s annus horribilis , when even his cherished Wimbledon deserted him, his queen from Queens was the only one who stayed true to him.

Roger Federer practically owns the U.S Open. And he is going for the record books this year by going for his sixth consecutive title. If he does indeed go on to win it, he will add yet another piece of support to his Greatest of All Time (G.O.A.T ) resume.

Yet by some measures, Roger Federer is not the greatest of all time. Not even close.

Before I alienate all the Fed-fans on this site, allow me to explain.

How does one define greatness? In this highly subjective (and often tiresome) topic, there are several yardsticks for measuring greatness. And most point to one man: Federer.

1. Number of grand slam victories? Check.
2. All-court dominance? Check.
3. Career grand slam? Check.
4. Aesthetic game?  Check.

So why don’t I rank him at the top? How about we ask this: Who would you pick for playing for your life? More pertinently, who would you pick for playing for his own?

The G.O.A.T debate has been raging in the tennis world since well before the Open Era.

‘Big’ Bill Tilden, who strode the tennis world like a colossus in early part of the twentieth century, was the first great tennis champion. He is the person whose record of consecutive U.S Opens Federer is going for.

In his eminently readable book, “A Terrible Splendor: Three Extraordinary Men, a World Poised for War, and the Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played” author Marshall Jon Fisher describes how back in the Golden Twenties, Tilden simply was tennis. Here’s a record that is unlikely to be ever broken: In 1926, over the span of two tournaments, Tilden won 57 games in a row. That is 9 consecutive sets with a score-line of 6-0 over top professionals. Tilden was winning amateur and professional tournaments well into his forties.

Don Budge, one of the other two men that Fisher writes about, was the first man to win the coveted Grand Slam. Admittedly, this was at a time when three of the four tournaments were played on grass and there was less variance between surfaces, but on the flip side players had to endure a grueling travel to go to Australia.

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