Roger Federer Tightens Hold as the Greatest of All-Time

Roger Federer has seen it all.

The world No. 1 has walked into countless majors and tournaments with a life-sized target squarely rested on his back, and has walked away a winner time and time again.

Despite his championship furor and dominance, Mr. Federer hasn't walked through it all unscathed.

2009 was supposed to be the year of decline for Federer. Every analyst and expert predicted Federer falling from Mount Roger into the pits of younger upstarts, such as one particular Spaniard, Rafael Nadal.

Coming off of a mono-limited year in 2008, and losses to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open, Nadal in the French Open, and Nadal again in epic fashion in Wimbledon, everyone felt that Federer was all but done.

The Federer haters got all of the Kool-Aid they could ask for in 2008. That was until Fed dominated Andy Murray for the US Open crown.

Federer left 2008 with the belief that he was still the king of tennis and the big stage, and 2009 had its set of detractors of the tennis great.

Despite that confidence, Federer stepped into the 2009 Aussie Open final against Nadal, staring his nemesis down hoping for a big win and another major title.

Instead, Fed was not the best man on that day, as Nadal pushed him to a five-set defeat that left Roger in emotional ruins, and yet again to be abused by the seasoned haters that pounced on his every misstep.

Federer went home with his head down, and the great champion appeared to be looking at his successor pass him in his Bentley's rear-view mirror.

After failing to make the finals in his next four tournaments, Federer dominated an injured Nadal to claim the Madrid Open, only to watch Nadal hobble to a French Open loss to Robin Soderling.

Needing the French to complete the career slam, Federer took the opportunity to dominate Soderling and win the clay court title without having to see Nadal.

Rafa was experiencing serious knee issues as Federer reclaimed the No. 1 spot.

Federer haters argued that the only reason Nadal didn't completely overtake the Basel star is because of his health, and had he played 100 percent, Fed wouldn't have beat him.

That's like when people pose the argument that had Tupac and Biggie still been alive, many rappers such as DMX wouldn't have made it so big—it doesn't make sense.

Hypothetical arguments hold about as much weight as a newborn baby.

Who really knows what would've happened had Tupac lived, Dale Earnhardt still graced the track, or if Len Bias had the chance at a lengthy career?

What we do know is that their untimely exits helped some people along, but we can never quantify how much. We just have to live with the fact that they are great, too, and did a lot to get where they ended up, and deserve more respect than that.

Federer has been tennis' best player in the past twenty years, if not the best of all-time. Sampras was great, but wasn't as versatile and complete as Federer.

Fed's consistency is remarkable. The best players are at their best on the biggest stages, and it's hard to imagine a Grand Slam final without Federer, as he's reached the semifinals or better in 23 straight Grand Slams.

Federer came out in the 2010 Aussie Open final and for two sets just destroyed Andy Murray, the talented Brit who's trying to become the first Scot to win a slam since Fred Perry in 1936.

Murray showed fight and pushed Federer in the third, but it wasn't quite enough as Federer held in the tiebreak whenever Murray had him on the ropes with an array of shots that would make Rod Laver blush.

All in all, the writing was in cursive on the wall: Federer is the greatest of all time.

At this point, neither Murray, Nadal, nor anyone else could thwart that assertion from becoming a reality.

Much as the Federer detractors want to see him fall, they will simply have to wait. With the aggressive style of play of Nadal, his knee is again bothering him going forward.

He will miss up to a month with a slight tear and tendinitis in the knee, and with his favorite slam next, he needs to heal quickly.

Nadal has been a huge disappointment since his defeat of Federer in the 2009 Aussie Open, and needs to make a splash on clay in May.

If Nadal can get healthy before then, maybe in time for a tune-up tourney or two, he will have to come out and basically win the French Open.

If he doesn't and Federer wins it, Nadal's mental scars may be worse to overcome than his knees. The two in succession could mean a long tourney at Wimbledon, Fed's surface.

If he nor Federer wins it, Nadal's legacy will still take the hit because Federer already has a record 16 slam wins and is stat padding at this point.

Bottom line: Nadal has to win a slam this year to not start to draw comparisons to other guys who played in an era opposite a dominant figure, like McEnroe or Agassi.

Those guys were both great players and so is Nadal, but Borg, Federer, and Sampras were the kings of their time.

Nadal is relatively young at 23 (will be 24 this June), but with his aggressive, all or nothing style of play, his knees may not hold up past 26, similar to Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway.

Nadal and Federer may renew their rivalry in 2010, and judging by the past matches they've had, that's a great thing for tennis.

For now, Federer still stands firm on Mount Roger, a place where no other tennis player can reach.

Nadal's conquest will have to wait.