Roger Federer Is Still the Greatest Tennis Player in the World

After Roger Federer’s career is over, he will be considered the greatest of every generation of tennis players he will have gotten to play in. This piece is being written during Novak Djokovic’s total dominance of the game, having captured three Majors and every Master 1000 event up to September of 2011, with Rafael Nadal in the first half of his career, and with Andy Murray yet to win his first Grand Slam title.

First of all, at age 30, Federer is far from being done! His strong personality and pride will not allow him to leave the game without more major titles, and he will do it! His longevity as a top player will easily outlast Andre Agassi’s. He has never had a major injury and he takes good care of his body.

Then there is the talent. Playing tennis is a “walk in the park” for Roger Federer. Since he does it so effortlessly, he is always less tired and more injury free than his competitors. Whatever the reason, and this is not the time to get into religious or philosophical explanations, Fed was born with such a rare talent that maybe only John McEnroe had the same or similar fortune in the history of this sport.

This has nothing to do with how much effort he puts into his game, or how disciplined he is. This has nothing to do with deserving, at least as far as the worldly understanding of the word. This is pure divine gift!

But let’s take a look at the “man on the hour”! It is impossible for Novak Djokovic to keep playing this level of tennis for much longer. What he has done is obviously remarkable, but eventually one of the three components of the game—physical, technical or mental—will break down on him. It only takes one of them to shake this unbelievable harmony and causes this magic momentum to go away.

And even with Djoko still playing out of his mind, Roger managed to be his only threat, taking him down at the semis of Roland Garros and miraculously not repeating it in the US Open.

Moreover, it is clear that Federer ends his participation on brutal events like the Grand Slams, in far better shape than the other top players. While his two main competitors, Nadal and Djokovic, are “manufactured” tennis players, created after long years of hard work on and off the court, Fed can play tennis with a medium-sized spoon if you asked him to. Everything is easier for him.

Throughout history, many writers have written best-sellers, many painters and sculptors have created great works of art but at the end of the day, the “Dostoyevskies”, the “Picassos” and the “Michelangelos” are the ones who engrave their names on people’s minds.

In the same way, the minds of people who truly appreciate tennis and the history of this game have “Roger Federer” written all over them. Perhaps as the greatest of all time!