Page 9 - Tennis Journal

2 | May 2013
He’s no longer ranked No. 1, but Roger Federer seems to
just keep getting bigger and bigger
By Kamakshi Tandon
Roger Federer winning Grand Slams has become such a
fixture that the process which follows is almost routine. Cue
the accolades, sift through the records broken, rewrite the
tennis history books and ask, ever more rhetorically, whether
he is now finally the greatest player of all time.
But when Federer lifted the Wimbledon trophy last year to
bring his total to a record 17 majors, the post-match
discussion was a little different. The topic was not about the
greatest player of all time, and the comparisons were not the
usual ones with Rod Laver and Pete Sampras. Instead,
prompted by an Australian sports reporter in the post-match
press conferences, talk turned to where Federer stood among
the greatest athletes of all time, and Pele and Muhammad Ali
were the names being brought up.
Inter-sport comparisons, particularly inter-generational
ones, are a messy task at best. But the mere existence of the
discussion signaled the rarified altitude Federer now occupies
in the sports world.
There was no hesitation from Andre Agassi when he
weighed in earlier this year. "I think that tennis is one of the
most comprehensive sports – when it comes to endurance,
when it comes to athleticism, when it comes to speed, when it
comes to eye-hand. It engages every part of what an athlete
needs to be and I think the standard of athlete in tennis is
finally now starting to make that recognized by people in
other sports," he said.
"So I am biased with what I think tennis brings to the table
and I think what Roger's done in tennis is as commendable as
what we've seen with [Jack] Nicklaus in golf, or what we've
seen with [Michael] Jordan in basketball. The guy has single-
handedly separated himself from a world-class field year after
year after year in a way that's probably never been done."
Among active athletes, Federer's position is even stronger,
thanks partly to his own accumulating accomplishments and
partly to dwindling ranks elsewhere. Who else spans the
spectrum of achievement, image and internationality these
days like the 31-year-old Swiss? He stacks up beside any of the
biggest names.
It is a period where relatively few other sports are seen
as being led by one of their best ever, while tennis currently
has two and soon possibly three active men's players who
could vie for that title, and one, Serena Williams, on the
women's side. Many all-time greats like Formula One's
Michael Schumacher, swimming's Michael Phelps and cricket's
Sachin Tendulkar have recently headed into retirement (or
semi-retirement), and
emerging and potential legends like sprinter Usain Bolt,
fottballer Lionel Messi, the NBA's LeBron James and the NHL's
Sidney Crosby are still building their records. Some, like Lance
Armstrong and Tiger Woods, have in various ways fallen off
their pedestals. Others, like David Beckham, have arguably let
their celebrity overshadow their sporting presence. In the
midst of all this is Federer, who has become to his sport very
much what Babe Ruth, Jordan and Wayne Gretzky were to
theirs, with a spotless reputation and – despite recent back
struggles – remains relevant at the top of his sport. With
Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and now Andy Murray rising to
the forefront over the last few years, Federer occupies
something of an emeritus position in men’s tennis these days,
but as sporting icon he transcends the game.
A few others – very few – like Woods, earn more. A few,
like Ronaldo, have larger followings. But geographically and
demographically, perhaps none can match Federer's
resonance. Even football has markets it cannot penetrate
(they tend to call it soccer) and golf remains a relatively
marginal spectator sport in many non-English speaking
countries. How big are LeBron, Crosby, Peyton Manning or
Albert Pujols in Brazil or Germany, or Ronaldo in the United
States or Australia? Other individual greats like Bolt or Phelps
are just as recognizable internationally, but fade from the
spotlight between Olympics.
But Federer can cause a stir in just about any corner of
the world at any time, because while tennis may be the most
popular sport hardly anywhere it is among the most popular
almost everywhere, and unlike most sports is followed almost
equally by men and women alike.
On a personal level, his appeal is two-fold. First, his
neoclassical game, the balletic all-court shotmaking showing
that tradition can still triumph and style can have substance.
Then his persona – sportsmanlike on court (99% percent of
the time, anyway), thoughtful, articulate and cosmopolitan off
it; qualities not always common in the sporting arena. While
there are holdouts who see too much ego or, ironically, find
his popularity off-putting, he has attracted a large (often
ferocious) fan base, and broad mainstream appreciation.
That includes many of the players, who appreciate his
effort to make personal connections and his match behavior,
voting him the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship award a record
eight times – and counting.
And after a storied career, his reach extends beyond sport.
Ranked No. 31 overall on Forbes' celebrity index last year,
Federer was second in press coverage. Oprah was No. 1. And
in a mid-2011 survey that asked people in 25 countries to rate
54 world figures based on appeal and reputation, Federer
came in second, only behind Nelson Mandela. Even if little
more than a statistical curiousity – "a bit farfetched, isn't it?"
was Federer's reported reaction – it serves as yet another
reminder of his standing in the outside world.
Such reminders are often required, because tennis
frequently operates with only a dim awareness of how big
Federer has become.
*** Earlier in the Wimbledon fortnight, the usually punctual
Federer was late for his quarterfinals postmatch press
conference. A crowd of reporters waited. And waited.