I Believe in Roger Federer

It has been a little over 3 days since Roger Federer achieved which many of us might have thought he would never achieve, and most of us were just waiting for when it would happen because there was no question of wheter he would be able to do it or not. Cryptic huh!!

Join me in congratulating Roger Federer on winning that coveted 14th GrandSlam, and a Career Grandslam. And who would have thought that he would be able to achieve it in a slow and drowsy clay court at Roland Garros. After what we saw of him in the last two years,  the not so ardent fans would have clearly written him off every major competition this year also. I do agree to the fact that great players like Nadal, Andy Murray and Djokovic had their respected bad days and were ousted unexpectedly, but let us not take the credit away from Roger by brooding over these things. It takes something to win a grand slam.  And you would not know what it takes to win it especially if you are the finalist for 3 consecutive years but end up on the other side. And year after year after year Federer has proven to the entire world  that he is capable of doing that.

The 2003-2007 era certainly belonged to Roger Federer, there is no question about that. He himself was once quoted saying : I have created a Monster of an image..” During these years he won almost every major tournament , except being the runner-up at the French Open. Worst was that he won most of his matches with minimal effort. If FedEx dropped a set, the commentators would make it an issue. If his impeccable backhand missed the line, the post-match analysis would need half and hour to discuss that. It is a fact that he is passed those days now, but that fire to win and keep close to that number one spot is still burning in him. There is a hunger to win and that is the mark of a true champion.

Perhaps,  we will hope to see days when Roger weilds his racquet with utter grace, those elegant half volleys down the alley, the angled cross court winners will flow along with his brilliance and some  intelligent tennis to take him to more grand slam victories….and all this time we cash in on the sheer pleasure of watching him play.

I believe in the phenomena called Roger Federer. Do you?