Roger Federer’s immeasurable greatness: even his defeats were masterpieces
An artist quite unlike any other, the Swiss star just carried on painting, long after the palette had seemed dry.
On holiday, recently, we fell into the old conversation again. My brother insisted that Novak Djokovic was the best ever and he argued his corner with headmasterly authority. Of course, we pointed out that statistically, for now, Rafael Nadal was one ahead of him on grand-slam titles with 22. And today, we can confirm finally that Roger Federer will remain stuck in third place on a measly 20.
Fitness, age and, maybe, the Australians’ reportedly magnanimous attitude to Djokovic and immigration issues, suggests that it will probably be the Serb who will finish at the front of this blessed triumvirate.
If this was a column about numbers, then the salient figures are perhaps that Federer beat Nadal 16 times but was defeated eight times more and that Djokovic beat him four times more than he lost too.
The two grandest occasions that I was courtside for Federer were two of his defeats and arguably that should diminish him, but it doesn’t. His defeats tended to have an epic quality to them too and these two matches were both talked up afterwards as maybe the greatest, or at least the greatest finals, ever.
With Federer it was always tempting to reach for superlatives. But watching him eclipsed by Nadal, after nine in the evening, in the dying of the light at the 2008 Wimbledon final, did feel at the time like one of the most superlative occasions Centre Court, or indeed any court, had ever staged.
Federer pushed that one to 9-7 in the fifth. He saved two match points in the fourth, one of which we recorded in The Times as “probably the best backhand pass that Federer has ever played” – another superlative, though rating one Federer groundstroke against another is like asking Claude Monet which was his favourite poppy field. There were too many masterpieces to choose from.
The other final was the Djokovic marathon Wimbledon victory in 2019, from a tie-break at 12-12 in the fifth. Djokovic described the match afterwards as possibly “the most exciting and thrilling final” he had ever been a part of. And there, again, in his moment of victory, was the champion fishing for another Federer superlative.
Yet whether or not Federer was the best of three seems less relevant today than ever because no comparisons are required to appreciate his career and the unique currency of his achievement. The white uniform of Wimbledon seemed appropriate; he was like a superstar from another era, preserved in black and white, like a Hollywood icon, so graceful and not really of this world.
Not given to cursing, or really anything other than sporting behaviour. Never compromising the way he played or ever apparently ceasing to enjoy the simple task of hitting tennis balls. Never selling himself short. Never moving from the back pages to the front. Never giving his vast army of fans any reason to reassess their admiration. Of course, he was expertly managed, his PR immaculate, but never did he seem anything other than authentic.
Federer was a throwback because he was a simple yet exquisite joy. Yes, an artist quite unlike any other. And he just carried on painting, long after the palette had seemed dry.
Borg won his last grand slam at 24, McEnroe at 25, Sampras and Agassi stretched it out to the ages of 31 and 32 respectively; when Federer won his last, he was 37.
This is all very past tense, but also a mark of two decades of joy sprinkled abundantly over tennis courts across the globe, a mountain of achievement that represents far more than the number of titles accumulated. There may have been players who won more than him, but never was there anyone on a tennis court remotely like him.
When we reunite on holiday next summer, we will probably debate again which of the three was the greatest tennis giant of them all. We will do so happy in the knowledge that there is no absolute answer and that, really, the conversation itself is a nod to a sustained period of rivalry that feels unprecedented in any sport.
And I will insist that no player ever raised the aesthetics of hitting a tennis ball to a height quite like Roger Federer.
The Times
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