Opinion: Roger Federer is best ever sportsperson across all sports

Legends have one special trait that they never seize to surprise you. Every time you feel that they are at peak, they would nudge you “Hey, hang on. I am scaling yet another higher peak”.

That’s exactly Roger Federer did last week when he reached the summit position of ATP ranking at the age of 36 ½ years; the oldest ever to do so.

There has been a flurry of surprises from the great man over the past 13 years. Federer won record 8thWimbledon title in July 2017 and surprised the world when he won Australian Open in 2018 as 17th seed player; it was his first grand slam after 4 ½ years. Early this year he became the first man in the history to win 20 Grand Slam and now the ATPranking. It was in 2012 when he was a top ranking player last time at the ATP. This is a record of longest gap between two peak rankings (more than five years). That’s not all, as far as records are concerned. He reached the peak of ATP ranking first time in 2004. Thus the window for top ATP ranking for Federer spanned for 14 years; it is another world record. The second best is Nadal, who had a window of 9 years – way behind Federer.

Till 2016, the discussions was that perhaps Federer is the all-time greatest Tennis player but it would be now silly to even deliberate on that. Federer is by far the greatest ever Tennis player.After Federer took the number one ranking last week, I saw an interesting thread on social media where people were arguing that Federer is best ever sportsperson across all sports. Quite interesting but this discussion is actually worthy enough to take place that leave apart Tennis, Federer perhaps is the best sportsperson - all sports, all-times.

Some may frown on this discussion as it is extremely subjective and contentious issue. There is no definite thumb rule or any mathematical model to gauge greatness. It is not an easy task to even compare sportspersons within same sports from different playing era. Thus comparison of players across various sports and across different time zone would surely be an arduous task.

Some would say what about 23 Olympic Gold Medals by Michael Phelps, while some may say that Usain Bolt is the greatest ever with nine Olympic gold medals in sprints. A soccer lover would say how can you ignore a thousand goals by Pele, he is the greatest while a Tennis lover would claim that Federer has won 20 Grand Slams. What about Serena Williams with 23 and SteffiGraf with 22 grand slams? Similarly, there can be multiple other arguments.
So, it is a tough question but what are the arguments, which supports Federer’s case?

A sportsperson is judged on two parameters – numbers/statistics and slickness & beauty in playing style. Federer scores high on both of these parameters. With 20 Grand Slams and 14 years of grand slam winning spree, numbersunequivocallysupport Federer. Apart from that, Federer is undisputed the most alluring Tennis player ever. His game is inclusive, he has quick and balanced service, his single-handed backhand is majestic and he sends the ball to the other side of the net with clinical precision.

Federer has been immortalized in a sport which is truly popular across the globe, needs ultimate athleticism and skills and has a tremendous fan following. Moreover, it is an individual sport and therefore Federer is bound to have higher ratings than someone who has excelled in team sports (Like Pele or any of those NBA stars)

Federer has redefined the word longevity. Men’s Tennis is one of the most competitive and demanding sports and maintaining a winning spree for more than a decade and a half is truly incredible. The competition at ATP is cut-throat and a slight fall in your fitness level and form can simply lead to a total nosedive. The game is ever evolving and unless you continually improve your game, it is not possible to keep winning against the players from different generations. Take the case of Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar scored a Test century in 1990 and then he also scored it in 2011 as well when the very next generation of bowlers had come. That is where the greatness of Tendulkar is that he maintained his game across two generations.

Federer maintained the same kind of levelfor close to two decadesin a sport which evolves even far more rapidly and this puts him in a different league and at a much higher notch altogether.Federer scores high over Serena Williams and Steffi Graf simply because of the reason thatMen’s Tennis is far more powerful competitive and sapping. Federer also scores high on beautiful and inclusive tennis, which he plays.

Roger Federer is definitely a serious contender for greatest ever sportsperson mankind has seen across all sports, notwithstanding the fact that this is a difficult discussion.

In the last, please don’t ever think that Federer has now achieved his peak. For sure you would be proven wrong again by the great man. My take is that basis current situation, he is already a contender to claim Wimbledon and US Open as well during this year.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)