Roger Federer Wins Record-Tying 7th Wimbledon

           It seemed that Federer was more or less outdated, and perhaps even irrelevant. Hard to believe that this was the popular perception, given that he was largely recognized as the greatest player in the world, yet there it was. Djokovic dominated last year, winning three of the four majors and grabbing the number one ranking by the throat, all the while dominating the one man, Nadal, who had finally broken through and started to dominate the Fed (that is Roger Federer I'm referring to here), when no one else was capable of so doing.

Nadal had been the first, the younger, strong armed champion, who had dominated easily on clay, and slowly expanded his abilities and achievements until he broke through on other surfaces. Eventually, he began to beat Federer regularly, and not just on clay. There was the epic victory over Federer in 2008, ending Federer's supreme, five year reign on the grass courts there. An injury in 2009 knocked him out of the French Open unexpectedly early, and would knock him out of real strong contention for nearly a year, during which time Federer stepped up with a historic run to solidly set him apart historically. He leaped on the obviously rare opportunity of the early Nadal exit at the French to finally break through with a championship there, solidifying the career Grand Slam. That tied him with the most all-time Grand Slam championships, so it was the biggest victory of his career. He followed it up with another Wimbledon championship, securing the record for himself with the most ever Grand Slam championships, and returned him atop the rankings. He seemed to dominate in the US Open, but lost unexpectedly to Del Potro in the final, but ended the year at number one. Then, he won the Australian, to get 2010 off on the right foot.

Yet, as soon as Nadal got healthy again, Federer began to fade away again, as Nadal returned back to top form, taking the French again, then reclaiming Wimbledon. Finally, Nadal broke through at the US Open, the one major he had not yet won, and suddenly, he had achieved the rare career Grand Slam, as well as returning atop the rankings. It seemed that he was fast catching Roger in terms of accomplishments, and already, people were pushing Federer aside. The question that seemed on the minds of many, although not often blurted outright, was this: How can Federer be the best ever, if Nadal keeps beating him consistently, and ranks higher than him? If Nadal keeps going, he will pass Federer, and be recognized as the greatest tennis player ever, right?

But then, right at the very moment when Nadal reached the height of his powers and looked to dominate the tennis world much like Federer before him, Djokovic suddenly stepped up his game. He had been on the court, on the wrong end of the historical 2010 US Open Final, losing to Nadal as he got the career Grand Slam. It was a crushing loss, and he had been there before. But this time was going to be different, and Djokovic turned things around completely following that major disappointment. He won the Australian Open to open 2011, only his second ever Grand Slam championship, and remained undefeated going into the French Open. He lost in the semifinals to Federer, who lost badly to Nadal in the final. But Djokovic returned back to top form, breaking through at Wimbledon, and defeating Nadal, the defending champion. He also won the US Open, and finished the year atop the rankings

Then, Djokovic successfully defended his Autralian Open title earlier this year to start off very strongly, seemingly owning the number one ranking – and Nadal.

Until the French Open last month. When they met in the French Open Final on the terre batu of Rolland Garros, Nadal won, and dispelled any doubts that he was not complete master on the clay courts, as he claimed a record seventh French Open championship. If Djokovic will join Federer and Nadal with a career Grand Slam eventually, it will have to wait, at least another year.

So, the pattern had been established. Federer had yielded his dominance to Nadal, and then Nadal had yielded his dominance to Djokovic. Both Nadal and Djokovic generally dominated Federer now, and so it was that the man who once was widely regarded as the greatest tennis player in history had been relegated to relative second class status.

That is how it was, entering this Wimbledon tournament. It would likely be either Djokovic or Nadal, with Federer clearly running up a distant third. Even if Federer would surprise everybody by defeating one, he could not possibly knock off both men in the same tournament, right?

As it turned out, he would not have to. Nadal lost a shocking match in the second round, and that seemed to open things up considerably for many. I do not want to take anything away from local favorite Andy Murray, who had a tremendous tournament to qualify for the final, but it is a safe assumption to suggest that he would have a tougher time qualifying for the final if he had been forced to go through a healthy Nadal in top form. I would suggest, in fact, that maybe Murray would not have won at all.

Still, Nadal obviously was not in top form, and that is why he lost in the second round. I wrote a few days ago about Wimbledon, and mentioned that when guys like Nadal slip up like that, even for one major tournament, it really makes you appreciate Federer's incredible streak of consecutive quarterfinals reached at such a high level. He also owns the most semifinal appearances, as well as the most consecutive finals appearances, all in Grand Slam events. Federer has played with such a level of consistency, and that, more than anything else, is why he will, indeed, likely be remembered as the greatest ever. Those other two guys, Nadal and Djokovic, can usually – usually – beat Federer lately, but they have yet to prove themselves capable of sustaining a level of consistency at that top level, like Federer managed to do.

This was underscored even further when Roger managed to survive long enough to take on the new beast of men's tennis, Djokovic, in the semifinal. It was a tough and tight match, but there came a point when Federer suddenly took the match by the throat, and Djokovic, who seemed set to dominate yet another year of tennis, suddenly folded, making mistake after mistake, and showing body language that showed he had largely given up, frustrated and unable to muster anything on the court.

Suddenly, it was Federer again at the Wimbledon final. Not only did he have another chance at yet another Grand Slam championship, which would make 17 overall and solidy his record that much more, but he could tie Sampras's mark of seven Wimbledon titles, specifically. Not only that, but he would return to the number one ranking, something that Paterick McEnroe repeatedly said he never expected Roger to be able to do again, in this era of Djokovic and Nadal. I will admit that I was in agreement with him there. It seemed like Federer was, in deed, a relic of a former age in tennis already, and not so much the master of the present.

Yet, with an awesome display yesterday, Roger Federer outlasted Andy Murray, who had the support of the home crowd and played actually remarkably well himself. Federer was not playing very sharp early on, and lost the first set. But he took the remaining sets straight, and got everything he wanted, in what is easily his biggest match in years, and arguably his biggest achievement since that huge French Open championship in 2009.

Suddenly, Federer is ranked number one once again, and both Djokovic and Nadal (as well as everyone else) are looking up at him, trying to catch him. Suddenly, Federer's persistence – as well as his consistency, has people wondering about the abilities even for either Nadal or Djokovic to really be considered on the level of the Fed. After all, Federer has not been dismissed – yet – in the second round of any Grand Slam tournament during this era of his dominance, like Nadal. Suddenly, we are reminded that Federer really did not lose any huge, head to head showdowns like the one that Djokovic lost to Federer in the semifinal, until Nadal finally came around and managed to defeat him in that historical 2008 Wimbledon Final – and that was an epic match, often considered the greatest tennis match in history. That is what it took to defeat Federere, and no less than that!

With this victory, you have to say that Roger Federer seems to have secured his place as the greatest tennis player ever, even more than he had before. He probably had that distinction before, but there were just a few things that he had not yet quite reached. Sampras still held a couple of records, including seven Wimbledon titles. Surprisingly, perhaps really fittingly, Sampras also owned the record for most weeks overall atop the rankings, but with his achieving the number one ranking now, Federer will tie this Sampras record as well. He seems capable of surpassing Sampras with that distinction, as well. Also, by adding a seventeenth Grand Slam championship, it makes catching his achievements that much more difficult.

Of course, around ten years ago, there was another champion who seemed to have secured a similar legacy, and had retired form the sport, assuming that nobody would challenge all the records that he had set. That was Pete Sampras, who had established a record 14 Grand Slam championships, and a record amount of overall weeks atop the ranking. There is only one more record that I can think of that Sampras still holds, and that would be having had the number one ranking at the end of a record six years in a row, which indeed, we will not likely see anyone surpass anytime soon. Federer could not do it. But then again, Sampras did not have Nadal to deal with, like Federer did. He had Agassi, but Agassi was not consistently great – especially against Sampras.

            Other than those six years in a row – which is a considerable achievement that Sampras can remain proud of, and secure with – Federer now has tied or passed Sampras in every other conceivable category. Yet, this is not what makes him so impressive. He just manages to hold himself with such a measure of class that has become rare these days. He is a legitimately likeable guy, it seems, and that is often rare in sports these days, unfortunately.

Sports, like almost every other aspect of our modern lives, has become loud, in your face, boisterous. Many of those who make the loudest noise are those who still have a lot to prove, just like small dogs often barking the loudest and acting the most aggressively. It really has reached a point where it just gets not merely distracting, but frankly very annoying, and can be a major turn off.

            In this day and age, when LeBron goes on national television to announce that he is bringing his talents to South Beach (although the Heat actually play nowhere near South beach itself), and when New York Jets coach Rex Ryan finally agrees, after a failed season, that his obnoxious prediction of a Super Bowl championship was perhaps not only a distraction, but a misguided mistake – one that he seems to make every season. Maybe he means it, maybe he will change, but if I have to put my money on it, I would honestly bank against it.

            Other men in tennis have held themselves in honorable manner like that. Nadal does, and Sampras and Agassi did, as well. However, Federer seems to go the extra mile in this regard, just as he goes that extra mile with his list of accomplishments, as well. It really is remarkable, when you think about it. It also makes you realize, as Roger often makes you realize, that it is indeed a privilege to see this man and enjoy his era in tennis, on so many levels. I know I am glad to have seen it, and look forward to even more, since he hardly seems to be slowing down or conceding to age much!