They came, They saw, HE Conquered

50, maybe 60 years from now, old-timers like yours truly will retell the tales of the Gods that walked the sporting world in our day. Of Michael Schumacher winning 7 (That’s right, SEVEN) Formula 1 titles. OR Lance Armstrong conquering testicular cancer to win the Tour De France (there’s that number again), SEVEN consecutive times.  Of the time when Sachin Tendulkar hit the winning runs against England while chasing down 387, a month after the terrorist attacks on Mumbai. Of Zinedine Zidane, and his silken skills with a football at his feet. Or recall, with unabashed joy, Eden Gardens 2001, the most incredible Indian cricket win against a rampaging Australian side. “You should’ve been there” , we’ll tell them, “when Gods walked the earth”. And talk will turn, inevitably, to tales of one Roger Federer and his exploits. This then, is the Gospel according to (Rajiv) Mathew.

“Were you there, old man …. “, they’ll ask me, in hushed tones, almost bordering on reverence for the legend, “when He won his 5th consecutive Wimbledon ?“. “Where were you when he sank to his knees after capturing the 1st of several French Open crowns, for the 1st time in his career ?“. Or “Were you there, when he won his 6th US Open in 2010“. To that last question, I still hold out hope (as I sit here writing this) of being able to reply in the affirmative.

Entire dictionaries and the adjectives contained therein were laid bare, by pundits, laymen, coaches, sports commentators and followers worldwide, in the adulation of ONE MAN. Adjectives no longer adequately described it. Superlatives soon became passé, even they didn’t have in them, the depth to capture the magnitude of the moment, the ability of the man. Records fell by the wayside. Sample this. By the time he was 28 he had:

• 23 CONSECUTIVE GRAND SLAM SEMI-FINALS —- NEXT HIGHEST ? 11
• 18 OF LAST 19  GRAND SLAM FINALS
• 16 MAJOR TITLES (16 out of 26) —— NEXT HIGHEST ? 14 (out of 45), courtesy Pistol Pete
  
• 5 CONSECUTIVE MAJORS AT US OPEN + WIMBLEDON
• BECOME ONLY PLAYER IN HISTORY TO WIN 3 SLAMS IN A CALENDAR YEAR, 3 DIFFERENT TIMES.
• WON 62 CAREER ATP TITLES
  

Sure, there were the occasional upstarts, the challengers, mere mortal pretenders, who dreamt and believed they had what it took to challenge the undisputed king. Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick. They all came and went, laid waste by the mastery and fluid grace of  HIS game. The list of  pretenders is possibly longer than even a senile old man like me can remember in its entirety. And sure enough, they did occasionally win. That’s the beauty of this piece of history, because it showed he could be beaten. If not, then this would qualify as an old man telling you a scarcely credible fairy tale of a racquet wielding automaton. No, he DID lose, he did shed copious tears and it was in those losses that the collective reverence of a worldwide audience, grew and far surpassed all believable numbers, for through the tears he shed, the world realized how much the game itself meant to him. But after the tears came the pain, as his opponents would soon realize. He wasted little time in going right back and drawing up the blueprints, worked harder, and embarrassing, nay annihilating those who dared beat him by far more embarrassing (and depressing, for them) scorelines in subsequent encounters.

Champions often times play the modesty card too often for their own good. They are self-deprecating so as not to appear arrogant, or ahead of themselves. Roger Federer, unsurprisingly, was completely different. He knew he had the game, he had the scarcely believable shot-making capabilities, the incredible finesse and mastery of a surgeon with scalpel in hand, and was never shy to let the world know. Opponents got on court to play him, but the game had been won and lost in the moments before they stepped on court. No matter their ability, from the powerful frame and boisterous game of Nadal, to the booming serve of Roddick, to the jesters like Djokovic, they inevitably ran into a brick wall, that shattered wills, and (in Nadal’s case) knees as well. Starting with his debut, he played all 45 majors from 2000 to 2010, a testament to his longevity and the numerous hours of practice and hard grind, while opponents fell by the wayside, injured and broken.

“For 119 years since the game began …….“  i will conclude,  “…… Tennis Gods ruled their respective era. Then there was Federer. The Gods haven’t looked as good since.“

THEY CAME, THEY SAW, HE CONQUERED.

Roger Federer (1999 – )

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