OT: Federer Retires
The little cadre of tennis fans in this community will be sad to hear that Roger Federer has officially called it quits today. He'll play in the Laver Cup that he helped establish next week, and that's it.
David Foster Wallace's article on Federer in 2006 was what drew me into tennis, as a fan and later as a player, and I know DFW has a unique space on this blog.
Federer has been passed by Nadal and Djokovic in the career slam race, but he's a titan in the history of the sport and all sports. His fearless and dashing approach to the game have made him arguably more popular than any other player. He changed the game in the early 2000s, showing that an exciting, all-court style could raise one to the top of the game. For me, he's the greatest of all time.
September 15th, 2022 at 3:16 PM ^
Then we need to come up with some other term for "best player." Yeah, Roger was/is a class act, but by that standard some guy at the local club could be "GOAT". Which, fair enough, we can define it however we want, but ... I'm not sure that's what people are generally talking about here.
But hell, what do I know? By your definition, I'll go with Stefan Edberg. Loved his game, and the guy was the nicest, most gentlemanly, decent, most generous athlete I ever saw.
September 15th, 2022 at 4:46 PM ^
I'm not just talking about "off-court" persona, I mostly mean the way a player makes you FEEL when watching them play. Bill Russell has almost twice the rings that Jordan does but Jordan's cultural impact beyond his rings makes him the (widely considered) greatest. Same with Babe Ruth. Djokovic could win five more slams and no one's ever going to think they were just watching God.
September 16th, 2022 at 3:50 AM ^
If Roger was playing his best, he would beat Nadal or Djokovic at their best. A couple examples late in his career were the 2017 Australian Open final against Nadal and the 2019 ATP Finals against Djokovic. Peak Fed would just blow them off the court with shotmaking and power and there’s nothing their defensive styles could do about it.
And it was a beautiful, beautiful thing to watch.
September 15th, 2022 at 1:02 PM ^
As a kid I was a Sampras fan and so I hated watching Fed dismantle is records, but as time has gone on I've grown to, respect, appreciate, and inspite of myself even like Roger and his game. Straight up in their primes I think Nadal is just a bit better but Roger had had a truly amazing career. The sport will be worse without him.
Also he won what I consider one of the greatest tennis matches of all time against Roddick at Wimbledon. What an amazing career.
September 15th, 2022 at 1:14 PM ^
A true class act in every sense. What a great ambassador for the game.
September 15th, 2022 at 1:24 PM ^
Good bye and good luck to one of my favorite athletes of all time
September 15th, 2022 at 1:29 PM ^
Sad day for me, for sure.
I am glad I had the chance to watch him live once. What a player! The end of the Big 3 era is oficially over. I see Nadal retiring very soon, too.
Big shoes to fill by the upcoming players, but I am grateful that we were very spoilled as tennis fans, being able to watch these incredible players compete at such a high level and for such a long span.
Enjoy your retirement Roger, you deserve it!
BTW, Roger became the first billonaire tennis player not so long ago, I guess he will have a very comfortable life after tennis.
September 15th, 2022 at 2:54 PM ^
great, I don't care
September 15th, 2022 at 4:53 PM ^
Thanks for dropping in to tell us that. You seem like a guy we should all listen to.
September 15th, 2022 at 5:24 PM ^
There is a Mt Rushmore of tennis, and weirdly, if I had to just put three people on it, they are Fed - Rafa - Joker, and they all played against each other.
One wonders what one of them would have done, had the other two not been there.
(maybe more, or maybe less, w/o the competition?)
September 15th, 2022 at 8:12 PM ^
I haven’t watched Tennis in quite a while. I grew up watching Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. How would someone compare Federer to Sampras?
September 15th, 2022 at 8:52 PM ^
Federer is/was Sampras with a better forehand and backhand, much better movement, and way more variety and creativity. Of the Big Three—Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic—Federer is most like Sampras in that he plays an attacking style, has the biggest serve of the three, and comes to the net (though not nearly as much as Sampras did).
September 16th, 2022 at 7:43 AM ^
Interesting thread. Thank you all for posting.
The business of tennis has also evolved. Back in the day of the wooden racket, tennis players didn't know it was possible to keep winning after age 25. As more and more players played longer for a paycheck some found they could keep winning. And of course, they found better training methods.