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| Roger Federer |
When Federer's rise began, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi were near the end of their illustrious careers, and at first he battled for succession rights with the likes of Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin or Andy Roddick - all career-high Ozeki (=Champions). It soon transpired though that Federer was the best of the class, and in 2004 he ascended to the highest rank of Yokozuna - the first Grand Champion promotion in almost 10 years (after Agassi in 1995). Dai-Yokozuna followed in 2007. By that time, Federer's three-way rivalry with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic - who would both become Dai-Yokozuna as well) was well under way - it would see all three achieve career records that had been unheard of previously. Together Federer, Nadal and Djokovic established a golden era of men's tennis - it is now nearing its end.
Nadal and Djokovic may have won even a little more than Federer, but Federer was the first who reached hitherto unimaginable heights: he cleared the path that his younger competitors followed, gave them a target to aim for. The elegance of Federer's game is unrivalled: the quick feet that made it seem as if he was hovering over the court; the vision that allowed him to find angles nobody else saw; the wrist flexibility that sometimes made him resemble a squash or badminton player; the fluency, accuracy and effortless power of his serve; the stylish single-handed backhand (even though it lacked a tad reliability and was arguably also his main weakness). Even at age 38, Federer was still competitive in Grand Slam finals - it seemed as if age would never catch up with him.
Well, age has finally caught up: at the biblical tennis player age of 41, Federer has announced his retirement. Farewell, Great Grand Champion. You will be missed.
P.S.: in the ladies' game, another great has half-announced her withdrawal from the sport: Serena Williams. Different from Federer, Serena has left a back door open though - hence maybe it is still too early for good-byes.
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