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March 12, 2006
Is Federer the best ever?
Tennis greats debate current No. 1’s place in history
By Leighton Ginn, The Desert Sun
INDIAN WELLS - Greatness in tennis is defined differently by various players. Rod Laver, the only man to win the Grand Slam twice, said greatness begins simply by winning. Pete
Sampras, the winner of a record 14 Grand Slam titles, said it's
excellence over a long period of time, where a player wins majors, big
matches and defend titles. "If you do all those things and do it
for a long period of time, I think that makes you a legend," said
Sampras, a Palm Desert resident and investor in the Pacific Life Open. One
thing many of the greatest players in history agree with is that Roger
Federer appears on his way to placing himself among the greatest ever. "If
he stays healthy, and doesn't make so much money where he does not want
to stay on track, he'll establish records to show he might be the best
we've seen to date," said Hall of Famer Jack Kramer. "He's a great,
great champion and he's still a kid." At 24, Federer has won
seven Grand Slam titles, including the last three. Federer was so
dominant last year that he went 81-4, falling short of John McEnroe's
single-season record at 82-3. "I think he's already up there with
his results," Sampras said. "I don't see anyone pushing him. There's a
couple of guys playing better, but at the end of the day, Roger is head
and shoulders above everyone else playing, so I see him dominating for
as long as he wants too." When Kramer talks about the greatest
players in each era, he qualifies his answer by the fact the game has
changed so much during each eras.
There's also a hint of skepticism in Kramer's voice as he talks
about how the game has changed because of the racket technology. With
the lighter rackets, players can generate so much power from the
baseline that it's harder for players to come to the net. "I've
always felt that champions would be champions of any age," Kramer said.
"If (the older champions) had modern equipment, they're so light, they
could do more than we could with heavy rackets. "Now, seeing Roger play, I've never seen someone do so much of all the people I've watched." Looking for a rival
Federer has been so dominant for the past three years that no one has really stood up to him for any extended period of time."As
good as Roger is, people want to see him tested," said Andy Roddick,
who lost to Federer in the finals of Wimbledon the last two years. "You
want there to be the Boston Celtics for the Lakers, you want there to
be Red Sox for the Yankees." Jimmy Connors, who had his own
legendary battles with John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, said rivalries are
the lifeblood of the sport. The player who has emerged as a
possible rival is Rafael Nadal, the 19-year-old French Open champion
who is No. 2 in the rankings. Nadal owns a 3-1 record against
Federer and could be a road block to the glaring omission on Federer's
resume, a French Open title. If Federer could win at Roland
Garros, he would become the sixth player to win all four Grand Slam
tournaments. And if Federer can win the French Open this year, he would
complete a calendar-year Grand Slam. "I saw him at the French and
he has what it takes on the clay - the heart and the grit and the
determination - to do well there," Sampras said. "He has the game and
he's going to be a threat there for years to come. For Roger, that will
be his biggest challenge, the French, even though he grew up on the
clay. There's so many good clay court players that things will really
have to fall in place for him to win there." Roddick has a chance
to be Federer's biggest rival on tennis' grandest stage, Wimbledon. The
two have met in the last two finals at Wimbledon. Despite having
one of the best serves and a dominating forehand, Roddick has not found
a way to put pressure on Federer as his 1-10 record indicates. Roddick said Federer might be in his head, which might have set back the top American. "I
made adjustments with him in mind," Roddick said. "You have to make
adjustments in mind and apply them to (Federer) and not lose what
you're doing against other people. I still have to find a way to get
there. (The adjustments) wasn't solely for him, but a lot of it was
done with him in mind. I think that's the pressure, to his credit, that
he has put on all of the guys." Sampras agrees. "I think
there are guys who can push him, but on a consistent level, I don't
know," said Sampras, who had a legendary rivalry with Andre Agassi.
"There's not really anyone I see that's 'Wow, this is going to be a
tough match for Roger.' They're just guys who can push him, but at the
end of the day he'll come through and will probably win more of these
matches than he's going to lose them." Steady focus
Not only will Federer have to worry about rivals coming up, he might also have to worry about himself.Larry
Stefanki, who coached Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marcelo Rios to the No. 1
ranking, thought Federer looked off at the Australian Open. "Roger
can be lackadaisical and doesn't want to move, and he can fall into a
trap," Stefanki said. "I don't think he can play worse than Australia
and he got away with a lot. It was shocking. "I think he's on
cruise control at the moment. He also has the aura of Roger, so
everyone has bought into that scene. It's a double plus for him." However, Sampras, who set the record for most weeks at No. 1 at 286, sees similarities between himself and Federer. "I
think he has a great attitude. He doesn't get too high or too low on
wins or losses," Sampras said. "He has a pretty stoic attitude, a lot
like I had, where it's easier to maintain that level of play, keeping
it simple. He just goes out there and gets that job done. "Being
from Switzerland, he doesn't have that American media pressure that I
faced a little bit or what Tim Henman faced in Great Britain. He's
under the radar screen when it comes to the media and feeling that
(pressure)."
Ex-pros on Federer
Pete Sampras: Even when Roger isn’t at the top of his
game, he’s getting through those matches. That tells me he should be
around for a while. At the end of the day, Roger is head and shoulders
above everyone else playing, so I see him dominating for as long as he
wants too.John McEnroe: It was nice to see how hard he
was trying to beat my record because perhaps now people will realize
that it’s not as easy as it looks to go 82-3. Roger had a phenomenal
year (going 81-4). He came up one short, but while it would have been
nice to be tied with him, it is sort of cool that I still have one
record. It puts in perspective how good my year was in ’84, that he put
in that sort of effort when he probably shouldn’t have played. He might
have done himself some damage by playing — he clearly wasn’t moving as
well as he normally does, and yet he made a run in the fifth set when
it seemed he was down and out.”Jose Higueras: I don’t
think I would put him in that class (with Sampras and Laver) yet, but
he’s very close. Obviously, he’s got the tools to be there and I
believe he will be there.”Jimmy Connors: “He’s head and
shoulders above everyone else right now. And I say that by looking at
his record the last three years. Anyone who has that kind of record and
that many wins in Grand Slams in a three or four year period of time is
certainly the dominant figure.”Larry Stefanki: I’m a
Roger liker. Actually, I mean I’m a Roger lover. He’s so
multidimensional. Other guys don’t want to create other dimensions to
become a threat to him.Federer by the numbers
7:
Grand Slam titles (Australian Open ’04, ’06, Wimbledon ’03, ’04, ’05,
U.S. Open ’04, ’05). It ties Federer for 11th all time with Grand Slam
titles. Those with more Slams are Pete Sampras (14), Roy Emerson (12),
Bjorn Borg (11), Rod Laver (11), Bill Tilden (10), Fred Perry (8),
Andre Agassi (8), Jimmy Connors (8), Ken Rosewall (8), and Ivan Lendl
(8).
81-4: Federer’s match record in 2005, the finest season since John McEnroe’s record 82-3 mark in 1984.
7-0: Record in Grand Slam finals.
171-11:
Federer’s record since 2004, for a winning percentage of 94 percent.
Federer also has not gone two consecutive tournaments without a title
since 2004.
111: Weeks at No. 1 in the world as of
Monday. Federer ranks fifth all time for weeks at No. 1 trailing John
McEnroe (170), Jimmy Connors (268), Ivan Lendl (270), and Pete Sampras
(286).
56: Federer’s winning streak on hardcourts, an Open era record, which was snapped last week in a loss to Rafael Nadal in Dubai.
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