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October 30, 2006
Fed's all about the record book
By Scott Riley, Sports Network
Philadelphia, PA - In case you haven't already noticed, the sublime Swiss that is Roger Federer is turning into a walking tennis record book.
When Federer
titled at the Madrid Masters two weeks ago, he locked up his 10th
championship of the year. And In the process, he became the first
player in the Open Era to capture at least 10 titles in three straight
seasons. In his case, the steady Swiss has won 11 titles in each of the
last three years.
Also while in
Madrid, Federer became the first player in 24 years to win at least 80
matches in back-to-back campaigns. Ivan Lendl last turned that
impressive trick in 1981 & '82. And the Basel native has been the
No. 1 player in the world for the last 144 weeks (since the first week
of February 2004).
And since 2004,
Federer's 33-5 in 38 finals in 48 tournaments. He titled again last
week by securing his first-ever crown in his hometown of Basel, giving
him his 11th title this year and the 44th of his sparkling career.
Federer straight-setted Chilean strongman Fernando Gonzalez (now 0-9
lifetime against the athletic Swiss) in both the Madrid and Basel
finales.
Federer's also
riding yet another one of his long winning streaks, with his most
recent one currently standing at 24 matches, marking his fifth streak
of at least 23 wins. At one point last year he won a personal-best 35
consecutive bouts.
He's also won his last four tournaments and seven of his last eight events.
I'd say he's relatively hot.
The supreme Swiss
has won eight of the 12 Grand Slam events since '04 and has won nine
majors overall since nailing down his first Wimbledon title in 2003.
The reigning
four-time Wimby and three-time U.S. Open champ is an eye-popping 242-15
since 2004, including a 47-6 record against top-10 opposition. These
numbers, in case you haven't noticed, are insane!
By the way, five
of Fed's six losses versus top-10 competition over the last three years
have come against the Spanish sensation that is Rafael Nadal.
This year, the "Fed" is 87-5 and has reached the final in 15 of his 16 events, including an 11-4 mark in the title matches.
Again, amazing (or was it insane?)!
By the way, all
four of his finals setbacks this season have come against the world No.
2 Nadal, who topped Roger in the French Open finale, but lost to the
serious Swiss in the Wimbledon title tilt.
The 25-year-old
Federer will finish at No. 1 for a third straight year, a feat which
also was accomplished by Pete Sampras, Lendl, John McEnroe and Jimmy
Connors. And if you want to compare Roger to Pete -- when Sampras was
finishing No. 1 for three straight years, he won six Grand Slam titles
and lost 44 matches, while Federer tallied eight majors and dropped a
mere 15 matches (with one tourney remaining on his '06 schedule).
Quite frankly, no
one has enjoyed a three-year No. 1 stretch quite like Federer. Lendl
would be the closest, with five Slams and only 20 losses, but that
would leave the Czech native with three fewer majors and five more
match L's.
How 'bout if we
compare Federer to my favorite player when I was much younger, the
legendary Bjorn Borg. The steely Swede (who reached 16 finals in 27
Grand Slam events, winning 11) did not finish as a year-end No. 1 more
than two years in a row, but his best three-year stretch did result in
six Grand Slams and a mere 18 losses (from 1978-80). And Borg decided
against making the trip to the Australian Open after 1974. So he
basically only ever played in three majors per year.
Still, advantage Federer.
The elegant Swiss
also just eclipsed the $27-million mark in terms of career
earnings...just on-court earnings. He's gaining on Andre Agassi, who
retired last month after piling up just over $31 million in prize
money. Sampras holds the all-time record with over $43 million in
on-court dough.
And these are only some of the feats that Federer has accomplished thus far.
You can't say
that Federer's the best player of all-time just yet, but when he holds
all the records...you won't have a choice.
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