THINGS THAT MATTER: Roger Federer – simply the greatest!
History has its heroes – many kinds of heroes – but in today’s world the most inspiring are the brilliant sportsmen and sportswomen who move millions to cheers and tears, joy and adulation. In every sport there are men and women who rise so far above their peers and even the greats of the past, that we ordinary mortals can only wonder what secret gives them such brilliance.
Football had Pele, boxing Muhammed Ali, cricket Sir Garfield Sobers and athletics Usain Bolt. Until the return of Roger Federer in this year 2017, tennis fans would have argued as to whether Pete Sampras, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic might have eclipsed the great Rod Laver. But since last Sunday at Wimbledon, the holy of holies of tennis, it seems the world and his wife agree that Roger Federer is that iconic super hero of tennis, the like of which has never been seen before.
Federer has won more grand slam titles than any other man, having passed Pete Sampras’s 17. (Among the ladies, it’s a tightly matched trio of Margaret Court with 24, Serena Williams with 23 and Steffi Graf with 22.) But at the remarkable age of a tennis elder, a few weeks short of 36, Federer claimed his 19th grand slam, and a record eight Wimbledon trophies, without dropping a set throughout the tournament. This too was a record, the first time a Wimbledon champion has done so since the young prodigy and teenagers’ cult hero at the time - Bjorn Borg - in 1976. But the records and the numbers alone can’t explain the hero worship and the star-struck cheers that greeted Roger Federer at every point and at every appearance at Wimbledon on Sunday.
His popularity among tennis fans seems unique in tennis history. One commentator noted that in wandering through the crowd before the match it seemed that every spectator was a Federer fan and worshipper, so much so that the few Croatians there for Cilic were almost embarrassed to be recognised! It’s worth asking what has made him so successful and so much admired.
First, some of the sports writers’ descriptions of the match, which inspired them to heights of eloquence, with headlines such as “Graceful Federer defies the odds and statistics to rebuild mystical aura”.
Matthew Syed (The Times): “Despite the one sidedness of the match, there were moments that symbolised the synthesis of imagination, ruthlessness and artistry unique to Federer, and which provoke a species of gasps quite unlike any other I have heard at a sporting venue … Federer plays tennis in a different language. It is a language that requires no obvious translation, for it is understood regardless of cultural background, with Federer admired as much in Asia and South America as in Europe and the United States. And yet when you watch him, you are indeed struck by the sense that his shots emerge from a conception of the game, philosophically different to anyone who has played before, a game with a vocabulary and grammar all of its own.”
And in another article he wrote: “He is a person of courtesy and honour. Oh, and he plays tennis from the heavens …”
And Kevin Mitchell of the Guardian: “They love the fluidity, grace and balance of his movement as he glides over the turf, they marvel at his uncanny anticipation and almost palpable tennis intelligence, moving silkily to cut off what would quite often be clear winners with one downward swish of his racket to propel the offending ball back with interest. They are not just sports fans or tennis enthusiasts, they are lovers of ballet and theatre … a performance that transcends sport.”
These comments evoke shades of C.L.R.James in ‘Beyond the Boundary’, in his analysis of our cricketers in the era of Sir Frank Worrell, transcending sport.
And Mitchell goes on: “Nobody has yet made Federer lose his composure on the tennis court”. That perhaps is the most telling and the most significant statement about this remarkable man … Mitchell opines that with his “poise under pressure … if he were president of the world and we were being invaded by Mars, Federer would calmly turn them back with a smile”. His humanity was revealed to the world by his tears at the end, and the sight of his wife and “mixed doubles” – their two pairs of twins. And by the warmth and thoughtfulness both in praise, credit and thanks to his wife, his greatest fan; in praise of Marin Cilic, whose struggle with injury and pain Federer recognised and called him a hero; and even to his own heroes who inspired him as a youth.
Roger Federer may or may not be the greatest tennis player ever, as many claim – “brilliant, awesome, phenomenal, timeless, a super hero” - but he is clearly a hero with a heart, a super hero, a man of genuine commitment, character and integrity and a superb role model. In today’s world, where sport is widely sullied by drugs and cheating, and where so many leading public figures, bankers, business leaders, political favourites, presidents and politicians the world over are almost daily revealed to be corrupt and only sometimes brought to justice, this is truly a man we can admire. His influence – his courage, courtesy and humanity, as well as his supreme skill and commitment – are desperately needed, more than ever, in today’s world of bullying, corruption and fake news.
Bouquets: These also go to Garbine Muguruza, the impressive young Spaniard who won the Women’s title, and to the amazing Venus Williams, who at as glorious an age as Roger Federer, came so close and was equally gracious in defeat.
(Professor Fraser is Past Dean of Medical Sciences, UWI and Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology. Website: profhenryfraser.com)