The Guardian : declared in Hungover Roger Federer tells tennis’s next generation to attack old order

Graceful Roger Federer transcends statistics to rebuild mystical aura | Kevin Mitchell Read more"Yeah, my head's ringing," he said with a smile. "Since my generation and Rafa's generation, yes, the next one hasn't been strong enough to push all of us out. I remember playing Pat Rafter on Suzanne Lenglen in Paris and I was playing for double points in grand slams. The good thing is that the best player in the world should be the one winning the biggest tournaments. But it was great for a big-court player to play a big guy and beat him there.

Is Roger Federer the greatest sportsperson of all time?

The debate comes after Federer ruthlessly dispatched Marin Cilic, who's movement was impeded by a bad blister, to win the title in straight sets. After Roger Federer became the only man ever to win eight Wimbledon title singles titles and 19 Grand Slam crowns overall, The Tennis Podcast discussed where he sits in the pantheon of all-time greats - and not just in tennis. Is he better than Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, and Rafael Nadal (who has a winning record against him)? Are his achievements superior to those of Serena Williams, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova, or in other sports - Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan and Usain Bolt? Impossible questions to answer, perhaps, but that doesn't stop BBC 5 Live's David Law and the Telegraph's Simon Briggs and Charlie Eccleshare from trying to on the podcast.


Part of the joy of watching Roger Federer – which novelist David Foster Wallace once called a religious experience – is that he humanizes the inconceivable. Federer, again, becoming the first player since Bjorn Borg in 1976 to win Wimbledon without dropping a set. That wasn't likely to change because of a six-month layoff after Wimbledon that Federer used to fully heal. Federer's ranking inevitably dropped because of the time off, to the point that he was the 17th seed at this year's Australian Open, his first tournament back. And it worked when Federer faced off against Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final.


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