The Greatest

[poliphilo]

It wasn't a great match, but it was a great moment. By beating Robin Soderling on clay at Roland Garros Roger Federer joins Andre Agassi as the only other man to have won at the highest level on every surface and equals Pete Sampras' record of 14 slam titles. He is now- officially- the stats can't be denied- the greatest player of all time. The only fly in the ointment is that he keeps getting beaten by Rafa Nadal.

Tennis thrives on these great rivalries. Borg- McEnroe for instance. The Sampras years- when the great man bestrode the world like a colossus- and rivals were routinely wiped off the court by that tremendous serve- were kinda dull- so much so that I stopped caring. And now for Wimbledon- and the likelihood of yet another Federer/Nadal final.

Comments

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

what was absolutely priceless was the French crowd - who hate EVERYONE - cheering Roger during the match.

Andre Agassi. I always loved to watch him play, with or without hair. The year he first won Wimbledon, *I* cried.

Pete Sampras was indeed a great player and duller than dishwater to watch. Slam-whoosh. Ace. Not to take away from his talent or his record, of course.

It was nostalgic to see Bjorn Borg in the crowd. I do NOT like Robin Soderling. Although Rafa needed to descend to cruising altitude, and I though he was gracious in his loss last week, I wish it hadn't been Soderling that beat him.

Wimbledon is always a favorite tennis event. I suspect this year Rafa is going to show up loaded for bear this year - bring his best serve and his best game. Although, he always does.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Agassi seems like a sweet man. At least he has a sweet smile. Federer seems to be comparably sweet. I like it how he said- in his victory speech- that winning at Roland Garros was a great moment- but tennis isn't the only thing in his life.

Borg was the player who- more than any other- got me interested in tennis.

I hadn't seen Soderling play before. I don't have any feelings about him personally. He was clearly out of his league with Federer.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

Robin Soderling has mean eyes. I know that has no effect on his tennis playing whatsoever, but he DOES have mean eyes. Andre does a LOT of work with kids. A lot of former professional athletes have foundations, but Andre really shows up for his. He cares.

And he does have a sweet smile.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

You're right about Soderling's eyes. He makes me think of Lee Van Cleef.

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I slept through it on the sofa!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It wasn't electrifying. Federer totally outclassed Soderling. It's as a landmark that it's important.