Let Me Explain Why Roger Federer is the Best Athlete of All Time
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Time for some real talk about tennis
THESIS: Roger Federer is the greatest athlete of ALL TIME in ANY SPORT anywhere. I dare anyone to prove me wrong.
Point #1: Roger Federer is the greatest tennis player of all time. He is inarguably the greatest male tennis player of all time. Now, people will argue for Serena Williams, and I will grant that they have a point (ed note: check out our podcast where I make that point). However, my thoughts on Serena’s lack of quality competition are well documented, and I will not bore everyone by repeating them here. During Fed’s record shattering run of 19 major titles, he has been challenged by two of the very best players to ever play the game (Nadal & Djokovic each have over 10 majors). With due respect to Chris Evert, the only other candidates for best tennis player ever are Steffi Graf, and Martina Navratilova. Graf retired at 29, and longevity has to count for something. Martina had a long career, in both singles and doubles, but most people think that singles is where it counts, and Fed now has Martina beat by 1.
Point #2: Unlike bowling/poker/billiards/Nintendo, tennis is a real sport. You can be an overweight smoker and still win at those other activities in the modern age. Tennis requires peak physical conditioning to perform at the highest levels.
Point #3: I’m ruling out athletes in sports like running and swimming. In those sports, you are playing against the clock, not against your opponents. If your opponent cannot DIRECTLY affect your performance, I’m not counting you in the greatest athlete race.
Point #4: What about Tiger Woods? He doesn’t have the longevity. Also, see point #2: overweight smokers have won major golf titles.
Point #5: What about cycling? See Ty’s piece on “Tour de Pharmacy.” There has never been a whiff of cheating or PED’s with Federer. I’ll retract this point if it’s ever proven with him.
Point #6: Tennis is an individual sport with no coaching permitted during matches. You only win if you, individually, are better than the guy across the net. In other sports, you have teammates to help you carry the load. As great as an individual basketball player is, there are 4 other guys on the court to help him, and he can talk to his coach. A great quarterback needs a good offensive line and some other skill players. Great pitchers aren’t getting you anywhere unless the other guys can field cleanly and score runs. Federer, by contrast, has to switch from offense to defense and back, often during the same point. He has to work through the strategy, keep himself mentally sharp and engaged, notice his opponent’s strategy, and adjust on the fly, all without talking to another person. And he might have to do that for 4 hours or longer, seven matches in a row in order to win a major title.
Point #7: Federer has been in the very top echelons of his sport for FIFTEEN YEARS. He has played a full schedule for 14 of those years, and the tennis season is ridiculously long, going from early January to mid-November with a grueling travel schedule. The fact that he has remained healthy for nearly that entire time is remarkable. He took his first major injury layoff in 2016, after racking up 17 majors.
Point #8: Show me an athlete in a non-judged sport that shows the supreme physical grace of Federer. At his best, he never even looks like he’s running. To quote our friends at Deadspin, “…Federer’s desperation looks a little better than the other people’s very best.”
Point #9: What about Secretariat? Uh, let’s restrict this conversation to bipeds. Also, see point #3 above.
Point #10: The guy is committed to getting better. After 19 majors, so many weeks at number 1, gallons of ink spilled, thousands of inane questions from the sports press, and 4 kids, he STILL seems to be enjoying himself. And after missing the last half of 2016, he came back with a new and improved backhand.
Bonus Point: For all Fed’s arrogance, he’s never a huge ass to his opponents. He doesn’t whine. He doesn’t discredit. He doesn’t stink of violence against women or animal cruelty or drunk driving or being a bigot. In short, in addition to being a the greatest athlete ever, he is not a garbage person.
Game, set, match: Federer.
Tina S
Tina is a sometime contributor to SeedSing and occasional guest on the X Millennial Man Podcast. She is unaware of the grueling toll it takes on a person's body to drink that much Mountain Dew and eat that many Doritos while competing in online video game competitions.
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