Federer in Short
Currently he is only one grand slam short of Pete Sampras' all time record of 14 grand slams and may pass that record in the upcoming 2009 season already.
Not only is Roger Federer probably the best tennis player ever but he is adored by fans all over the world and liked and respected by his peers.
Contents at a Glance
Federer-Past, Present and Future
Ok lets see. Federer has dominated the men's game the last 4 years or so like no other player before has done. He has broken most records and those he hasn't broken will certainly crumble in his wake in the near future. But even for the player of the stature of Federer there are tough challenges ahead if he wants to put his all modern era greatness beyond the doubt of the toughest critic.
He still has to break Pete Sampras' all time grand slam title record of 14. This shouldn't be a problem as Federer only recently turned 27 and has another 5 years at least of competitive tennis in him. There isn't any doubt in my mind that he can beat Pete's record.
Federer's toughest challenge to date has been beating arch rival Rafael Nadal on clay, which he has done only once in his career out of the many meetings these two had on the surface. This has resulted in him never winning the French Open, the one illusive slam Federer has never claimed. Will Federer ever win the French?
My instincts says no, as long as Nadal is around. Nadal has even showed that he can beat Federer on is own home turf at Wimbledon now and has handed Federer his worst beating in a very long time this year at Roland Garros. So when it comes to the French Open Federer is up against it no doubt.
Of course its not impossible, but it will take a small miracle. Having said this Nadal is the greatest clay-courter of all time so if Federer never wins the French that would be forgivable. He has clearly shown that he has mastered the clay surface and he has consistently been the second best in the world on clay behind Nadal.
Without a doubt in my mind Federer would have won at least one French Open title if Nadal was not around. Another huge thing in favor of Nadal is the fact that he is left-handed. There is no way way he could have broken down the Federer backhand on clay the way he did if he was right handed.
So in the end i come to the following conclusion: The only thing left for Federer to do to be the greatest of the modern era is equal the grand slam record of Pete Sampras. And in my mind he will almost certainly do this.

Baby Roger
Roger on Flickr
Federer Magic

Shirtless Roger
The GOAT Debate
Obviously Roger has to be one of the greats of the game, I don't think anyone would argue with that. He would definitely have to be in the top tier when it comes to all time greats. The others who could also be in that tier would be Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras. Laver won the calender year grand slam two time, once in the amature ear and once in the open era. Don Budge did it once in the amature era. Those were the only two guys that could do the calender slam.
Many people would contend that Laver is the GOAT, but he played in such a different era that it is really hard to compare him with someone like Roger. The same for Bjorn Borg. Borg won five Wimbledon titles and six French Open titles. He retired at the age of 26 though and he surely could have added to his eleven grand slam titles had he not retired. But once again in the day he played wooden racquets was still used on tour, and tennis wasn't nearly as professional as these days.
With the change of equipment and prize money tennis have change drastically from those days. So as a solution to determine the GOAT I havedivided tennis into two different era's, the modern era and the pre modern era. The modern era is pretty much since the equiment started changing, when wooden racquets were substituted with aluminium and graphite racquets. To me this was the start of a big change in tennis, so I decided to draw the dividing line there.

The GOAT of the pre modern era would have to go to Laver. I think most people would agree with that. He won a total of eleven grand slam titles as Borg did, six in the amature era and five in the open era. Unlike Borg Laver won the Australian Open and the US Open as well and completed the grand slam twice, which should surely give him the edge. In the modern era for me it's between Roger and Sampras. Sampras has won the most grand slam titles ever with fourteen titles.
He did however never won the French Open, which is leaves a hole in his legacy. Roger have never won the French either. But no one would deny the fact that Roger was a much better player on clay then Sampras was. He has clearly been the second best player on clay behind Nadal, who is arguably the greatest player on clay of all time. He has made the final at Roland Garros three times and the semi-final once, losing to Nadal on all four occasions.
Sampras could manage only one French Open semi-final. Considering this Roger can already make a claim to be the modern era GOAT, even though he still only have thirteen grand slam titles to his name. But in the end I would like to see Roger at least equal Sampras' record of fourteen slams, and preferably pass it. It's not been easy going for him of late and nothing is guaranteed, but I would think that surely he has at least one more grand slam title left in him.
That would make Roger the clear modern era GOAT in my mind.
The Most Important Record
Make Your Pridiction
My prediction:
ruanz3, at 3pm on December 15, 2008 predicts:
Federer will win a total of 18 grand slam titles
Reader predictions:
Fetching predictions now... please stand by
Lucia, at 9pm on July 4, 2009 predicts:
Federer will win a total 18 or 19 grand slams. At least 1 more Aussie Open, 2 more Wimbledons, 1-2 more US Opens
TENNIS, at 9pm on May 6, 2009 predicts:
Fed will win only 14 GS.
yuck, at 1pm on March 20, 2009 predicts:
20 GS titles, and Nadull will get stuck at 9, winning three more RG and nothing more
MindGuru, at 11am on December 28, 2008 predicts:
I put it at 16. After the slump last year, mainly due to his illness in my opinion, he should rebound somewhat this year, maybe even get to #1 again, probably winning 1 grand slam per year for the next three years. Still, he's the best ever.
Fetching predictions now... please stand byRuans Federer Blog
This is my blog in which I follow the career of Federer as well as men's tennis in general.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand by
Roger + Mirka
Federer Completes Career Slam-Becomes Greatest Player in History
It seemed like his nemesis Rafa had put the final nail in Roger's coffin, and the tennis world was starting to wonder if Roger could ever come back from this loss. Roger then took six weeks off from the tour to help a nagging back injury to recover and to try and get over what happened in Australia. It didn't seem to do him much good as he suffered more devastating losses. First to Andy Murray in Indian Wells and then to Novak Djokovic in Miami, after which smashed his racquet into the court after all the frustartion of recent times. But the frustration would only continue for the Swiss as he then lost to his countryman Stanislas Wawrinka in the second round of the first tournemant of the clay court season in Monte Carlo.

He did get married the week before though so he wasn't exactly well prepared. Roger then hit the practice courts harder then ever in preparation for the next event in Rome, where he would suffer another very tough loss against Novak Djokovic. This was the third match since the Australian Open where he looked to be in control of the match and then for some unknown reason lost the plot. But once again Roger hit the practice courts. There was one more event in Madrid left where he could hopefully gain some confidence before the start of the French Open. He took advantage of his favorable draw and would meet his nemesis Rafa in the final, but this time he turned the tables.
He beat Rafa in convincing fashion, and surely he had reached a turning point. He was playing at a level we didn't see from him in a long time and Rafa was starting to look vulnerable. So it was no surprise when Rafa lost in the fourth round of the French Open, the first match he lost there ever after being the hot favorite to beat Bjorn Borg's record of 4 consecutive Roland Garros titles. This was the ideal opportunity for Roger to win the one illusive title that he still had to add to his impressive list of titles. It wasn't easy going though. Against Tommy Haas in the fourth round he was on the brink of going out, but he was not going to be denied.

Roger went on to beat the player that upset Rafa, Robin Soderling, in a masterful display in the final to complete the career grand slam and equal Pete Sampras' grand slam record of 14 grand slam titles. But since Sampras could never win the French Open, Roger is now the greatest player in the history of the sport. The GOAT debate is over. There will always be people who say Rod Laver is the GOAT, but Laver played in an era where tennis wasn't nearly as competitive and professional as today. And Pete Sampras himself confirmed Roger as the GOAT. And there is no doubt in my mind that he is the GOAT either. Roger isn't done however.
He will be playing at least until the Olympics in 2012 and he will almost certainly win several more grand slam titles.
The Rest of 2009
Important Federer Links
- Ru-an's Federer Blog
- This is my very own blog that follows the career of Federer as well as men's tennis in general, check it out!
- Federer's Official Website
- Roger had his own fansite where you can join as a member and stay up to date with his activities.
- ATP Profile
- Federer's ATP profile.
- Playing Schedule 2009
- Federer's full 2009 playing schedule.
- Federer vs Nadal-Tennis Greatest Rivalry
- Another lens I have created
- Federer Facebook Profile
- Follow Roger on facebook.
For the Ladies
Best Shot Ever-Enjoy!

Roger Drinking Coffee
Other Lenses You Might Find Interesting
-
Novak Djokovic-The Serbinator
-
Novak Djokovic comes from Serbia and appears to be a terminator the way he blasts his opponents off the court. Hence the nickname the Serbinator. He's also been called the Djoker and Nole. The Djoker because he can do very funny impersonations of oth...
-
Rafael Nadal-King Of Clay
-
Rafael Nadal who is affectionately known by fans as 'Rafa', is almost for sure the best clay court tennis player of all time. In 2008 he had a break through season, becoming only the second man after Bjorn Borg to win four straight French Open titles...
-
Tennis Babes
-
There is something very sexy about a female tennis player. The way they move on the court, the clothes they wear, the sweat on their bodies, their fit, tanned physiques and their grunts out on the court. These are just a few things that come to my mi...
-
Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal-Tennis Greatest Rivalry
-
It's hard to think of a rivalry that captured the imagination of the tennis world more then the one between Roger Federer and Rafeal Nadal. Pete Sampras vs Andre Agassi and Bjorn Borg vs John Mcenroe are some of the other great rivalries that comes t...
-
Andy Murray-British Tennis Hope
-
Great Britain has not had a men's tennis grand slam champion for more then 80 years. The last man to win a grand slam was Fred Perry in 1936 who won the US Open. For a nation that hosts the most important tournament in the world(Wimbledon), that is...
Federer on Amazon
Reader Feedback
stevedock wrote...
Hi,
Are you created new squidoo lens? Do you want to rank your squidoo lens in Google?
We help you to promote your squidoo lens with our free SEO Services like Directory Submission and Article Submission and bookmark submission.
Kindly add me at thomaslounge@gmail.com for more queries..
GingerAlly wrote...
nice Federer lens too, I love the tennis pages on squidoo, 5 stars for you.
fanfreluche wrote...
I have lensrolled you and featured this lens on my Amelie Mauresmo lens! You are a real tennis addict are you!:)
jpetals wrote...
I love Roger Federer. He is perhaps the reason I started watching tennis (My mother-in-law is a tennis fanatic!!!) and has now given me something to bond over with my MIL. lol Great lens.

by 12 people |





















































