Today is the birthday of one of the greatest sportsmen in history, perhaps the greatest tennis player ever (at the moment the numbers say this, but watch out for Nadal and Djokovic), a God of Olympus like Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Ayrton Senna, Diego Maradona or Valentino Rossi himself, who announced his retirement from motorcycling a few days ago. However, he hasn't retired yet Roger Federer, who turns 40 today and was one of the undisputed protagonists of the last twenty years of tennis. Even for the Swiss champion, decidedly on the waning avenue, it doesn't seem to be long before the definitive farewell, but his career - still formally ongoing, even if practically in an "old glories" version - has been nothing short of legendary.
Let's go with the inevitable numbers: 103 tournaments won (absolute record), 20 Grand Slam tournaments (record shared at the moment with Rafa Nadal and Nole Djokovic), 19 grass tournaments won, including 8 times Wimbledon (another absolute record, solo) , 6 Masters titles (the only one, ahead of Djokovic with 5), boasts at least one title in 11 different seasons, is the only tennis player in history to have won at least 3 Grand Slam tournaments from 35 years onwards, set the all-time record for consecutive Wimbledon finals, is the only Open Era player to reach the Wimbledon final 12 times; he took part, losing to Djokovic in five sets (65-7, 6-1, 64-7, 6-4, 123-13), to the longest final in Wimbledon history, which lasted practically 5 hours in 2019.
Shall we continue? Federer, born in Basel on August 8, 1981, holds the absolute record for consecutive finals in Grand Slam tournaments (10, from Wimbledon in 2005 to the US Open in 2007) and overall finals played (31, ahead of Djokovic who for now he is 30 but things could quickly update…), holds the all-time record for consecutive semi-finals reached in Grand Slam tournaments, 23, and that of quarter-finals reached, 36. Most recently, at the age of 39 years and 11 months ( July 5, 2021), has become the oldest tennis player in Wimbledon history to reach the quarterfinals of this Grand Slam in the Open Era. Federer was number 1 ATP for 310 weeks, surpassed only by Djokovic, but continues to hold the record for consecutive weeks at the top of the points standings: 237, far behind Jimmy Connors with 160.
In February 2018, at the age of 36 years and 6 months, he became the oldest tennis player in history to occupy the 1st place in the ATP rankings. But obviously Roger Federer, for those who have had the opportunity to see and appreciate him, is much more than all this. Apart from the individual Olympic gold (he won it in doubles but individually he stopped at the silver in London 2012), he won everything but above all he was able to make entire generations dream and inspire, giving a show of technical and aesthetic value often considered unparalleled. Federer was also featured in a book written by the popular American author David Foster Wallace, with the unequivocal title: “Roger Federer as a religious experience“, in which the Swiss champion is told with all the poetry of his elegant style, and defined as “an experience that borders on the spiritual”.
