Roger is simply the best

OK, yes, now on bended knee I concede that Roger Federer is the greatest player to ever hit a tennis ball.

Sadly, as an Australian, I have to push him ahead of the only man to win all four Grand Slams in a year twice, 'Rocket' Rod Laver, my all-time favorite John McEnroe (a lefty like Rod), Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras.

Seventeen Grand Slam titles, including seven now on the hallowed grass of Wimbledon the numbers speak for themselves.

But, the man from the country of cuckoo clocks and chocolates is even better than those figures.

The Swiss is the greatest artist to ever take to a tennis court. He moves around with feline grace; his feet are always in the right place (and please don't say, 'yeah, at the end of his legs') to set him up to play the most sublime of shots; whether it be a ripping top-spin forehand or the best backhand the game has seen since Justine Henin retired.

The 30-year-young is also the absolute master of angles. Sure, he can beat you down both side lines, but - more often - it's those killer mid-court or two-thirds court shots that splay left or right that confound and demoralize his opponents. In the days of power-spraying tennis, Federer still paints with a brush.

That doesn't mean he can't belt with the best of 'em; his serve is overlooked because the rest of his game is just so darn good, but he can ratchet it up there and his accuracy and his 'kicker' are frightening.

It must be so wonderful to have the complete package, but to put the perfect game together you also must have a beautiful mind.

Everybody knew the kid had it all when he came into the pro ranks in 1998, but it took him five years to win his first major title (Wimbledon 2003 against Mark Philippoussis). He was a hot-head and wildly erratic. However, something clicked somewhere between the baselines and he cooled down - not Borg cool, but pretty chilly.

Now, even if he doesn't beat a Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic, he is still out-thinking them; it's just that these guys are also all-time greats and are what McEnroe and Jimmy Connors and Borg were to each other in those halcyon days.

After dropping the first set against a game Andy Murray you could see his mental computer clicking over and he eventually broke down the Scot (whose body language on court looks so terrible at times he seems like a kid who had his lunch money stolen) with systematic sweetness.

I have been blessed to live through the ages of Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Brian Lara (cricketer - look it up!), swimmers Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps and, of course, Tiger Woods. Federer sits comfortably among that pantheon of greatness.

Tym Glaser is a senior sports copy editor with a wicked left-hand slice serve ... unfortunately for him it comes to you at about 20 kph. He can be contacted at tymglaser@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 07/10/2012 page24)