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Sunday, July 5, 2009

The Undisputed King-Case Closed!


For those who still don't believe that he is the greatest tennis player of all time and feel the absence of Nadal causes that doubt need to look at certain facts and records that no player has even come close to reaching let alone breaking them.
NOW, For those who still want to stake a claim on Nadal, lets talk about fitness. Federer hasn't missed a single Slam in God knows how long, and has never withdrawn from any tournament due to injury despite being a lot older than Nadal. Its called consistency which Nadal does not seem to have. Yet, Federer has never let his game deteriorate despite never missing a slam. And Federer as one can see has kept his promise of reaching the final on almost every occasion, it is Nadal who has been unable to keep his appointment (FRENCH AND WIMBLEDON '09).Nadal is still young and we will have to wait and see the way he progresses, ie. if he can handle his injuries and not just fade away having tried to do to much in his early and young career. To be considered a great sportsman one has to look at the endurance factor in regard to performance and Nadal seems to be faltering already. ANYWAYS-as of now FEDERER is the undisputed KING of tennis and nothing or I doubt any sporting brain would go against it at least for the moment.
Lets just take a glimpse of what the great Roger Federer has really achieved in his career so far.Roger Federer, the man himself-
1. 15 Grand Slam titles (the most. breaking Sampras's 14)
2. 5 consecutive Wimbledon titles (level with Borg)
3. 5 consecutive US Open titles (Previous best was 3 held by Lendl and McEnroe, Sampras and Connors have won a total of 5)
4. Only player in tennis history to win at least five consecutive titles at two different Grand Slam tournaments (2003-07 Wimbledon, 2004-08 US Open).[5] He is also the only player in tennis history to win the same two Grand Slam tournaments back to back for four consecutive years (2004-07)
5. By winning the 2007 Australian Open, Federer became the only male tennis player to win three different Grand Slam tournaments at least three times each (3 Australian Opens, 4 Wimbledons, and 3 US Opens)
6. Federer is the only male player in tennis history to win three Grand Slam tournaments in a calendar year three different times in his career (2004, 2006, 2007)
7. Federer is the only male player in tennis history to win 6 Grand Slam titles in two years (2006-07), 8 in three years (2004-06, 2005-07), 11 in four years (2004-07), 12 in five years (2003-07, 2004-08), 13 in six years (2003-08) and 15 in seven years (2003-09). 11 Grand Slam titles in four years is an all-time record, male or female.
8. Federer has defeated eleven different opponents in Grand Slam finals, an all-time male record.
9. Federer is the sixth man to win all four Grand Slams
10. Federer (2009) is the fourth player to win French Open and Wimbledon in the same calender
11. As of 2009 Wimbledon, Federer has appeared in a record 20 Grand Slam singles finals, breaking the previous record of 19
12. Federer is the only male player in tennis history to reach the final of all four Grand Slam tournaments in back to back calendar years (2006-07) and only the second in the open era to reach all four finals in a single year after Rod Laver in 1969. Federer and Laver (1962, 1969) are the only two male players in tennis history to reach all four Grand Slam finals in the same year at least twice in their careers.
13. Federer reached an all-time male record ten consecutive Grand Slam finals (2005 Wimbledon - 2007 US Open), breaking the previous male record of seven. (He won 8)
14. Federer (2003-09) is the only man in history to reach seven consecutive Wimbledon finals.
15. In tennis history, Federer is the only male player to reach the final of all four Grand Slam singles tournament at least four times.
16. In tennis history, Federer (2006-09), and Borg (1978-81) are the only male players to reach the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon back to back for at least four consecutive years.
17. Federer is undefeated in his five US Open final appearances.
18. Federer has reached an all-time male record 21 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals (2004 Wimbledon - present) breaking the previous male record of 10 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals shared by Ivan Lendl and Rod Laver. (This is heralded as one of the greatest records taking all sports into consideration).
19. In 2001, Federer ended Pete Sampras's 31-match winning streak at Wimbledon in the fourth round.
20. Federer is the first male player to be seeded first at 18 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments.
21. Federer prevented Rafael Nadal from winning all three clay court ATP Masters Series tournaments in the same year two times in his career.
22. Federer won 24 straight finals from the tournament in Vienna in October 2003 through the tournament in Bangkok in September 2005. This streak was a new open era record, breaking the previous record of twelve straight final wins shared by John McEnroe and Borg.
These are just a FEW of his achievements, this list is almost never ending, and I'll say this WHO DO YOU WANT TO COMPARE HIM TO? Take a look at some of the awards he has won and see if you can find a loop hole-
AWARDS-
2003
1) ATP European Player of the Year.
2) Swiss Sportsman of the Year
3) Swiss of the Year.
4) Michael-Westphal Award.
2004
1) ATP European Player of the Year.
2) ITF World Champion.
3) Sports Illustrated Tennis Player of the Year.
4) Swiss Sportsman of the Year
5) Swiss of the Year.
6) Reuters International Sportsman of the Year.
7) BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year.
8) International Tennis Writers Association (ITWA) Player of the Year.
9) Golden Bagel Award.
10) European Sportsman of the Year (aka UEPS [Federation of European sports journalists] Sportsman of the Year.). [43]
2005
1) Ambassador of United Nations' Year of Sport and Physical Education.
2) Goldene Kamera Award.
3) ATP Player of the Year (for the year 2004).
4) Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award.
5) ATPTennis.com Fan's Favourite.
6) Laureus World Sportsman of the Year (for the year 2004).
7) Michael-Westphal Award.
8) International Tennis Writers Association (ITWA) Player of the Year.
9) International Tennis Writers Ambassador for Tennis.
10) Most Outstanding Athlete by the United States Sports Academy.
11) Freedom Air People's Choice Sports Awards International Sportsperson of the Year.
12) ITF World Champion.
13) ESPY Best Male Tennis Player.
14) European Sportsman of the Year (aka UEPS [Federation of European sports journalists] Sportsman of the Year.). [43]
2006
1) L'Equipe Magazine's Champion of Champions (for the year 2005).
2) ATP Player of the Year (for the year 2005).
3) Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award.
4) ATPTennis.com Fan's Favourite.
5) Laureus World Sportsman of the Year (for the year 2005).
6) ESPY Best Male Tennis Player.
7) International Tennis Writers Association (ITWA) Player of the Year.
8) International Tennis Writers Ambassador for Tennis.
9) ITF World Champion.
10) BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year.
11) Swiss Sportsman of the Year
12) EFE's Sportsman of the Year.
13) Golden Bagel Award.
14) Most Outstanding Athlete of the Year by The United States Sports Academy.
15) European Sportsman of the Year (aka UEPS [Federation of European sports journalists] Sportsman of the Year.). [43]
2007
1) L'Equipe Magazine's Champion of Champions (for the year 2006).
2) ATP Player of the Year (for the year 2006).
3) Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award.
4) ATPTennis.com Fan's Favourite.
5) Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year.
6) Laureus World Sportsman of the Year (for the year 2006).
7) ESPY Best Male Tennis Player.
8) ESPY Best Male International Athlete.
9) ITF World Champion.
10) BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year.
11) Tennis magazine's 2007 player of the year
12) Swiss Sportsman of the Year
2008
1) L'Equipe Magazine's Champion of Champions (for the year 2007).
2) European Sportsman of the Year (for the year 2007) (aka UEPS [Federation of European sports journalists] Sportsman of the Year.). [43]
3) Laureus World Sportsman of the Year (for the year 2007) -- First ever winner of four Laureus World Sports Awards [44].
4) ATP Player of the Year (for the year 2007).
5) Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award.
6) ATPTennis.com Fan's Favourite.
7) ESPY Best Male Tennis Player
8) Swiss Team of the Year (with Stanislas Wawrinka as "golden team FedRinka")
2009
1) Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award.
2) ATPWorldtour.com (formerly ATPTennis.com) Fan's Favourite.

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