Roger Federer: The greatest athlete?

For all those expecting another glowing tribute to the ‘Great One’, this one is actually quite literal. The world is still coming to grips with Federer’s latest historic accomplishment, that of his 287th week at the tennis summit. Naturally, speculation is abuzz with questions whether he has finally done enough to merit the tag of Greatest Of All Time (GOAT). But I’ve seen and heard murmurs from the sporting community designating him to be the greatest athlete that lived.

Tennis is a grueling physical sport, no doubt, but I have never seen or heard Roger Federer being mentioned in the same breath as his younger colleagues Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic when it comes to the athleticism category. This year’s Australian Open Final between the Djoker and Rafa has been labeled as anything from a brutal slugfest to an ironman bout. The opinion stems from the fact that both these players displayed rare athleticism bordering on the ridiculous at times. Which begs the question – why do the purists consider Nadal and Djokovic as pure athletes while Federer doesn’t command the same tag?

Part of the appeal with Federer is the way his game is fundamentally designed. The vast repertoire of strokes are simplistic and elegant. The swing with his serve, forehand or backhand, while they look exaggerated are actually very rudimentary, with the smooth follow through providing the elegance. But the most underrated aspect of his game is his movement. If you pit Federer in a 100m sprint against Nadal or Djokovic, chances are he runs out of gas within the first 40m. His movement on the tennis court is not the athletic kind displayed by Nadal or Djokovic. Rather it is built on anticipation, court position and small steps towards the ball. Hardly athletic, but it gets the job done. Very rarely do you see the Federer tearing up or down the court to chase a drop shot a la Nadal or Djokovic. He uses the court smarts gained from the experience of winning so many Slams, and playing more or less the same players at the latter stage of the competition where talent matters less and nerves matter more. It is his pristine footwork, that allows him to punish those inside-out forehands that have won him many a point. It is also this footwork of his which enables him to finish points off at the net. When he hits an approach shot, he doesn’t get bound to the net like most players do. He takes a series of short steps which create the balance he needs to put away a volley or an overhead.

The only tennis player in the current bunch who comes anywhere close to the way Federer moves is, surprisingly, Andy Murray. But the Muzz is also halfway between Federer and Nadal-Djokovic in that he is also a gifted athlete. If he can get that errant forehand and his psyche in check, he can become a world-beater, because the combination in movement he has can be devastating for his opponents.

But, back to the point, calling Federer the greatest ‘athlete’ is bit of a stretch. It belittles the accomplishments of other great athletes like Paavo Nurmi, Carl Lewis, Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, Haile Gebresellasie, Usain Bolt and the rest. The greatest player? Perhaps. But the title of the greatest athletes in tennis still currently reside with Nadal and Djokovic, who are themselves no lock to being the greatest athletes in sport. But make no mistake, Federer is a genius at his sport. It is a testament to his work ethic that he still continues to play in 5th gear at this point in his career. I’m still trying to remember the last time Federer broke a sweat in a match. The only time I can see him coming close is in that epic Australian Open semifinal in 2005 against Marat Safin (another misunderstood genius). By the 5th set, Federer was actually receiving treatment for his right arm (I think), presumably from being bludgeoned to death by Safin’s groundstrokes. I remember Vijay Amritraj saying he had never seen two tennis players hit a tennis ball that hard in his life. But he came out of it unscathed (with regards to his career, not the match of course) and went on a ridiculous run of Grand Slam finals and into a date with history.