After two weeks full of upsets, the last day of the French Open proved worth the wait, as Roger Federer defeated Robin Soderling 6-1, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 to win his 14th major title of his career.
The win earns Federer a tie with Pete Sampras for the most major titles in a career. It also completes the career Grand Slam for Federer, who has now won the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open at least once in his career, just the sixth player to do so.
With the win, this year's Wimbledon promises to be an even more exciting event than in the past as Federer's next major title will place him alone at the top as the only player to win 15 majors. Will he do it at Wimbledon? Or maybe the U.S. Open?
And who will it be against? Maybe Rafael Nadal? Or another lesser-known player like Soderling?
Regardless of the opponent, Federer has ensured himself a place among the elite in tennis.
The question now is, where does he rank among those elite? It's hard to argue that he isn't the best tennis player in the Open Era.
Especially once he wins his 15th major title (assuming he does), Federer will rank first in that category while being one of just six players to complete the career Grand Slam, a truly remarkable feat.
Between Federer and Nadal, we all are fortunate to be able to witness two of the best players in the history of the sport. It's unfortunate they were unable to square off at Roland Garros, but hopefully they will get the chance to do so again soon at Wimbledon.
No comments:
Post a Comment