July 8, 2007

Well Roger Federer has done it. He has joined the exclusive company, which winning 5 straight Wimbledon titles gets you. Though this time was much, much, much harder as Rafael Nadal pushed Federer to 5 sets, with Federer having to win two tiebreaks. This win also kept Federer’s grass court winning alive. It is now at 54 matches, with his last lost coming in 2002. This title also put Federer closer to catching Pete Sampras for most Grand Slam titles.

Federer has 11 titles which ties him with Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver for third all time. With Federer having won every title except the French Open, it seems that the only thing that will be able to stop him from passing Sampras is injury. He even seems close to winning a French Open title, as evident by his advancing to the finals the past two years.

Now Federer can, should and will enter the conversation of greatest tennis players of all time. Where he will rank will depend on the person(s) making the list, but he will be near the top. He has won on every surface, though not the Grand Slam at the French, and he transformed from a temperamental youth to an unflappable man. In today’s match he withstood Nadal’s best, and still he was able to finish the job.

When it’s all said and done, Federer will have more than 20 titles. He is only 25 years old, and has managed to say relatively injury-free. Though Nadal is closing the gap, I have no doubt that Federer will raise his game once again. One thing is for sure, the classic match-up provided by those provided that Federer earned his record tying Wimbledon title.