Why Federer is the greatest?

This is one of the most controversial debated topics these days. Federer by winning 15 slams have fueled this debate further more. I remember exactly as how I started watching Tennis. It was year 1985 and we were traveling from Jammu to Haldwani. I was starting to realize world around me in a better and clearer perspective. Book stalls at Railway stations always created an impression on young people's mind. I used to get attracted by them. The book stall at the station had the magazines laid out neat and colourful way to say that come and buy us. I always wanted to know as what was inside those magazines. My father bought me a SPORTSTAR to quench my thirst for curiosity regarding sportsworld and to make my train journey more enjoyable. It had Steffi Graf on its cover and her achievements at the age of 15 in the tennis world.

In my view, Graf could be the most popular tennis player in India and had a big hand in making that sport popular. She and Becker always remained my favourite players owing to the fact that both of them had kind of flair and charisma in their game. Becker and Edberg dual were treat to watch during Doordarshan days, when we only had the option of watching semis and finals. I always enjoyed watching tennis specially the grand slam events.

Winning a slam is a dream for every tennis player and winning all 4 of them is like achieving the improbable. Women tennis has been more dominated by star players for longer periods than mens. Margaret court won 24 slams and Steffi 22. If you compare this to men tennis then Federer's 15 are the maximum won by anyone in the history of the game.

Let's come to the fact that why Roger can be termed as Greatest of all time (G.O.A.T.). First, the guy plays swiftest tennis on a tennis court. I have not seen anyone else to move with such elan and ease. He is a persona dignified. I don't remember any instances when he had a spat with his fellow players or umpires/officials.

Today's game is all about power but Roger proved that skills make the tennis much more watchable and enjoyable. His forehand is one of the devastating owed to the fact that he creates acute angles while hitting it. At one stage Roger's forehand was nonreturnable on any type of surface. He has always behaved on the court and if you watches his matches, he never grunts or shows desperation on the court. His serve is not all about power but the consistency, he has one of the finest records in tie breaks and it is almost a certainty if the set goes to a tie break, he will win it. Even the big servers like Roddick, Karlovic have failed to win tie breaks against him.

The way Roger plays, he has proved to be one of the most fittest player of all time. He has not missed a slam since he has started playing them. His records in slams reads like this 33 slams, 21 semis, 20 finals and 15 slams. This is the reason that lots of pundits have agreed to the fact that he is the greatest. It is his sheer consistency by which he has managed to perform again and again at highest level. It is another astonishing fact that during his 33 slams he never had his trainer out on the court and never surrendered a match!

Well, some people might say that that Rod Laver could have been the greatest but I can not argue that fact as I did not see him playing. All the players I have watched from 1985 till now, I can say with utmost confidence that Federer is the greatest.