Grand Slam..FastForward...Rounds..Pause..Final..Federer..Play.."Fedex Lifts Grand Slam Title No 11" This has become a routine in Mens Tennis..Why??? Because Federer is playing the Tennis of his life.It started in 2001 when Fedex defeated four-time defending champion and seven-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras in the fourth round..I believe this was the turning point of his career and the tennis he started play after this was phenomenal.Tennis in this 21st century could be defined by telling FEDERER.. Fedex (a.k.a) Federer has won 11 Grand Slams so far.He is just 25 and he has achieved something that other stars took 13-14 Grand Slams more...Lets take a look at his opponents ..Nadal, Hewitt, Roddick, .....Hmmm cant remember anyone else !!!!..these are the current class players there are many more starts but the above 3 are his major threats..Are they really???? Just kidding.lets take a look at fedex titles
Wins (11)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| Wimbledon (1st) | 7-6(5), 6-2, 7-6(3) | ||
| Australian Open (1st) | 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-2 | ||
| Wimbledon (2nd) | 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(3), 6-4 | ||
| U.S. Open (1st) | 6-0, 7-6(3), 6-0 | ||
| Wimbledon (3rd) | 6-2, 7-6(2), 6-4 | ||
| U.S. Open (2nd) | 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-1 | ||
| Australian Open (2nd) | 5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2 | ||
| Wimbledon (4th) | 6-0, 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 6-3 | ||
| U.S. Open (3rd) | 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 | ||
| Australian Open (3rd) | 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4 | ||
| Wimbledon (5th) | 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-2 |
Lets know take the champion Pete Sampras..He has 14 Grand Slam titles under his belt..and was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame..Below is the list of titles he has won
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 | |||
| 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 | |||
| U.S. Open (2) | 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 | ||
| 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 | |||
| Wimbledon (2) | 7-6, 7-6, 6-0 | ||
| Wimbledon (3) | 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 | ||
| U.S. Open (3) |
| 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 | |
| U.S. Open (4) | 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 | ||
| Australian Open (2) | 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 | ||
| Wimbledon (4) |
| 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 | |
| Wimbledon (5) |
| 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 | |
| Wimbledon (6) |
| 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 | |
| Wimbledon (7) | 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 | ||
| U.S. Open (5) |
| 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 |
Looking at the above statistics..Look at the class of players out there..Agassi,Rafter,Moya,Becker,Courier...on and on.. His last Grand Slam title was a beauty where is overcame tough opponents and won..
P.S. The above data has been taken from Wikipedia
Lets compare both of them..Both of them have their own class. Sampras Back hand and Fedex Forehand..Fedex and Sampras are great servers but Sampras is better when it comes to Serve and volley..
Sampras and Fedex are Mr.Cool during a match..
The advantage Fedex is now facing is he is dominating amongst these youngsters in the present era..Nothing to take from Fedex but one final question.."Could he have won 11 titles had he faced the same quality of opponents that Sampras faced?? "
Last but not the least...FEDEX is like TENDULKAR and SAMPRAS Is like DON BRADMAN..the Current Master : All time Great
3 comments:
1.A comparison can be done only for contemoporaries, not for ppl who were considered "geniuses" in their own era
2.I find Federer is as good as Sampras irrespective of the so considered "narrow" competition as both haven't yet conquered the clay to fit a career slam in their array of titles though Fed has still a long way to go.
3.I would consider Agassi better to Sampras for Agassi has a Golden slam under his belt, a feat achieved by GOD of tennis Rod Laver .
4. Truth is every great player will have the knack of adapting to the playing conditions and the strength of the opponents, that's why records of champions like Pete, Borg , Conors still remain immortal subduing the brave achievements of lesser known greats like Edberg, Ivanisevic, Courier etc.
5.Both Pete Sampras and Don Bradman had lauded Federer's and Tendulkar's game and accept that they emulate them respectively
Yo kisl great comments and anlaysis..True Agassi is a champ.But I am a Hardcore Pete Fan.Agree on all ur views..but it also comes down to quality of opponents..Take Aus cricket team they r enjoyin bcos no team is giving a good fite..similar Federer is a GOD in this era but he is not being tested according to me..where as Sampras was on Numerous occassions
Great article, Kicha but I doubt the validity of the question that you are posing - "Could he have won 11 titles had he faced the same quality of opponents that Sampras faced?? " To answer this question,it is necessary to consider the pedigree of the current playing field.
Hewitt - 2, Safin - 2,Roddick - 1,Ferrero - 1,Nadal - 3 are among the grand slam winners on tour.The also-rans like Nalbandian,Davydenko,Robredo,Gonzalez etc. are as competitive as players of any other generation and it is as much a measure of Federer's dominance as it is of Sampras's non-invincibility that the current crop of players(sans Nadal) have not pocketed a grand slam for a long time while players like Agassi,Kuerten,Courier etc. consistently won slams when Sampras was at his prime.
It wouldn't be very outlandish to say that if Sampras were playing in this era instead of Federer, the others would have won atleast 4 or 5 more titles amongst themselves which would seem to make this era among the most competitive in tennis history.
To put it in perspective, it is not because of the quality(or lack of it) of his opponents but because of his absolute and total
dominance that the strength of Federer's era is being questioned.
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