The match announcer hailed 35-year-old Roger Federer as the “ageless wonder” after he won his 19th grand slam at Wimbledon last summer.
Well, the wonder that is Federer continues.
Federer won the Australian Open championship with a five-set win over Marin Cilic, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. In the past 12 months, Federer has won back-to-back Aussie Open titles and three Grand Slam championships in all to bring his total to 20 (extending his own record).
(ESPN, January 28, 2018)
For a little perspective, consider this:
- Tiger Woods made surpassing Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 majors the holy grail of his career. But he has been stuck at 14 since 2008, and it will take a miracle for him to win his 15th.
- Federer made surpassing Pete Sampras’s record of 14 grand slams the holy grail of his career. And he not only did so, but has set a new standard for the holy grail in his sport six times since.
Imagine the deifying media coverage if Woods were continually setting new standards in Golf the way Federer is in Tennis. Hell, Woods got more (global) coverage this weekend, after merely making the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open, than Federer got, after winning the Australian Open.
Meanwhile, Croatia’s Marin Cilic risks becoming to Federer’s grand slams what the Washington Generals are to the Harlem Globetrotters’ exhibitions: an entertaining foil. After all, here is what I wrote after he played that role for Federer’s 19th:
What are we to make of his cry-baby opponent, Cilic? He took a three-minute timeout midway through the second set, during which he sobbed inconsolably because he developed a boo boo on his foot.
That was bad enough. But the commentators kept speculating throughout the remainder of the match that a mysterious injury was hampering his play.
In doing so, they undermined Federer’s eventual victory. And they compounded this unfairness by failing to mention that Cilic could only have suffered his alleged injury because the masterful Federer had him running all over the court like a chicken with its head cut off.
(“Wimbledon:…Federer Pads Iconic Career,” The iPINIONS Journal, July 17, 2017)
This time he was crying about the cold. He was reportedly expecting to play Federer in an open-air arena, in Australia’s sweltering summer heat. Instead, tournament organizers had them play in an enclosed, air-conditioned arena. Now he’s complaining that their decision to approximate optimal playing conditions threw him off his game. #CrybabyCilic
That said, perhaps nothing puts Federer’s win into perspective quite like the relief Caroline Wozniacki expressed after winning the women’s draw.
The 27-year-old’s maiden and elusive major makes her the first Danish player to win a grand slam singles title after prevailing over a fearsome and spirited Simona Halep in three brilliant sets, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4.
(The Guardian US, January 27, 2018)
No doubt her relief stemmed from the fact that this was her first grand slam win in 43 appearances during her 12-year career.
Except that, apropos of perspective, this compels me to note that Serena Williams has won 23. Moreover, like Federer, she seems bound to pad the numbers of her iconic career when she returns to the tour after fully recovering from giving birth last September.
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