The magic of Roger Federer - on and off court

Roger Federer holding the Australia Open trophy in January 2018. Over 24 years, Federer won 20 Grand Slams and 103 ATP titles.

When Roger Federer announced his decision to retire after an injury and rehabilitation from it had kept him off tennis courts for more than a year, it was not surprising. At 41, the body can take only that much. And Federer, who has been blessed to be relatively injury-free for most of his career, would not have been able to compete at the top level given the deluge of tennis talent on the rise.

Why then does the retirement give rise to collective grief?

For a large part of his career, tennis fans believed that in Federer they were watching the greatest player of all time (GOAT). But with Rafael Nadal defying age - and leading the table with the most major titles (22) - and Novak Djokovic close on his heels at 21, Federer's 20 seems distant, given that Nadal is not yet done and the Serbian has a few good years left in him. For the last few years, Federer has not even been an automatic choice for the GOAT.

What makes Federer a universal champion is his likeability. He got new fans into the sport, people with no interest in tennis willing to watch him work his magic on court and his charm off it. He had this easygoing ability to mingle with anyone - from ball boys to Presidents, from cab drivers to royalty.

There are plenty of stories about his generosity - spending an estimated $15 million to open schools in Africa, donating money to feed children during Covid, to buying pizzas for ball boys and offering match tickets to others. A Sports Illustrated article mentions how he would introduce himself to new players in the locker room, as if he needed introduction.

There is a well-repeated statement of his: "It's nice to be important but it's more important to be nice."

Some of this charm could be attributed to his ease with languages - including fluency in English and French - one of the reasons Nadal could not express himself to a wider audience is because of his limited English. Besides, for someone who was adored everywhere, Federer did not seem to take himself too seriously, at least off court, willing to crack a joke, being neither self-deprecating nor immodest. Djokovic, unlike Nadal, spoke better English, but was disadvantaged by the fact that he came later than these two and has opinions that are not widely accepted - like the recent reluctance to take the Covid vaccine.

Additionally, Federer was always so clean - an aberration in the world of sport where sweat and grime are par for the course. Federer at the end of the match would not be too dissimilar to him at the beginning - no sign of sweat, not out of breath, clothes fairly impeccable. He would put on his sports jacket, strap on a watch and pass a smart comment irrespective of whether he lost or won, except on some occasions when a joyous win or a heartbreaking loss would reduce him to tears.

That was the other thing - the tears. Not too many sportsmen have cried so easily and so often. Not someone who has won 20 majors, spent 237 consecutive weeks at No 1, and won 103 ATP titles. Someone for whom winning is a habit and therefore neither a surprise nor a shock, but yet, the tears came, ever so often.

Not surprisingly Federer has won the ATP Fans' Favourite award every year from 2003 to 2021. It's perhaps a bit unfair to several other nice guys on Tour, but Federer's appeal overshadowed all others'.

With time, other players will perhaps win more titles than him. Every generation feels that the champions they see are the best. It rang true for Rod Laver to Bjorn Borg to Pete Sampras among several others. The GOAT argument is moot - it has no meaning except perhaps a value of entertainment and argument.

Having said that, Federer's name will always be associated with the game in the way of others who have dominated their respective sports and become synonymous with it. Michael Jordan for basketball, Pele with football, Tiger Woods with golf, Sachin Tendulkar with cricket, etc. - sportspeople who transcended the sport and connected with the audience in a unique, emotional way.

In that, Federer's retirement - as inevitable as it may have been - hurts the tennis fan and the Federer fan, who can be two different beings. Such has been his influence on the sport for over two decades that people who did not necessarily follow the sport, followed him, watched him, read about him. The sport might yet lose some fans with Federer's retirement, but the memories will remain forever - the head band, the goofy grin, the impossible angles, the effortless grace and the niceness. Yes, the niceness.

To my tennis family and beyond,

With Love,
Roger pic.twitter.com/1UISwK1NIN

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) September 15, 2022