Don’t leave a loser, please Roger
Dearest Roger
Selfishly, as a reporter who turns supporter every time you play because I am unashamedly such a fan of yours, I cringed when listening to you explain your disappointment at losing to a player ranked 75th in the world.
I cringed that you felt you needed to explain taking positives from moments where you felt happy that you were still able to entertain the crowd.
That wasn’t entertainment.
Roger, you have given the likes of me and every one of your millions of fans, hours and hours of magnificent memories. You have set the standard and so often turned the improbable into glorious triumphs and made me believe that nothing is impossible when it comes to Roger Federer.
Your appetite for the game is unrivalled. You won Grand Slams as a 37-year-old. You had two match points in the 2019 Wimbledon final to defeat the world’s current best player in Novak Djokovic. With a bit of good fortune, you could well have beaten him in straight sets to complete the most remarkable victory.
A triumph on that day would have been a victory against father time, but it wasn’t to be. Somehow Novak hung in there and after four hours and 55 minutes it was all over. You were majestic throughout that match. The two of you produced the greatest men’s final I’ve ever experienced.
I was crushed that the stars did not align for you because I was convinced that it had been written in the stars that you win your 21st Grand Slam, beat a player destined to break every record in men’s tennis and take your final bow on a centre court you have called home for so long.
It didn’t quite play out like that, but you left centre court every bit the champion you have always been when victorious.
It was a bitter-sweet moment for the likes of me, as I am sure it was for you and every person who has supported you throughout your career.
I took such comfort from every fighting quality that you showed in those four hours and 55 minutes. I reminded any of your detractors, and surprisingly there were always a few too many for my liking, of what made you the greatest.
I took them back to your 82 percent career wins, your 20 Grand Slam titles and your 31 Grand Slam finals.
I challenged them to find me any other player who could have matched Djokovic in his prime in a final at Wimbledon like you did in 2019, when you came so close to beating him in those five sets.
Which 21-year-old in tennis would have taken a set off Novak that day, let alone had two match points? Your on-court brilliance has always spoiled me because whenever you played in a final (The French Open against Rafa the exception), I was convinced that it was always yours to lose. You were that good that I always backed a Federer victory.
In 2019 it was different. I was just so happy you had made it to the final. I was awed by Djokovic’s quality and feared for you. I didn’t want to see you humiliated at Wimbledon. It would be so wrong.
But there was no humiliation. There were only hoorahs, even from those who didn’t put you on a sporting pedestal. Roger, you rocked.
You have always spoken with such authority about the game and about your own capabilities and you have invariably backed up anything you have said with performance.
You have won 1 243 matches and lost just 273 in the past 20 years. Two of those defeats have come in your last three matches.
Don’t leave a loser. Please. Go while the memory is of you and Novak in battle and not you battling a nobody.
Yours in sport.