Roger Federer is one of the greatest tennis players of all time, probably the most iconic player in the history of the game.
Federer's impact on tennis is incredible. From the legendary career that he crafted to the global impact, he had as the 'perfect' ambassador to the sport. His career inspired many of the players we have today with the vast majority considering him as their idol. It's why some consider him the greatest of all time even though stats might say it's somebody else.
Federer's arrival in tennis catapulted the sport to new heights becoming a global phenomenon. No player was ever as popular as Federer is and that wide support is not wavering even now a year after his retirement. It's been a year but a busy year for Federer who still has all eyeballs on himself wherever he goes.
It wasn't always like that as Federer emerged as a talented player but nobody really thought he would end up as iconic as he is today. There are many examples of that including his own slow start as a youngster because he wasn't as good as some of the rising stars like Carlos Alcaraz are at their age. John McEnroe considers Federer to have the most beautiful tennis he has ever seen but even so he's called Alcaraz the greatest 20-year-old ever.
Another thing that might demonstrate the lack of belief in Federer as a player is a hilarious graphic shown at the 2003 US Open. Federer's name was listed among the names of players like Juan Carlos Ferrero, Thomas Johannson, Albert Costa, Goran Ivanisevic, Marat Safin, Carlos Moya and others. The name of the graphic was 'one slam wonders'.
According to the creator of the graphic, Federer was considered a one-slam wonder at the 2003 US Open. It was disproven a few months later when he won his first Australian Open becoming a two-slam wonder.
At Wimbledon later that year, Federer became a three-slam wonder and then one year from that graphic, Federer proved that he was no one slam wonder. He lifted his 4th grand slam trophy and first of 5 consecutive US Open trophies in NYC.
This was a graphic shown at the 2003 US Open during Michael Chang's final match against Fernando Gonzalez. Pretty funny to see Federer's name as a "one Slam wonder"
by u/bluegambit875 in tennis
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