Can it really be 16 years since Sue Barker made Roger Federer cry on Centre Court?
He had just beaten Mark Philippoussis in three sets of brilliance, wielding his racket like a magician’s wand and now he was the Wimbledon champion. There was Sue, microphone in hand, peppering him with a series of hard-hitting questions along the lines of “How does it feel?”
To be fair to Sue, these were exactly the questions she was supposed to be asking. She knows how to ask a tough question if she has to, but this was neither the time not the place. Even so, it all became too much and, bursting in to tears, Federer sprinted out of camera shot, clutching the trophy to him like his first born.
At the time he was a 21-year-old with a pony-tail and a goofy smile. He knew he had a rare talent and he was desperate not to be remembered only as the bloke who beat Pete Sampras in the fourth round in 2001.
Sixteen years, 20 Grand Slam titles and four children later, Federer still has that rare talent, and has proved it time and again, and he still wants to hold that Wimbledon trophy as desperately today as he did then.
Why? Because he knows he still can. Because he still loves doing this as much as ever. Life may have changed so that the business of getting himself and his large family around the world is a little more complicated, but he loves it all nonetheless. The pony-tail is long gone, the goofy smile still makes the occasional appearance (he likes a laugh, does Rodge) but the Roger Federer in 2019 is just the same as the Roger Federer in 2003. Except that he is an even better player these days.
Standing between him and his ninth Wimbledon trophy is Novak Djokovic, the forgotten GOAT (Greatest Of All Time). How can the defending champion, the man who has beaten Federer in two Wimbledon finals, be forgotten? Let us explain.
The Mighty Fed is also the Mighty GOAT on account of those 20 major titles. It is 10 years since he broke Sampras’s previous record of 14 big, shiny trophies and he has been rewriting his own records ever since.
Rafael Nadal is the Clay Court GOAT with his 12 Roland-Garros titles. No man or woman at any time in the history of the sport has won as many times at the same Grand Slam tournament. That in itself is remarkable but that he has done it in this golden era of the game, a time when his rivals are stronger, better and more relentlessly ruthless than any other generation, is altogether mind-boggling.
And then there is Djokovic. He is the youngest of the three and took his time to get started on the Grand-Slam-winning treadmill but once he got going, he has been clinically efficient in collecting the silverware ever since. He has 15 titles so far and who knows how many more waiting for him in the future.
In 2016, he completed the non-calendar Grand Slam, holding all four major titles at once, and became only the third man in history to do so. Just last month, by reaching the Roland-Garros semi-finals, he came within two matches of doing it again. That would have put him on a par with Rod Laver who held the Grand Slam in 1962 and 1969. That is more than worthy of GOAT status but it tends to get overshadowed by Federer and Nadal’s achievements.
Just as Federer had his dream 16 years ago and has it still, Djokovic has the same fierce ambition he had when he was a little boy growing up in Serbia. As a four-year-old, he wanted to be the best in the world. A few years later, he was making cardboard copies of the Wimbledon trophy and practising his victory celebrations. He wants to break every record out there and be the best the world has ever seen.
“I am looking to make history in this sport
“I am looking to make history in this sport,” he said. “Of course, I would love to have a shot at as many Grand Slam titles as possible. Those are probably the top goals and ambitions.”
Djokovic leads the rivalry with Federer by 25 wins to 22. That stat becomes a little more one-sided if we go back to the Wimbledon final of 2014. Including that match, Djokovic has won 10 of their last 14 meetings. In fact, Federer has not beaten the world No.1 since the ATP Tour Finals four years ago.
But what happened in the past does not matter now. All that counts on Sunday afternoon is who can play the better tennis and who can deal with the nerves and the occasion more easily.
We start from zero at 2pm and just wait to see what happens. Let the final begin