Roger Federer
Swiss professional tennis player who, in 2004, became the world's top tennis player.
Roger hasn't even started to use a lot of his game.
Roger's got too many shots, too much talent in one body. It's hardly fair that one person can do all this—his backhands, his forehands, volleys, serving, his court position. The way he moves around the court, you feel like he's barely touching the ground. That's the sign of a great champion.
Maybe Roger Federer will rescue tennis. He plays like we did in the past.
I think you need inspiration, motivation from different angles to keep you going, because it isn’t that simple just to wake up every morning and go for another travel around the world, another practice, all these other things; another fitness workout, another stretch. It’s always nice, but you need to have some success and you need to have the right reasons why you’re doing it. I think I’ve always been able to do that and I really enjoy myself out on the court.
Roger Federer will undoubtedly become the greatest tennis player to have graced the sport if he wins the French Open. It ends the discussion of where he fits in the history of the game. If it wasn't for [four-time champion Rafael] Nadal, he probably would have won a handful of these things. So nobody would underestimate where he deserves to fit in this game. He's extraordinarily talented and talk about grace on court; watching him play is something special to see and if he does it tomorrow, he'll know what an accomplishment it was.
Sometimes you're just happy playing. Some people, some media, unfortunately, don't understand that it's okay just to play tennis and enjoy it. They always think you have to win everything, it always needs to be a success story, and if it's not, obviously, what is the point? Maybe you have to go back and think, Why have I started playing tennis? Because I just like it. It's actually sort of a dream hobby that became somewhat of a job. Some people just don't get that, ever.
Roger is a complete player. What he has, and it's not luck, is the ability to change his game slightly as to what his opponent's doing to him.
He put tennis, the bar very high—very high. It's incredible what kind of game he can play.
No, the other one was a night session too and I was wearing a white! No I'm not supersticious at all as you can see and… I try not to be… and because I try no to be, I guess I am… So it's really strange!
Today I was playing my best tennis, trying lots of different things, but nothing worked. When you're playing like that and he still comes up with all those great shots you really have to wonder if he's even from the same planet.
We are witnessing history. This is the most dominant athlete on planet earth today.
I am so proud to have him around. It is very pity that I am not able to play with Pete Sampras, but it's okay; I can see Federer on the tour. I could tell my grandson someday that I have competed against the greatest player on the planet.
What he’s done over the past five years has never, ever been done — and probably will never, ever happen again. Regardless if he won there or not, he goes down as the greatest ever. This just confirms it. Now that he has won in Paris, I think it just more solidifies his place in history as the greatest player that played the game, in my opinion. I’m a huge Laver fan, and he had a few years in there where he didn’t have an opportunity to win majors. But you can’t compare the eras. And in this era, the competition is much more fierce than Rod’s.
He hits that short chip, moves you forward, moves you back. He uses your pace against you. If you take pace off, so that he can't use your pace, he can step around and hurt you with the forehand. Just the amount of options he has to get around any particular stage of the match where maybe something's out of sync is—seems to be endless. His success out there is just a mere reflection of all the things that he can do.