Roger Federer
Swiss professional tennis player who, in 2004, became the world's top tennis player.
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.
Roger is like a good red wine, he's getting better with age...I think his big years will be when he is 26, 27, 28.
You guys are brutal. Absolutely brutal. The guy has only made two Grand Slam finals this year. I would love his bad year. I would love it.
[Federer] ...is the most beautiful man to watch play tennis. The most beautiful I've ever seen play. His movement, combined with the artistry, his racquet, the look, he's got everything going.
I think there's—he's the main guy and then there's probably four or five of us that are—I don't know. Maybe we need to do just a tag team effort or something, join forces, you know, like Power Rangers or something.
Just about everything he does is pretty impressive. So, yeah, 50 titles at any age is impressive. 50 titles at 26 is incredible. 50 titles with 11 of them being Grand Slams, and I think now 14 being Masters Series, that's just phenomenal.
It was just one of those days for him to forget and me to remember.
Maybe I could win more championships and prize money if Federer was not in the same age with me, but you have to know that there is something money can not buy—that's playing against Federer.
I thought Ellsworth Vines and Don Budge were pretty good. And Gonzalez and Hoad could play a bit, too, but I have never seen anyone play the game better than Federer. He serves well and has a great half-volley. I've never known anyone who can do as many things on a court as he can.
No way I would be a journalist. You guys have tried to kill Roger - often. But he's always come back and proved you wrong. So one thing I would not do is make the mistake of saying Roger is dead.
He's the most gifted player that I've ever seen in my life. I've seen a lot of people play. I've seen the (Rod) Lavers; I played against some of the great players—the Samprases, Beckers, Connors', Borgs, you name it. This guy could be the greatest of all time. That, to me, says it all.
He's a real person. He's not an enigma. Off the court he's not trying to be somebody. If you met him at McDonald's and you didn't know who he was, you would have no idea that he's one of the best athletes in the world.
He is capable of hitting shots which other players don't even think about trying. He has so many skills.
I really consider myself top 5 player in the world, which doesn't mean that I am close to Roger.