Is Federer the greatest male player of tennis?

Roger Federer has just won his 15 grand slam title, breaking Sampras's record of 14. He has also become number 1 again, overtaking Nadal. This has never been done before. He has won all 4 grand slams but not in the same calender year. But Nadal's absence through injury from Wimbledon and his injury at Paris would surely have helped Federer's chances.
Federer's win over Roddick at Wimbledon was a bit of luck, given the 5th set went to 16/14. He never broke Roddick's serve until that last game.

Sampras agrees he's the best player ever, but don't we have to take the different equipment and times into account. I'm thinking of Rod Laver here. He was off the amateur tour until all tennis became professional, so his wins in professional tennis at that time were not recorded. Laver and the other Australians of the time has 6 week boat trips to England to get there to Wimbledon.

So I think there are still questions about Federer's greatness. He has to win when Nadal is in the tournament and he has to win a few more grand slams to equal out the disadvantages of those who played in the past had.

French Open and Wimbledon 2008

As usual there isn't much I can say about the French Open because I don't get it on free TV.
On the female side, with Justine Henin retiring, it was all open and Ana Ivanovich won.

She became a favourite for Wimbledon but clearly the pressure was too much for her.

I saw an amazing final between the William's sisters and there is no way that they could ever be accused of colluding in who won matches. It must be difficult for Serena at the moment though, with Venus winning Wimbledon, because who does she get her support from? It was a fantastic match with psychology playing a part. Venus drew a line in the sand and would not stand behind the back line for Serena's serve. It was also a match where both of them had to play their best and great it was too.

The much anticipated final between Nadal and Federer was one of the greatest Wimbledon finals ever witnessed. Nadal had smashed Federer in the French final as he was expected to, but Federer was expected to win on grass. Not this time. I couldn't see the whole match as in Australia it went until something like 5am. After the second rain delay I went to bed.

I wasn't surprised to see that Nadal had won in the morning though. His play was almost faultless while Federer was clearly nervous and tense with all that historical weight on his shoulders. I wanted him to beat records, but that's what makes tennis so exciting. You can never be sure who will win. There are so many factors to consider. According to all reports the 5 set match went down to last point in practical darkness too.

I'm pleased for Spain having won the world football and then to win Wimbledon after many many years. I was impressed that Nadal had continued to learn on grass and not given the idea away. His shots were sometimes the most impossibly angled I'd ever seen. I only wished I could have seen the whole match. I might one day get a DVD of it out.

Despite not writing here as much, I try to keep up my winners and statistics still. The reason for not writing is that I cannot see many of the Grand Slams now, let alone the men's Masters or the Women's events.

Tennis injuries

Tennis players like all elite athletes can succumb to illness and injury more frequently than the rest of us. This is because they can lower their immune system by over-training and when it comes to injuries they use their muscles, joints and ligaments so much more then the rest of us.

They also have to contend with the surface of the court causing many twisted ankles.
Most players play through injuries almost all the time. The only player who never had an injury was Todd Woodbridge and Australian doubles specialist.


Alicia Molik's injury was unusual, but many players, though they will play through a virus can be so ill that they have to stop playing. This happened to Justine Henin-Hardenne in the final of the Australian Open 2006. She had been taking anti-inflammatories to combat a shoulder injury and those anti-inflammatories caused extreme pain in the stomach.
Many succumb to heat stroke too as happens often at the Australian Open held in very hot weather sometimes.
Cramp too is not technically an injury and used to be one which could not be treated during a game, but now can be. Baghdatis suffered obvious cramp in the final of the Australian Open 2006, but commentators thought this was not from lack of condition, but nerves. Many players use cramp as a reason to have a massage too.
The worst injuries for tennis players are knee reconstructions. Australia's once brilliant player Philippoussis has had 3 of those. Each time players who have these reconstruction of joints are out of the game for months.
Other common joint injuries are shoulders, wrists and ankles. Kim Klijsters was out for almost a year with a wrist injury.
There are countless muscle injuries also.
Other unique things can happen on the court like James Blake running slap bang into the umpires chair. That injury took him out of the game for some time.