Greatest Of All Time

"The big moments are gonna come. You can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that counts. That's when you find out who you are."

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That quote isn't strictly tennis related - yeah, okay, it's from Buffy - but my God, does it apply here one hundred percent, especially considering the theme of monster-slaying we've been considering as regards my man Roger Federer. The big moment came, and he fought to get there. I can't remember a tournament when he's fought harder - and of course it should be hard. This is a Grand Slam, and this is history. He made it to the moment. The moment came. And the world found out exactly who Roger Federer is.

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The greatest tennis player of all time.

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This cannot be disputed now. He has now won fourteen Grand Slams, putting him in equal first place with Pete Sampras - but unlike Sampras, he has won them on all four surfaces. He has made twenty consecutive semi finals. In addition to three runner up finishes at Roland Garros, one at Wimbledon and one at the Australian Open, Roger Federer owns five Wimbledon titles, five US Opens, three Australian Opens and one Roland Garros title.

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It was the title they said he could never win. The gaping hole on his resume that was to put a question mark over his greatness. Three times he made the final, and three times he lost, including an absolute drubbing against Rafael Nadal last year. But not this year. Not this year.

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With one monster left between him and history, Roger Federer did not falter. We did not see him waiver, not for one instant. From the moment that he won the first point I think the world knew, in their hearts, that it was time. This moment has been coming - for too long, some thought, writing off this great man. But Roger was patient, and he fought, and he got there. And when the moment came, he stood tall. He looked history in the face and seized it with both hands.

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This is his time. This is his moment. And this, my friends, is history.

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It is often the case, I find, that people who are not otherwise into tennis at all have a special place in their hearts for Roger Federer. As great as other players like Nadal and even Sampras and Agassi are, no one has ever captured the heart of the masses like this man. He has walked with kings and kept the common touch. He has personified every 'if' Rudyard Kipling could possibly throw at him. He is the greatest champion our sport has ever had, but, perhaps, more importantly, he has been our sport's greatest sportsman. He has personified everything that sport should be - fair and honest and beautiful.

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He is the greatest of all time.

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I have waited so long to say these words. I believed them already, I think, long ago - his case for greatness has been convincing for some years now - but if people doubt him now, then they are completely deluded. The moment has come, the time has arrived when we can fete our hero as we ought to - for he is our hero. He is the hero of the masses, of the people, in a way that no one else has ever been. He has been the sentimental darling of our hearts for many years now, this gentle, beautiful, brilliant man - and now we have arrived at the moment where this man has made history, where he has transcended everyone, where he has achieved total tennis immortality.

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I saw him play once. I can tell my children, and their children, that I once saw the greatest tennis player of all time in the flesh - and the man who was the personification of everything that should be great in sport. He is a hero to so many, an inspiration, and I don't know if people have ever willed anyone to succeed more. But in the end, take away all the fans, everyone in the arena, everything but the tennis and the moment. Take away all that. There was Roger. There was Soderling, his opponent. And there was the moment when greatness was within his grasp.

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He was tried and he was tested, and he was not found wanting. And now history has been made.

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We live in the age of Roger Federer - the greatest tennis player of all time. And what an honour and a privilege it is.

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Today's Results

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French Open (Roland Garros)

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Robin Soderling, 6-1 7-6 (7-1) 6-4