Love Fifteen

So it kind of hit me when I was at work (yes, I was not doing much) - Roger Federer has fifteen Slams.

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I mean, I knew that. The record was fourteen, and he beat the record, and fourteen + one = fifteen. This is not rocket science. But dude! FIFTEEN!

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That is a LOT of Slams.

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I tried to imagine Federer's trophy room. We heard that quip from Serena the other day about how she uses trophies to hold makeup brushes, and she plays a pretty tight schedule. Roger's now won sixty singles titles and has a few of those runner up things as well. I imagined him walking in and stubbing his toe on the US Open trophy from 2005, then rooting through an explosively full cupboard to find his Cincinatti 2007 trophy to give to Baby Fed as a teething ring. Mirka might come in to see why it was taking so long and might fall over the trophy from the Australian Open in 2004, and he might catch her but run into a shelf, causing a few of those swords from Dubai to fall down. And then Baby Fed might crawl in and they might get panicked thinking they've lost it, only to find it nestled asleep inside the replica Coupe de Mousquetaires. They'd be so happy they'd have to make cookies, and Roger would ferret out the runner up plate from Wimbledon in 2008 to serve them on (which he's hidden in the highest cupboard in the house).

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Then think of the trophy room of a one Slam wonder. You can bet that that one Slam trophy is the highlight of his collection. It's the centrepiece, the marvel, the life achievement of which he is most proud. He has special lights shining on it. People are like 'wow... a Slam trophy!'

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In Roger's house? He's got a Wimbledon trophy on the mantlepiece. And five more out the back. And he's got a few spare trophies out in the mountains holding Juliette's feed - you know, from the not-quite-so-important tournaments, like the Masters Cup.

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Fifteen Slams. Fifteen.

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What kind of insane level of consistency is that? Pete Sampras won fourteen Slams over twelve years. Roger's won fifteen over six. That means, of the twenty-five Slams played since (and including) Wimbledon 2003, Federer's won fifteen of them. Leaving ten for everyone else.

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Ten. And when you consider that six of them belong to great champion in his own right Rafa Nadal, that leaves very, very few left. One to Roddick. One to Safin. One to Djokovic. One to Gaudio.

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Think of how many more Slams guys like these would have won, if Roger Federer hadn't hogged them all! He's single-handedly overshadowed the careers of not just a few players, but of a generation.

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And I love it. I love fifteen! Because fifteen Slams couldn't go to a nicer bloke or a man that deserved it more than Roger 'I use my trophies for fruitbowls and to hold my razors and perhaps my firstborn' Federer.

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The rest of the field? Love. Federer? Fifteen.

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Today's Results

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Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships (Newport)

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Philipp Petzschner def. Horacio Zeballos, 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-2

Alex Bogmolov def. Arnaud Clement, 1-6 6-3 6-4

Nicolas Mahut def. Amer Delic, 6-4 6-4

Sam Querrey def. Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, 6-3 6-2

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Collector Swedish Open Women (Bastad)

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Petra Kvitova, 6-4 6-2

Dominika Cibulkova def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 6-1 6-1

Flavia Pennetta def. Masa Zec Peskiric, 6-1 6-2

Gisela Dulko def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5)

Maria Kirilenko def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-2 6-3

Carla Suarez Navarro def. Ellen Allgurin, 6-1 6-4

Alla Kudryavtseva def. Iveta Benesova, 6-2 6-4

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Angelique Kerber, 6-3 6-2

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GDF Suez Grand Prix (Budapest)

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Shahar Peer def. Alize Cornet, 6-2 6-0

Edina Gallovits def. Sybille Bammer, 4-6 7-5 6-2

Alona Bondarenko def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-4 4-6 6-4

Petra Martic def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-3 6-2

Patty Schnyder def. Andrea Petkovic, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3