Genius Federer in search of a rival
(Reuters)Updated: 2007-01-29 08:56
MELBOURNE, Jan 28 - No wonder Roger Federer wishes he could jump into a time machine and go back through the years to have a shot at Rod Laver or Bjorn Borg.
With no real rival in sight, the Swiss master completed the most
dominant men's grand slam campaign in 27 years when he repelled Chilean Fernando
Gonzalez at the Australian Open on Sunday to win his 10th major crown.
Not since Borg's run to the 1980 Roland Garros title had a man won a grand slam title without dropping a set in the tournament.
At the speed the Federer express has been going, Pete Sampras's record haul of 14 majors will be wiped from the history books by 2008.
It took the American 12 years to amass his trophies, Federer has scooped up number 10 in just over 3-1/2.
"For me, it's really scary how many I've won," the Swiss said following his 7-6 6-4 6-4 win.
"If somebody would have told me I'd win 10 grand slams from mid 2003 till today, I never would have thought there was any chance of doing something like that.
"If I were another player, I would be amazed a little bit to see always the same guy winning."
If Federer himself is amazed, his peers must be sick of seeing the all-conquering Swiss on the other side of the net.
Andy Roddick dared to suggest last week that the rest of the world was closing the gap with Federer. That theory was blown wide open when the world number one pulverised the American sixth seed in the semi-finals for the loss of just six games.
Such is his dominance, Roddick and company may be feeling as if the old challenge round -- where winners of the previous year's competition were automatically granted byes into the final round -- had made a comeback.
Federer marched into his seventh successive grand slam final at Melbourne Park, equalling the record of Australian Jack Crawford set in 1934.
SWISS GENIUS
"I guess you can call me a genius because I'm outplaying many of my opponents, kind of maybe playing a bit different, you know, winning when I'm not playing my best," said Federer.
He was speaking as the first man in the professional era to win three consecutive majors twice in his career.
But a genius among mere mortals can lead to tedium.
Hence it has left Federer dreaming about testing his brilliance against two
of the former greats.
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