OUT OF THIS WORLD!

The French Open has progressed predictably, and towards a potential showdown between two of the best players on view: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

The tennis on display was of high quality, and the competition fierce so far, though Federer and Nadal are yet to drop a set as I write this. Expectancy is in the air and quite a few prominent records on the verge of breaking as we enter the second week.
A Federer vs Nadal title clash will not only be a fitting finale to this championship, but also to a riveting clay season. But come to think of it, till a fortnight ago, the French Open was considered to be a one-horse race, such was Nadal’s unbearable dominance on the slow clay courts.
Federer’s inspiring victory over Nadal to end the Spaniard’s 81-match winning streak in Hamburg a week before the French Open seems to have opened up the race and raised the possibility of a mouth-watering contest on Sunday.
There has been little to separate the two in terms of their overbearing superiority over their opponents at the French Open. Both have won their matches with ease. Where the muscular Mallorcan has bullied his opponents into submission through sheer power, the simple Swiss has waltzed past his rivals, gliding and floating with artistic abandon.
It is this contrast what makes a match up between the two all the more alluring and evocative.
At another level are a plethora of records at stake, including the one that will make Federer only the third man after Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) to hold all four Grand Slams at the same time if he wins the French Open on Sunday.
A victory for Federer will also see the Swiss in line to complete the Grand Slam in the same year, as Budge and Laver (twice) achieved theirs.
This record is somewhat similar to Formula One’s mark for most successive driver’s titles that stood in the name of Juan Manuel Fangio (four titles, 1954-57) for almost half a century till Michael Schumacher broke it in 2004.
The Grand Slam record (in the same year) has not been matched now for 37 years and who better to achieve it than Federer?
The next logical, and yes, predictable, question is whether Federer is the greatest player of all time?
More than the question (or is it a riddle?), I like the timing of it. With 10 Grand Slams and still only 26, Federer is only four behind the record of Pete Sampras’ 14 Grand Slams. In 2007, Federer has already won the Australian Open and his record at Wimbledon and the US Open are awe-inspiring. So the possibility of the Swiss completing the Grand Slam this year is greater than it has ever been.
Federer is also in peak physical form, and probably as close as he has been to unbeatable, as one of his opponents said recently. All these points may not conclusively answer the FAQ, but it certainly adds to the mystique.
According to Andre Agassi, the last man to complete a career Grand Slam in 1999, Laver has the edge because of his French Open wins. Laver himself is convinced that Federer’s place in history is already assured.
“People often ask me if Roger (Federer) is the greatest player of all time,” wrote Laver in Time magazine recently. “Let’s wait until the end of his career before making the ‘best ever’ judgement. One thing is for sure: He’s the best player of his time and one of the most admirable champions on the planet.”
Top tennis writer Bud Collins perhaps puts this argument in perspective when he wrote: “Maybe the best analogy of how far ahead of the pack Roger Federer is would be to think of Federer as the space shuttle while the rest of the men's players are just simple airplanes.”
A nice thought to chew on as the French Open heads towards the climax.

By Vijay Mruthyunjaya
vmruthyunjaya@gmail.com