Will Roger Federer beat Jimmy Connors’s record?
Roger Federer scored his latest victory at Basel, his hometown. While most players would get tired of winning a comparatively insignificant title multiple times during the course of the career, Federer does not appear to be one of these players.
His affinity with the ATP 500 tournament, which is much less than important than the ATP 1000 Masters tournaments, is understandable. Basel is where Roger Federer got his tennis start. His first involvement with the sport on the ATP was as a ball boy. So
it is understandable that the player is content, maybe even more than happy to collect his fourth title at Basel, which he did this week with an efficient defeat of Novak Djokovic.
After the tournament, Federer told the press, “It's very emotional winning at home, it makes it extra special. Because I live here and because the fans are behind me”.
This is somewhat unusual, hometown elements have been known to cause local players to completely lose their composure and fall into despair during the game. Playing a match at home can be a difficult experience as well as a challenging one. The fans which
support you may also turn against you if you let them down.
However, the Maestro plays against champions such as Rafa and Djokovic at Grand Slam tournaments and prestigious events it’s natural for him to perhaps have a slightly different idea of the meaning of a challenge.
The Basel victory rounds up Federer’s total wins on the ATP Tour to 65, which makes him the fourth-highest achiever on the list of all-time ATP title holders. He is also one title ahead of tennis great and legendary player Pete Sampras.
However, the question which remains to be asked is this, can Federer overcome the monumental record set and left behind by Jimmy Connors at 109 titles? Spectators also wonder how Jimmy Connors managed to win so many trophies when he lost so frequently and
so abysmally to players such as John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl and Bjorn Borg.
The answer is complicated. Connors’s debut on the tour consisted of him competing circuits such as the World Championship Tennis tour. All these events, while legitimately pro, were diluted due to the level of competition. Although they are still mellowed
out by diverse competition, the fact remains that the calendar is not as crowded as before and because of this, tournaments are much more of a race.
Connors, however, took advantage of the dilution available and played against smaller players in smaller arenas, in order to amass many of his titles. However, this is not the only component of Connors’s success. He was a long-time player and continued to
play at the most prestigious level even at the age of 40, when he beat Jaime Oncins for his 98th title victory.
Federer, on the other hand, is only 29. In order to come close to the possibility of challenging Connor’s as the Oldest of All Time, he will have to play for at least another decade.
The fact remains though, that Federer, similar to Connors, loves tennis. He and Federer both show incredible resilience. Connors exhibited this when Borg, Lendl and McEnroe began to thrash him, coming back for more every time.
Here is where Federer may fall out. If the success of other players begins to rankle, he will quit, and Connors’s record will be protected.
But if he keeps playing regardless of others’ success, he may eventually come close enough to conquer the record. Federer has already proven his talent, now, his stamina is the only quality left to question.
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