'You never hear anything negative about Roger Federer', says writer

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, like their illustrious predecessors, don't just play for the four Grand Slam titles. In the calculation of victories in all ATP tournaments (the tour of the Association of Tennis Professionals), Roger is in the lead in comparison with Rafa and Novak: Federer has won 102 (better than him Connors did with 109), Nadal is at 86, Djokovic at 82. And Federer also has the advantage as the highest number of wins in the ATP Tour Finals, the tournament that closes the season, to which the eight strongest players in the world are invited every year, judged a sort of fifth Grand Slam: the Swiss has won it six times, the Serbian five, while the Spaniard, curiously, has never made it (but has missed four of the last nine finals due to injury). Dave Seminara, a noted writer and former diplomat based in Florida, has written a book titled "Footsteps of Federer: A Fan’s Pilgrimage Across 7 Swiss Cantons in 10 Acts", which will be released in early March. In an interview with Perfect Tennis, Seminara spoke about Federer's overpowering presence which commands the attention of everyone in the room - even journalists who have covered the sport for decades.

Seminara talks about Roger Federer

Dave Seminara went on to speak about the nearly-flawless image of Roger Federer, and made no secret of his deep admiration for the Swiss legend. "Roger is the man – I just admire him in so many different ways […] You never hear anything negative about him," Seminara said. In the process of winning an unprecedented ninth career Australian Open title before a roaring Sunday crowd at Melbourne Park, top-seed Novak Djokovic went past Roger Federer to reach another astounding landmark. The World Number 1 is now the holder of 12 Grand Slam titles on hard court, which is the most by any player. Going into the title clash against the World Number 4, the Serb was tied with Federer at 11 championship wins in Majors on hard courts. However, his 18th career Grand Slam title has now put him on top of the all-time list which features yesteryear stalwarts Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi at rank numbers 3 and 4, respectively. ‘Pistol Pete’ finished with 7 career Grand Slam titles on hard courts, while Agassi won 6. With concrete not being his preferred surface by any stretch of the imagination, it was hardly a surprise to have Rafael Nadal trailing at Number 6 on the list.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2MniXik