Lovers of Roger Federer can whip themselves into an even greater lather of monomaniacal affection for him by purchasing a cap with the logo “PERFECT” written on the front with the initials R and F bearing the special print of his now nearly ubiquitous, stylized initials.
This week will be the “peRFect” time to splurge on the item. I’m buying mine and ordering expedited delivery. I want to make sure it comes in time for Federer’s generational rival, Rafael Nadal, to resume his station as No. 1 tennis player in the world.
Yes Federologists, that’s right. If Rafa reaches the semifinals of the Rogers Cup this week – a tournament he’s won three times before – Rafa is going to be numbeR oNe in the rankings come Monday morning.
A year after many sports journalists had written the great Spaniard off, and even as commentators fall all over themselves praising Federer for winning another grand slam tournament on the least frequently played surface, grass, Nadal will likely pass Andy Murray and resume his perch as the best player in the world.
There is great symbolism in this moment.
No matter the extent of the great achievements of the great Federer, he will never place enough distance between himself and Rafa for any Nadal enthusiast to cede the debate over who is greater completely.
No question there is inertia behind the case for Federer with much of it developing this year. The accolades heaped upon Federer after he marched to his 19th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon (without facing Nadal, Djokovic or Murray, it must be said) has been to Nadal fans like facing a series of history distorting tidal waves.
For Federer’s keenest admirers – Boris Becker, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, and many more among them – the desire to declare the Swiss the greatest of all time in the most effusive terms has taken the form of a great catharsis.
Yet facts, past and present, are stubborn things and Federer’s station in the game is not and cannot be so clearly defined as they would like.
Yes, Federer has two of the first three majors this year and has beaten Nadal head-to-head. But Nadal will be No. 1 because he ventured onto Federer’s home turf this year, grass at Wimbledon, while Federer could not bring himself to set foot on Nadal’s red clay, whether in Madrid, or Barcelona, or Paris, where Nadal has built an unrivaled palace.
Yes, Federer has a 19-15 edge in major titles. But Nadal holds a significant 23-14 head-to-head advantage over Federer. And Nadal beat Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final, a match many believe to be the greatest ever played. Federer has never beaten Nadal at Rolland Garros. Not once in six tries.
Nadal owns an Olympic gold medal in singles and doubles. Federer has failed to reach the top of the Olympic podium in singles.
Nadal has won 10 major titles at the French Open. Federer has not reached 10 at Wimbledon (he holds eight), partly because of Nadal.
Nadal accomplished all of his great feats during the height of Federer’s career as a younger and less experienced player facing not only Federer, but Djokovic, as well. Indeed, Nadal had to defeat Federer in each of his first six Grand Slam title runs.
Federer achieved many of his successes at the twilight of the dominance of a prior generation and against lesser lights such as Andy Roddick.
And in terms of ultimate accomplishment, there is nothing (or nothing very significant) that Federer has done that Nadal has not done.
They both have career Grand Slams, Nadal having reached this milestone at a younger age.
They both have Davis Cup victories, Nadal having won with his country four times and Federer just once.
They both beat generational predecessors such as Sampras and Agassi, as well as peers, Djokovic and Murray.
They both have engaged in their own versions of eye-popping winning streaks that have no precedent in the modern era.
They both have mounted remarkable late-stage comebacks this year.
Only Federer has been left in tears by Nadal at the conclusion of a Grand Slam final, the Australian Open of 2009.
And only Nadal has obliterated Federer in straight sets at a Grand Slam final, the French in 2008, 6-1, 6-3, 6-0.
Yet we enter these final weeks of the tennis summer to the triumphal march of those imperialist Federerites whose noisy proclamations of his unrivaled greatness seem designed to drown out what is truly great about this current moment in tennis.
It is this: There are two great men playing tennis this summer. Their careers have been extraordinary. They have been made greater by their great rivalry.
And because of their great rivalry and the great friction it has produced, the answer to the question – who is the greatest between them? – can never be resolved. So buy your hat and revel in perfection.
I’ll gift mine with the hope that it will assure another five-setter between the tennis titans of our time.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misstated that Nadal earned his career Grand Slam before Federer. Nadal achieved the career grand slam in 2010 at a younger age than Federer, who reached the milestone when he was crowned champion at the French Open in 2009.