Dear Roger,
First of all congratulations on achieving the feat of winning 14 grand slams and sharing the page of History books with Sampras for the moment. Most of all, congrats again for breaking the jinx of Roland Garros.
I have been following your game since the day you lifted your first grand slam. Since then I have been loving your game, not because you kept lifting grand slams one after the other, not because the tennis experts speculated that you would be the greatest ever tennis player one day, but just for making the game look so beautiful and stylish!
I still remember when Leyton Hewitt [I think] said, "It is unfortunate that we are playing in Federer's era". I enjoyed the way you dominated in all the tournaments, no matter who the opponent is. That is when the grey-heads of Tennis stirred up a debate, whether you could be called the greatest ever Tennis player, they compared you with Rod Lever to McEnroe to Bjorn Borg. I never bother about these kinda arguments, because firstly I feel it is unfair to compare two players of two different eras, secondly I have not seen them playing! No matter what people opine, for me you are the God of tennis. In future when a new champion emerges (who would certainly have to bear the comparisons with you) and my kids watch him play, I would love to tell them how better were you!
Then Rafa emerged as the 'next big thing' of Tennis court and started showing the world that you are not unbeatable, that even you have a vulnerable side. With an amazing combination of controlled aggression and precision, Rafa surely is a toughest contender for you. Every time you played against Rafa in a big match, whether on clay or grass, I have prayed to God as if I was waiting for the results of my final exams. When Rafa firmly denied you a French open in all the 3 finals from 2006-2008, I had feared that you might also end up like Sampras, without a French open. Every time you lost to Nadal, a very basic question that does not only pertain to Tennis but life as well used to rise in my mind - In the war between aggression and grace, why does aggression turn out to be victorious most of the times?
I was less disappointed when you lost to Rafa in straight sets (1-6, 3-6, 0-6) in French Open 2008 finals than when you broke into tears after losing to him in this year's Australian Open. I could not believe it. I mean I did not like it! What was that indicating, a man who hardly used to show his emotion on field once, has given up? Did you accept Nadal as your jinx not only on clay but also on other surfaces? I am sorry to say, I had not expected that from you.
Though this victory in French Open would add to the tally of career grand slams, I would say, you won it easily this time. Your nemesis was defeated by Soderling quite early in the tournament. The other threats, Djokovic and Murray also not making it to the final 4. Though Tommy Haas and Del Potro made you sweat, I think this was relatively an easy grand slam for you! Hope it gives you the confidence of clearing the mental block of Roland Garros and a sigh of relief.
Agree you have won it, but I want you to EARN it beating Rafa in French Open finals some day.... I know that victory would be more satisfying for you than the current one.
Your greatest fan...
