Shanghai: Tennis legend Rod Laver has no doubts that Roger Federer is by far the greatest men’s player ever to have graced a tennis court.
“When I look at Federer and what he’s accomplished, against the competition that he’s accomplished it with, I’d have to say I would think that Roger is the greatest player. This is just because his record and the consistency over a span of six to eight years have been pretty amazing. I think that sort of tells you something,” Laver told Gulf News on the sidelines of the Shanghai Rolex Masters here.
“And, of course, the fact that he likes the world of tennis and the history of the game makes him even more special. I think his charitable involvement is great and these are the types of things that brings a player like Federer high in the eyes of not just the competition but the public.”
Laver singled out Federer’s involvement in the ‘Hit for Haiti’ cause, where some of the top players got together and raised funds for the victims of the Haiti cyclone a few years back. “And when Queensland had all those floods about three years ago, I remember he called up and asked ‘What can we do?’. That was awfully nice of him,” said US-based Laver, who recently accepted the role of ambassador for watch-maker Rolex and ANZ Bank after 15 years largely away from the public eye after he suffered a stroke while being interviewed on television.
“I’ve always said that if you’re the best in your era, that’s as good as you really can do. You could take it back to ‘is it Fred Perry, is it Don Budge or is it myself that came along?’”
Though he is such an ardent Federer fan, 75-year-old Laver says he enjoys watching the evolution of the ATP Tour, with Federer joined by the likes of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray at the top. “I enjoy watching it, but at the same time I also enjoy the camaraderie I think that the players have. The top players seem to get along well together and, of course, the play is unbelievably good. They’ve mastered the art of playing with that composite racquet,” said Laver, who won an all-time record 200 career titles and was world No 1 for seven consecutive years from 1964 to 1970.
However, given the evolution of the sport, Laver thought he would have been a misfit in this era. “I’m sure I’d like to try to be competitive in today’s world of players. But, you know, if you’re not 6ft 2in, 6ft 4in, you’d have to do a lot of other things well to combat the bigger man,” he said.
“But, you know, I found that when I tried to use those composite racquets, the size of them, compared with my little wooden racquet, it was just like night and day. It was so easy to play with them.
“You just don’t know how far you could advance, but I always put a lot of spin on the ball. I see Nadal, with the spins that he comes up with, and that forehand that he’s got. Of course, he’s got a big, strong arm as well.”
