Kolkata: A true champion is not only determined by his performances on the field but also by how a good a person he is off it. Tennis great Roger Federer is a true champion in all senses of the term, having won the love of both the fans and his peers on numerous occasions.
With a Grand Slam semi final against Rafael Nadal and a sixth US Open at stake, the Swiss took the field against a 28 year old Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro in a quarter-final clash at the Flushing Meadows on Thursday.
Del Potro who had defeated the Swiss maestro at the 2009 US Open final once again came on top as Federer lost out the battle 5-7, 6-3, 6-7, 4-6 in four sets to crash out of the tournament.
It is never easy for a 36-year old to keep up the pace against his much younger opponents and Federer who had been playing with a sore back throughout the tournament could have easily used it as an excuse for his loss. While many other sportspersons would have used it to gain sympathy, the 19-time Grand Slam champion once again proved why is one of the most admired sportspersons in the business.
Showing humility in defeat and calling Juan the better player he said, “I feel I have no place in the semis and he will have a better chance to beat Rafa, to be honest.”
Adding, “The way I played or am playing right now, it’s not good enough in my opinion to win this tournament. It’s better I’m out and somebody else gets a chance to do better than me.”
It’s not everyday that we get to hear such humble words from a player who has just been knocked out from a tournament especially from someone like Federer, who has conquered everything in the world of tennis, which just goes to show how much a grounded man the Swiss superman is.
He continued, “If I ran into a good guy, I was going to lose, I felt. I don’t want to say I was in negative mindset, but I knew going in that I’m not in a safe place.”
A real fighter on the court and a real champion. Federer has always won the hearts of his opponents. Andy Roddick once said, “He’s a real person, he’s not an engima.”
One of the best ever athletes to ever grace the game of tennis, he, ‘makes us wonder if he’s even from the same planet.’
Edited by Souryaprokas Bhaduri