Roger Federer is probably the classiest and most elegant player ever to play the game of tennis, but he’s a tough cookie as well.
The Swiss has won 17 Grand Slam titles, 78 ATP tour titles, won gold and silver medals at the Olympics and has played in some of the greatest matches of all time, but thanks to the folks at USA Today, we were alerted to a remarkable stat from Federer’s career that came to light again in the aftermath of his victory in the Dubai Open at the weekend, his first tournament win in 18 months.
In the 1,154 matches in his career to date – more than any other active tennis player – Federer has not retired once. Not one game, nada, zip.
You might think that’s no big deal, but according to tennisabstract.com, of the 25 players currently playing who have played the most matches, none apart from Federer have fewer than three career retirements and the top ten – all of whom have played at least 290 fewer matches than the Swiss – have an average of 12.3 career retirements.
Of his most famous contemporaries and past tennis legends, only John McEnroe – who retired from one game throughout his entire career – comes close to matching Federer.
Pic via For The Win
Even in recent years when he has been overshadowed by Nadal, Djokovic and Andy Murray amongst others, Federer rarely if ever shows signs of being under any sort of physical duress on court, despite the ridiculous length of some of the games and the difficulty that comes with playing in conditions like we saw at the Australian Open earlier this year.
It might not be the first stat that’s thrown up to celebrate Federer’s remarkable career to date, but it is a testament to his durability, his fitness and his conditioning, all of which, combined with his obvious natural talent, have helped make him into arguably the greatest tennis player of all time.
