‘The fact that players regard beating Federer a monumental achievement; that they take great pride in conquering him; that the few players who do have a winning record against him are seen as the next wave, the successors, the new ruling class; the fact that what is considered the greatest match of all time is the match Federer lost; that even when he’s not number 1 anymore, his losses still reverberate throughout tennis. This tells me that he is still the one, the one everybody wants to beat, the one everybody wants to surpass.

Because despite what anybody says, every tennis player is still measured against him; their achievements judged in light of his. And every time he is criticized, put down, brushed away as obsolete, and regarded as a has-been; every time his name pops up in match commentaries when he’s not even playing; every single time tennis talk invariably goes back to Roger, it becomes glaringly obvious and amazingly clear that there is simply no one else. And every disparaging remark and word of doubt is an unwitting tribute to the one who simply isn’t going anywhere yet, who is still part of the equation, and who, by his enduring presence and stature proves to me, beyond any doubt, that Roger Federer is the greatest of all time.’  - Homer Mendoza