Attempting to distill the events of 2009 into a short list of the ‘best’ is no small task. To me it came down to two things.

The first one only took a few seconds, to be exact it was 9.58. Usain Bolt finished the job he had started last year when he ran the most memorable 60 yards in history followed by an equally memorable 40 yard jog, and still finished 5 car lengths ahead of his nearest competitor. This year’s domination in August was equally spectacular, save that it was totally expected. We all felt like we knew if he ‘remembered’ that he was supposed to run the full 100m, that this would happen. It doesn’t diminish the accomplishment but it felt slightly anti-climactic.

Which is why I have another ‘Best of the Year’. To me the greatness of Roger Federer’s year was just as historically important as the aforementioned Bolt’s Blast. This was a different kind of year for Federer. For the first time in five years he wasn’t viewed as the best, how would he respond? Quite honestly through the years of his dominance we were never sure how great his competitiveness was, how resilient he was or how much of a fighter he was. It had been years since anyone could beat him when it mattered, other than in the finals at Roland Garros each year. He had spent a record 237 weeks in a row as the #1 ranked player in the world, that’s 4 1/2 yrs! He had been to a record 10 straight Grand Slam finals. By most he was already known as the greatest tennis player of all time. For Federer, 2008 was a difficult year.  He started it off losing in the Australian Open semi’s. He was shortly thereafter diagnosed with mono. While not life threatening mono is debilitating to an elite athlete who relies so heavily on training and practice. That setback no doubt affected him in the French Open where again he met Nadal in the finals at Roland Garros.  In recent years he had been making headway into Nadal’s dominance on clay.  While Roger owned the grass and hardcourts he was merely second best on clay. In the finals though he took a beating from Nadal, and again couldn’t complete his career grandslam. Then on to Wimbledon where it was just assumed that Roger at 75% could beat anyone on grass. Again, this year was different. In the “best match I’ve ever watched”, according to analyst John McEnroe, Roger couldn’t match the brute physicality and will of Nadal. Then he flamed out in the singles in the Olympics as well. It seemed to be the end for Federer atop the tennis world.  He would no longer be ranked #1 and he no longer owned tennis.  Even his seeming return to form in his convincing win at the US Open, while  salvaging an otherwise difficult year did little to quell the doubts that the end was near.

That finally brings us to this year and the obvious questions that went with it.  Was Federer past his prime? Could he still catch Sampras’ record for Grand Slams? How would a guy who made it look so easy for so many years respond?

The year didn’t start well, he lost again in the Australian Open in 5 sets to Nadal. He struggled with lesser opponents as well and as the year continued pulled out of as many tournaments as he entered.  Then in Madrid on the clay his year turned around as he defeated Nadal in the final in straight sets. He then went into the French Open on a high and after struggling early in the tourney, he seemingly willed himself to the final against Soderling where he cemented his legacy completing the career Grand Slam, becoming only the 6th man to do so. From there he went to Wimbledon and shared in another  memorable finals.  Andy Roddick played the match of his life, in fact he dominated Federer on serve, not being broken until the pivotal last game of the match, but Federer refused to lose and finally willed himself to victory. With that he became the all time leader in Grand Slam victories, eclipsing Sampras’ 14. The Swiss master then completed his season by reaching the US Open finals, his 21st Grand Slam final (another record), where he lost in 5 sets to Del Potro. The first Grand Slam final he lost to someone not named Nadal.

Federer, while not having his best year had his most important year. Completing the career Slam, the Slam record and regaining his #1 ranking. It isn’t as effortless as it was a couple years ago but Federer has shown the grit, guts and heart that only the greatest have. While no longer at the apex of his career and with so many young guns on his heels, Federer has elevated himself from great to the greatest of them all.

NR