Roger And Me

Roger and Me

The tennis world woke up this week to somewhat shocking news with the announced retirement of Roger Federer. I say somewhat shocking because Roger is 41 years old and has had more than one knee surgery in the last few years. In the Atlantic Magazine this was written - “The congratulations, tributes, devastations, and crying emojis for Federer were both instant and global. The man is 41 years old––geriatric, in tennis years. He’d had three surgeries on his right knee in fewer than two years. In June of 2021, he withdrew after the third round of the French Open to preserve his precarious, twice-operated state and not risk further injury. That July, he lost in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, as the oldest man since 1977 to play in them. Still, there was a hopeful sense that all of this—surgeries, rehab, absence, crutches—was somehow leading to a return, a Shakespearean call (“Once more unto the breach!”) to overcome the throes of pain. But there was one unspoken question: A return to what? To the smooth rotation of his preoperative knee? To his early 20s? (Could he take us with him?) He was always only going to get older.”

The venable New York Time writer, Chris Clarey had this to say - “Federer leaves the game with one of the greatest competitive records in its history: 103 tour singles titles, 20 Grand Slam singles titles, 310 weeks ranked No. 1 and a record six victories in season-ending tour finals. And, perhaps most remarkably given his long run, he never was forced to stop playing a match he had started because of an injury.

His decision follows a similar move by Serena Williams, giving the tennis world the most definitive confirmation yet of its generational shift toward younger stars such as Carlos Alcaraz, who won the recent US Open.”

Roger @ The US Open

Roger in flight

Like most (not all)- tennis players one could not help to be captivated by the beauty of Federer’s game. What was it - was it the one handed backhand or the simplicity he brought to the game? Or maybe it was everything. A complete champion who made us dream and at the same time feel every loss he had.

I was listening to a podcast that called THE TENNIS PODCAST. I had the opportunity to do a lot of driving recently, so to help pass the time, I’ve been listening to various podcasts. This particular one comes out usually every week and is hosted by three media personalities from the UK. During the US Open they were posting every day. which I quite enjoyed. Anyways, of course they did a special RF retirement podcast. Well done and they touched on the topic of who is the “greatest”. A very hot issue if your a Rafa or Novak fan - as most people believe the real measurement is the number of Grand Slam titles and if this is the case then RF will not win the prize. The hosts of the podcast suggested that although he may not be the greatest but will be the most “beloved” - and I think it will be very hard to argue with that.

THE TENNIS PODCAST

I have been extremely lucky as I had the chance to meet Roger a few times. In my past life with Wilson Racket Sports, I was fortunate to have an opportunity to not only see him but also talk to him. The first time was around 2006 (I think). Roger had won a tough match on the Saturday night in Toronto and I was still onsite. My friend who was the Tournament Director invited me into the players lounge. Not sure why and it was late and I really wanted to go home, but he was insistent and told me to wait. It was probably around 11 pm and after about an hour of hanging around - Roger came into the lounge and I was introduced to him. He was very gracious and he spent more than a few minutes chatting.

Around the same time, I was in NYC for meetings just prior to the US Open and we were staying at the W Court Hotel, near Grand Central Station. It was one of the player hotels (no longer there). I can’t remember the floor I was staying on but I have a memory of leaving my room and going to the elevator and pushing the button and waiting. I could hear a door close and the sound of footprints coming down hallway. I continued to wait and then looked up and suddenly the footprints appeared in front of the elevator and it was Roger. Wow - didn’t really know what to say? I took a deep breath and told him I was with Wilson and seen him play in Toronto. Again, he was extremely gracious and he stayed in the lobby and continued to talk with me for more than a few minutes.

Roger at the Amer Sales Launch

One of the highlights of work was the annual Global Sales Launch held every year in Europe. The idea was to bring together in one place all of the marketing/sales teams from each market and from each brand. I was not invited to every one but did manage to be invited to one in Athens and a few in Spain. (Barcelona/Sitges). We would have breakouts by brand/sport and learn about all of the new products coming and usually in the middle of the week the sales team would join for a “Grand Session.” Each brand leader would stand up and speak about their brand success and sometimes they would bring on to the stage a special guest. It was always a famous athlete who endorsed that brand. After one “quiet” year from Wilson in which they didn’t bring anyone, they decided to ramp it up and blow every one away. It was a closely held secret but the way they were carrying on, I sensed something was up. The Wilson Brand team got up and did a bit of back and forth and then suddenly……Roger appeared. The place went crazy.

Grown adults were reduced to little children hanging on every word. He had been flown in for the day for this special appearance - at the end of the Q/A, he stayed and people came down in groups to have their picture taken with him. I asked him what should I tell Daniel Nestor when I get back to Toronto? He jokingly said “tell him it’s time to retire.”

There were more than 500 people in the auditorium who were very happy to meet him. After he left we walked over to a local tennis club and we watched a special tennis exhibition with Gael Mofils and Gregor Dimitrov.

Red Clay Exhibition

Monfils and Gregor

Each year in the spring time, I would be asked how many autographed rackets I wanted from the Wilson Tour Players. The idea was to use them for special customers and/or promotional opportunities. The list of athletes was quite long however when it came to Roger we were told we could only get six. Over his career Roger played with a lot of different versions of the same racket - he was notorious for not wanting to change to a larger head size. I would always try to get one of the new ones if I could.

Wilson Pro Staff’s

I know I had a few from Serena but I can’t locate them anymore. I think these from RF are special and will be worth a lot of money if I was willing to sell them. Below is another special item. The French Open was always the most difficult tournament to win. Unfortunately for him he played in the same era as Rafa Nadal, who is the best clay court player ever. One year, and only one year an opportunity presented itself when Robin Sonderling beat Rafa. This opened up the draw for Roger and he managed to make the final that year. At the French Open there is a daily magazine that is published and this is the cover of the match being played that day. It took a few years but I managed to get it signed by RF. He would never ever win another French Open.

French Open Final

One of my last interactions with RF was at the Laver Cup in Chicago in 2018. This is one of the most exciting tennis events I have been able to view. Yes, it’s only an exhibition but over a few days, you get to see some incredible players all in one place. More often than not it’s very one sided - Europe vs the World - the score is typically Europe winning quite easily. Wilson was a sponsor and with the home city of Wilson being Chicago Wilson used it as an opportunity to bring customers and I was allowed to bring one customer. We had tickets for Friday night and for Sunday and we had a great time.

Roger and Novak

Roger at Laver Cup

We were given an autographed RF racket that was manufactured for the event - a great collectors item. In 2019, I went to the US Open and was given a pair of very good Wilson tickets. I don’t usually sit in the main stadium but this was a person worth seeing - Roger vs Dan Evans. Our seats were probably no more than 10 rows from the court.

2019 US Open

The King

So there you have it. We have been very privileged to witness tennis history and the big 3 of Novak, Rafa and Roger have dominated the sport like no others. There will always be great players who dominate and to say we will never see anything like this again may be premature. From the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and now there always are a few players who rise above and we will see it once again. It was a great ride and I know I relished every victory and suffered every defeat. Till the next time….