Fortiter in re, suaviter in modo

This morning, GMT time about 12.00 hrs, Roger Federer won his 10th tennis Grand Slam. Neatly wrapping up the last game to love, King Rog had just swatted away his challenger in 3 sets and become the first person since Borg in 1980 to go through a slam tourny without dropping a set. And that challenger was no mean player, being Chilenean Fernando Gonzalez (or 'Super Gonzo' as the Aussies had labelled him) who had himself been playing the best tennis of his life - previously dismantling Nadal (the No.2 seed here), Blake (5th seed) and storming into the final after blitzing Tommy Haas (12th seed) in straight sets in under 1 and half hours when hitting 42 winners and making only three unforced errors. Yet Roger simply took him apart.

Ladies and gentleman, all I wish to point out in this post is that we are witnessing the greatest player to ever hold a tennis racquet. The man is sublime. He is dominating a sport that has literally millions of players and he's doing so with grace and beauty. Not even Schumacher or Tiger or Valentino Rossi, all kings of their chosen sport, come close to what this man is achieving. And many many people agree with me. Here are a few quotes from blogs and websites culled from this afternoon's reactions to Roger's latest triumph:

"Congratulations to the most wonderful athlete I have ever had the privilege of seeing." - Emmy Hughes

"He is the best tennis player on the planet and nobody has the ability to out class him..." - Chelseakyle

"Could never tire of watching this man. Has every shot in the book." - 1FDERER

"...simply the greatest tennis player the game has ever seen." - wastastic

"Roger Federer...best in history no questions asked." - mattgor123

"The guy is pure class. The 'Best Ever'." - marisask69

"I could watch slo-mo of federer for hours... and hours." - makahuhu

"He is like one of the characters in 'Heroes'. His genes have mutated to where he has special powers and he is just keeping it a secret. He can probably fly too but doesn't want anyone to know. " - golddigger90210

"Federer. melhor tenista de todos os tempos, backhand monstro!" - pajeuhp

"Tennis genius of a kind that we're lucky it's in our lifetime." - NewMinkey

"... perhaps there should be a new ranking for him - No.1 Plus." - Bud Collins

As it stands now, the Fed Express is now equal fifth in the all time slam list, which goes: Pete Sampras (14) Roy Emerson (12) Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg (11) Bill Tilden and Federer (10). He is the first man to win three of the Grand Slam events on at least three occasions each and surely the only target left for him now to cement his place in the sporting pantheon is the Grand Slam which means he has to win Roland Garros. This makes Paris spring 2007 surely the hottest sporting ticket on the planet. So I urge all of you to urge Roger on in an urgent manner and cross your fingers that he remains injury free for this tourny.