Sweet Sixteen

There have been many, many dominant athletes in sports. Michael Jordan took over the basketball court when he played. Tiger Woods (before the November car crash) had been the face of the PGA ever since he entered the league. Peyton Manning, the only four-time NFL MVP, will try to win his second Super Bowl next Sunday. But Roger Federer's 16th major title and fourth Australian Open is just another big win for the tennis star who has dominated his sport for the last decade.

Federer defeated fifth-seeded Andy Murray in straight sets to add to his all-time record of major titles. Murray missed the opportunity to be the first British man to win a major since 1936 after losing to the Federer, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (13-11). The match ended after two hours and forty one minutes when Murray netted a forehand. Murray was beating defending champion Rafael Nadal 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), 3-0 when Nadal retired with a knee injury in this year's quarterfinals. Nadal defeated Federer in last year's finals in an epic five-set match. Murray is one of the great young players in tennis, but he unfortunately could not capture his first Grand Slam title against someone with sixteen more titles than himself. Federer said in the link above "I think I played some of my best tennis in my life these last two weeks."

Not only did he play well in the first major of the new decade, but Federer has made it to 18 of the last 19 Grand Slam finals. Who knows, maybe Federer will win a few more majors before he retires and finish with 20 Grand Slam titles. The point is that Federer has proved, to me at least, that he is the best player to ever pick up a tennis racket. Federer is the only man to ever be ranked #1 in the world for four consecutive years. Picture being the best player in a sport for four years in a row without falling down to number two once. Also, Federer won 65 consecutive matches on grass courts before his loss to Rafael Nadal in the 2008 Wimbledon final. Federer is the reigning and five-time winner of the ESPY for Best Male Tennis Player and was also named Athlete of the Decade by Sports Illustrated. Not bad for an athlete who is not even 29 yet.