HALL OF FAME... No 1 Roger Federer: Sportsmail launches our new home for the legends of sport and first in is the 17-time Grand Slam tennis champion
Sportsmail today launches our brilliant new Hall of Fame - celebrating the greatest sporting champions in history.
Each week, one of our team of writers will nominate their latest pick and write why they are being included.
Our inaugural inductee is the best tennis player in the history of the game, 17-time champion Roger Federer. Here, tennis correspondent Mike Dickson explains why he has to be first in...
Record-breaking champion, ballstriker of balletic beauty, citizen of the world. That might just be a fair approximation if you try to summarise the life and career of Roger Federer to date.
Arguably more than any other active athlete, he can boast a unique combination encompassing sheer weight of achievement, carried off in a style that is hugely pleasing to the eye, while generally conducting himself in an exemplary way inside and out of his chosen sporting arena.
Since the days when he displayed, by his own admission, somewhat brattish tendencies as a junior, the 32-year-old Swiss has done it all and in a brutally competitive environment. Singles tennis is a worldwide individual sport which draws talent from most corners of the earth, with no different classes, weights or sub-divisions, involving a relentless schedule of play and travel.
DO YOU AGREE? Leave a comment on whether Mike Dickson is right to nominate Roger Federer... and who you would like us to include next week
Sign of things to come: A 16-year-old Roger Federer holds aloft the Boys Singles trophy at Wimbledon in 1998 (left), and with bleached hair winning a tournament in America later that year (right)
Blond ambition: Federer returns a ball to Carlos Moya on his way to qualifying for the second round of the Open 13 Tennis tournament in Marseille in 1999
Model professional: Federer relaxing on the beach during a photo shoot
Future hairo: Federer and his flowing locks on the Wimbledon practice courts in 2001
Focused: Federer has never taken his eye off the ball
2001, A Swiss Odyssey: Federer celebrates beating champion Pete Sampras in five sets at Wimbledon but (below) is distraught after being beaten by Tim Henman
Dress to impress: Players participating in the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup don traditional Chinese jackets in Shanghai in 2002 - Federer is third left
FEDERER FACTFILE
Born: August 8, 1981, Basle, Switzerland
Grand Slams - 17
Australian Open (2004, 2006, 2007, 2010)
French Open (2009)
Wimbledon (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012)
US Open (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)
Olympic silver medallist in 2012
He has become one of a select few athletes who transcend sport, as illustrated by a poll of 50,000 people across 25 countries two years ago. When presented with a list of 54 global figures it found that he was ranked, in terms of trust and respect, second only to Nelson Mandela.
Of course, like all men, Federer is not perfect and it would be impossible to achieve all he has done in a gladiatorial pursuit such as tennis without having a tough inner core and something of an edge, however well he manages to conceal it.
He is entering that period of his career when, inevitably, the losses are starting to come more freely, but if there is a decline it is coming from an astonishingly high starting point. Listing everything he has won is too arduous, but perhaps the simplest illustrations are 17 Grand Slam titles across all surfaces and 302 weeks ranked as the world No 1.
Delve deeper and
there are other statistics which are, possibly, even more jawdropping.
From Wimbledon 2004 to the 2010 Australian Open he went 23 Grand Slams
in making the semi-finals or better, a run which is 13 more than
any other man in history.
His staggering consistency is further shown in the streak of 36 quarter-finals or better that stretched up to this summer’s Wimbledon.
Backhanded compliment: Federer in action against Ivo Karlovic at Wimbledon in 2004
No 1: The Swiss master's first Grand Slam trophy, the Wimbledon one he won in 2003
Milking it: Federer (right) takes a close look at his cow Juliette, which he was given by the organisers of the Gstaad tennis tournament to commemorate his Grand Slam success
He's got all the moo-ves: Federer
Making a racket: Federer plays the alphorn during an official welcome at the Swiss Open in 2004 and on court during that year's Wimbledon (right)
Super hero: Greeting fans in Melbourne and holding up the 2004 Australian Open trophy
Wimbledon winner again: Holding the trophy after defeating second seed Andy Roddick in 2004
American Dream: Winning was becoming a theme and here Federer poses with the 2004 US Open trophy
Slicing his way through opponents: Federer was imperious on grass
Great Sheiks: Federer and Argentinian French Open winner Gaston Gaudio pose while wearing Qatari traditional dress in January 2005
Cutting edge: Federer receives a sword from Sheik Mohammad bin Faleh al-Thani after winning the Qatar Open in January 2005
Hitting new heights: Federer played Andre Agassi on a helipad in Dubai in 2005
Although his has been a game for all terrains, it is perhaps in the understated environs of the SW19 and its lawns that his flowing style and wonderful economy of effort has been best appreciated.
Scores of players have watched from the other end of the court in despair as their opponent, despite being under immense physical and mental stress, has resolutely refused to break a sweat in the process of beating them, the only concession being the odd flick of his brow.
It has moved many to raptures, among them the late American novelist David Foster Wallace, who wrote in his famous essay ‘Federer As A Religious Experience’: ‘The human beauty we are talking about here is beauty of a particular type, it might be called kinetic beauty. Its power and appeal are universal. It has nothing to do with sex or cultural norms. What it seems to have to do with, really, is human beings’ reconciliation with the fact of having a body’.
Open and shut case: Kissing the trophy after defeating Andre Agassi in the men's final of the US Open in 2005
Power play: The Swiss master hits a forehand against Florian Mayer at the Australian Open in 2006, which Federer won again
More SW19 success: Federer holds the trophy after beating Rafael Nadal in 2006
Windswept: With the US Open trophy in New York once again in 2006
Giants: Pete Sampras (left) and Federer in traditional Korean dress in 2007
Razor sharp: Tiger Woods (right), Thierry Henry (centre) and Federer as the faces of Gillette in 2007
Sliding scale: The Australian Open champion keeps his feet on his way to another success Down Under in 2007
Making the leap: Federer returns the ball to Rafa Nadal in the Wimbledon final of 2007 and (below) stands next to his vanquished opponent after winning at SW19 again
All over the world Federer has played incredible matches although, again, never more so than at Wimbledon. He found the perfect foil in Rafael Nadal to set up a rivalry for the ages and their 2008 final at the All England Club, which dramatically ended in the gloaming, is held by some as the finest sustained display of tennis ever witnessed.
Not everyone unreservedly loves Roger Federer. There are instances of him being a sore loser, flashes of unselfconscious arrogance and times when the odd fashion faux pas has betrayed an inner vanity.
But he has given infinitely more than he has taken and been a far more generous, polite and unselfish spirit than the man to which he has often drawn comparison, golfer Tiger Woods. His giving has extended to looking after the interests of fellow pros, the rank-and-file, who partly owe their recent huge pay rises at Grand Slams to his diplomacy and influence with the sport’s powerbrokers.
Drive to succeed: Federer with the Shanghai Masters trophy posing by his other prize, a Mercedes CLS 500
Dark days: An unfamiliar feeling for Federer as he loses a Wimbledon final but still has enough class to congratulate his conqueror Nadal (below)
Roger Federer congratulates Rafael Nadal
Feat of clay: An historic moment as Federer finally gets his hands on the French Open trophy in 2009
Back in his possession: The Wimbledon trophy returned to Federer in 2009 after he beat Andy Roddick
A busload of players: Federer (fourth left) and the seven other best players in the world in London in 2009
Stretching a point: Federer giving it everything during the 2009 Wimbledon final
Sweet 16: The Swiss with his 16th Grand Slam trophy after winning the 2010 Australian Open
It is hard to imagine, say, Jimmy Connors or Pete Sampras being prepared to sit through the hours of meetings that he has been willing to do, as President of the ATP Player Council, to achieve such gains.
When it comes to charitable efforts few have done more including, without great fanfare, running a huge personal foundation dedicated to improving the lives of children in Africa. He has been more responsible than anyone for the current era of tennis player-as-good-guy.
Taken in the round, it has been an astonishing career in an unforgiving sport, that is to be enjoyed while it lasts. Time to salute Roger Federer, the worthy initial selection for our Hall of Fame.
Honoured: Federer's 17th and final big one (to date) at Wimbledon after a victory over Andy Murray in 2012
Serving up a treat: Federer is a worthy first entrant in Sportsmail's Hall of Fame
Basle boy: Federer shows his support for his hometown football club and (right) watching them against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge earlier this year
Another string to his bow: Federer attempts to play the violin in an ad for the Lucerne Festival of classical music
Out of this world: Fed fans show their support after his victory over Richard Gasquet at the O2 Arena this year
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tennislover, tiba, Jersey, 4 months ago
Roger passed the very bad season this year. He still wins many prizes. The 1st place of a fan's favorite 11-year continuation. The sportsmanship prize which players choose, The 9th time. etc. Roger is only one. a true king and a true champion. such a great human being. I love you Roger..