Roger Federer recently won the Australian Open, his 20th major victory. Arguably the greatest tennis player of all time, his prime reaches back all the way into my childhood when he won his first major in 2003. Life with Roger has been sweet.
I started getting into tennis seriously at the age of 12, when the Age of Fed was in full swing. I was a tennis fanatic. I pestered my parents for years to get the Tennis Channel, and had to make due with the occasional viewing on ESPN until we eventually did. I was an avid consumer of all things tennis, but it was always a special treat when it was Roger.
Watching Federer was and still is like watching art in motion, art that I always wanted to try and emulate. His matches made me itch for the practice courts, daydreaming about hitting forehand winners like him, or dropping aces left and right with pinpoint accuracy.
The grace and ease with which he plays belies the level of effort that it takes to reach the pinnacles he has reached. That marvelous grace and ease seemed irreplicable, as my version typically translated into sloppy footwork and nonchalance.
Federer gave my tennis friends and I something to relate over growing up. If you have ever been around tennis players in the midst of a major tournament then you will know that talking tennis is a "major" pastime. Federer has been a common refrain in the midst of those conversations for the past 15 years, whether it is chatter about his thrilling come from behind win or his latest unbelievable mind blowing highlight shot.
Watching Federer inspired me to dream big, to dream of being on the same stage as him, whether that was under the big lights of the US Open or in all white at Wimbledon. In a sport that promotes rooting for your nation's guy, Federer transcended all borders, a favorite no matter what country he was in.
Eventually my end with tennis came last year, and, it appears that, while good old Roger shows no signs of slowing down, his end is on the horizon. At 36 years of age he is the 3rd oldest in the ATP Top 100. His time remaining at the top is nearing a close.
Envisioning the world of tennis without Roger at the helm is hard. It has been said that we live in the golden age of tennis, but, for people my age and younger, the golden age is all we have ever known.
We have grown up not just in the Age of Fed, but amidst the Reign of Rafa, the Ballad of Djokovic, the Muse of Murray. Tennis has been on the lookout for the next big star for years, but the unprecedented dominance of the big four have put a stranglehold on the top.
Throughout my whole life the next big stars have been swallowed up and spit out to join the rank and file well below the status of the legends. My generation likely doesn't remember a time in their life pre-Roger. Will the sport we love be the same the without him? Will it still hold the same draw when the draw has frequently been Roger himself? What comes next?
I am reaching the point in my life where it is time for the next step. My time as a tennis player has ended and my college career is almost over. Tennis has been a driving force in my life up to this point, but, as I and tennis players my age move into our next phases, it will no longer be that.
Tennis will soon find itself without that driving force too. Federer has been a safety blanket for the sport of tennis. Modern sports thrive on star power, and he has delivered like no star in this sport ever has. There was comfort for both me and the sport itself in expecting to see the same familiar face of Federer holding up trophies throughout the year.
It is nearing time for tennis, like me, to move into it's next phase, time to step into the unknown. We are presented with a similar challenge, the challenge of filling the hole where there was once something that drove us to new heights.
Life with Roger has been sweet, but life without Roger is decidedly unknown. Federer has been a steady presence for me and the sport I love to grow with, but, as he steps down, it is time for both of us to step into something new. A new age awaits.
