Robin Soderling has been deep into the zone for a week now, overcoming the heretofore unbeatable on clay Rafael Nadal, and yesterday coming back from the near dead to beat Fernando Gonzalez.  The surly Swede next plays legend-bound Roger Federer, a player who has been in a zone all his own for five years, reaching 20 consecutive semifinals and in all but three instances reaching the final. 

It is highly possible that Soderling’s magic is over and he will get drilled on Sunday.  In the vernacular of junior tennis in Georgia in the seventies and eighties, we often described the act of playing over your head as being in “the tree,” and we often turned into into a verb when someone hit an unbelieaveable, perhaps lucky shot in this way, ”He treed it.”   My bet is that Soderling falls out of his tree tomorrow and hits every branch, looking up from the ground at the stately oak that is Roger Federer.  Of course, Justin Gimelstob wrote Soderling off in the fourth set against David Ferrer early in the tournament, so I could be wrong. 

At stake is Federer’s confirmation of greatness in the way of two records: the career Grand Slam, and a tie of Pete Sampras record of 14 Grand Slams, both weighty and exlusive accomplishments.  The career slam is the more impressive, showing that you can win the four majors on all surfaces, something done by only five players in tennis history.  As Andre Agassi, the only player to achieve the career slam it in the modern game, said yesterday: “To win on all four surfaces, especially in one year, which Roger had an opportunity to do a few times, is probably one of the greatest achievements in sports. To do it in your career is an achievement I’m so proud of – every surface, every condition, demands something different, and also rewards you differently, from the physical challenges to the mental challenges.”

While winning as many Grand Slam events as Sampras and more than anyone else is nothing to sneeze at, it’s a record that is greatly skewed by the fact that so many greats before 1968 were ineligible to play unlimited majors.  Laver missed five years of majors in his prime, and Gonzalez, Kramer, Rosewall, and others were limited in their chances. Of course, you could argue that there would be more career Grand Slams as well, and you would be right.  And that’s why these records to which players cling are flimsy in their foundations. 

And with this discussion it again comes around to the Greatest of All Time argument. Who is the GOAT?  Regardless of what Federer does on Sunday, can you really lay claim to the title of greatest of all time if you are not clearly the greatest of your own time?  He has records of 7-13 against Nadal and 2-6 against Andy Murray.  I’m pulling for Federer to make history Sunday, but he still will not be the GOAT.  Maybe if he beats Nadal in Paris next year.  Until then, Rod Laver still reigns.

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