Roger Federer : No superlatives needed

    Just after Virat Kohli has lifted the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the first time on australian soil, a different set of emotions is about take over a few kilometers away from Sydney when the Australian open kicks off in a couple of day's time in Melbourne. And one name that's on everyone's lips is unsurprisingly Roger Federer. Sometimes we follow someone's career from start to the end and we don't quite realise the magnitude of it. Has that happened with Roger? May be yes, may be not but Roger Federer has always been the favourite everywhere he has went for the past 16 years. From his first Wimbledon title in 2003, who would have thought that he would go on to play till 2019 but he has and he is going well. There is no doubt that he is the best player of his generation and arguably the greatest of all time. But let's put this debate aside because we have had enough of it, haven't we? From a brash talented youngster who used to through his emotions around to a cool, calm and composed gentleman, it's been an amazing journey he has experienced. Though the 'Greatest of all time' debate is not everyone's favourite, not many can argue that Roger Federer is one of the most natural tennis players the game has ever seen. Right from his walk to the court to the ever so easy looking big serves to his scintilatingly dominant forehands to the acute drops and to those tantalizing passing shots, all of it is very rhythmical, isn' it? And that is the only reason why we want to bang our heads on the wall when Federer is not having his day. He has had some great rivals in Nadal, Djokovic, Wawrinka, Del Potro, Andy Roddick and many more but two of them who have made Roger better are without a doubt Novak and Rafa. Rafa has given Federer a hard time everytime they have come face to face and the rivalry with Novak, what can we say about it! Federer and Novak share one of the most exciting rivalries in tennis. It was fierce in early part of Novak's career but it's great to see the mutual respect between all three of them.
    This will be Federer's 17th appearance at the Australian Open. Novak is back to his near best and Rafa being Rafa, it will surely not be a cakewalk for Federer. Even the likes of Alexander Zverev and Milos Raonic have started to appear on the scene. So it will be interesting to see Federer's performance this year. He is not as athletic as he was but he is fit and he can still play those 5 set epics as we found out last year. He is not the overwhelming favourite by any stretch of imagination but he will be the one the opponents would want to avoid. He himself said last year that a 36 year old can not start a tournament as favourite and there is an indication in itself of how successful Federer has been in keeping up with the younger generation.