His achievements made him well-known, however his actions made him timeless. Positive, Roger Federer had the energy, stamina and guile to win 20 Grand Slam singles titles.
However like an athlete from one other age, it was his grace that stood out. His lithe kind, his dancer’s lightness, his calm fluidity. Did he sweat? Did he panic? There was an effortlessness to his recreation, a tranquillity to his method. He performed melody when most of his rivals performed percussion.
He made it look simple. We knew it wasn’t. However for greater than twenty years, we have been transfixed by the present of the phantasm.
Now, at 41, Federer has introduced his retirement from tennis. What he leaves behind could also be much less the moments than the way in which he moved between them.