The main court at the Australian Open is named after him and he is the only player to have won two Grand Slams, yet even Rod Laver drools at the sight of Roger Federer.
"Roger's got too many shots, too much talent in one body," the Australian great said ahead of Thursday's semi-final between the Swiss world number one and American Andy Roddick.
"It's hardly fair that one person can do all this -- his backhands, his forehands, volleys, serving, his court position ... the way he moves around the court, you feel like he's barely touching the ground, and that's the sign of a great champion.
"And his anticipation, I guess, is the one thing that we all admire."
When the 68-year-old took his seat on a floodlit Rod Laver Arena, his own words must have been ringing in his ears as he watched the Swiss maestro put on a virtuoso 83-minute spectacle to blow away Roddick 6-4, 6-0, 6-2.
While a capacity crowd watched Roddick's disintegration with macabre fascination, the American could at least claim that he had the best seat in town when arguably the greatest ever player to have picked up a tennis racket produced one of his historic performances.
OUTRAGEOUS WINNERS
As Federer followed up one outrageous forehand winner with an even better backhand winner, gasp after gasp punctuated the otherwise hushed gathering.
When it was all over, Federer went back to the locker room to have a chat with Laver: "He said it was excellent, which is nice to hear," Federer, chasing a 10th Grand Slam trophy on Sunday, said with his usual undertone of modesty.
It is no wonder that the Roger Federer fan club boasts members who go by the name of Laver, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Bjorn Borg and just about every living player to have graced the sport.
It has been just over four years since Sampras won a record 14th Grand Slam title at the 2002 U.S. Open. At the rate Federer is scooping the top prizes, the chances are by 2008 Sampras's entry will be scratched from the record books.
"I really believe in my heart that he's going to win way more than 14," Sampras said last week.
"I think the way he's going and the fact that he doesn't really have players really pushing him, he can win close to 17, 18 majors.
"He's going to slide by me and hit (golfer Jack) Nicklaus soon. He's such a great player.
"The way he's dominating, it's unbelievable."
With Federer also being a class act off court, the Swiss holds the rare distinction of not attracting any negative press despite being a top sportsman.
HAIR FACTOR
"The only bad thing you could say about him was his hair but even that's no longer a factor," Roddick once said referring to old floppy mop hairstyle Federer favoured before he went for the sleeker look of 2007.
However, while the rest of his fan club are falling over themselves in a race to see who can come up with the best superlatives, the man himself is more circumspect.
"There is plenty I need to do before I'm the best of all time," said Federer, who picked Laver and 11-times Grand Slam champion Bjorn Borg as the two players he would liked to have faced in their prime.
As he has a penchant for setting records at the same pace Michael Schumacher loves driving his Ferrari, chances are there are not many records that will not have his name written next to them.
Next month he is already assured of breaking Jimmy Connors's record streak of 160 consecutive weeks as world number one.
At this year's Australian Open he has already achieved two benchmarks, becoming the first man in the professional era to reach 11 successive Grand Slam semi-finals. By marching into his seventh successive Grand Slam final, he equalled the record of Australian Jack Crawford set in 1934.
"I'm not so far away from beating the number of weeks at number one," said the Swiss, who will claim the record even if he decided to quit the sport immediately.
"Slams I'm still five away (from Sampras's record).
"Jimmy Connors has 108 titles. I have 45. How can you put me in front of him in terms of titles. It's still far fetched.
"If I go at the pace I'm going right now, Of course I'll break all records. Nobody's ever done that. That's why I say let's wait and see. I'm definitely on the right track. I'm not injured. I'm playing well, I'm in another final.
"Maybe people haven't seen a guy play like I have and that gives me a lot of compliments. That's beautiful.
"But I got to do it over and over again for another five years, that's the tough part."
As for his legacy, he grinned: "I hope I'm remembered as one of the good guys."
Federer will play either Fernando Gonzalez of Chile or Germany's Tommy Haas in Sunday's final.
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