This is Not the End

Does tweeting out a link to The Doors' opus of ominousness, "The End," seem just the slightest bit extreme, as far as reactions go, to the news that Roger Federer won’t be playing this year’s French Open due to a back injury?

You could say that. Federer is only missing one event, after all. His career—not to mention his life—will go on, and his fans will indeed be able to look into his eyes again. In his announcement, Federer said he plans to be at Roland Garros in 2017, and even as he nears his 35th birthday this summer, he “remains as motivated and excited as ever.” From the start of this season, he has made it clear that Wimbledon, the Olympics and the U.S. Open are the big fish he wants to fry. Skipping Paris gives him a better chance of doing that.

Still, the above tweet wasn’t the only one that detected something ominous in Federer’s withdrawal. For a few hours, Twitter turned into one big, frowny-face emoticon. But if the reaction was overwrought, it was also understandable. While Federer is no longer dominant, he has always been present. This will be the first Grand Slam he’ll miss since 1999; his 65 consecutive appearances is a record for both tours.

For years, the sport’s fans have asked, or studiously avoided asking, “What will tennis do when Roger is gone?” It’s a question that’s especially relevant at Roland Garros. In the nearly two decades that I’ve been writing about tennis, no player, even in his or her home country, has been as intensely adored as Federer is by the French. Devotees of artistic play, he’s their sporting ideal, their tennis truth. Parisians aren’t the only ones who feel that way about him. Federer’s appeal is elastic enough that he has come to embody what each Slam loves about the game most.

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Wimbledon sees itself as the gold standard of tennis events; Federer, in his white jacket with a gold No. 15 dangling from the back, has fit that description to a T. Australia sees itself as the guardian of a grand national tennis tradition; who better than Federer, the man who sobbed at the sight of Rod Laver handing him a trophy, to continue it? At the U.S. Open, fans in New York love to see the stars come out at night; nobody has shined as brightly in Arthur Ashe Stadium as Darth Federer did in all black.

In terms of revenue and media attention, tennis will take a hit when Federer retires. At this point, few athletes in any sport have name recognition as high, or a reputation as immaculate. But the game will go on, and this year’s French Open is proof of that.

The top three contenders in the men’s draw—Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray—are established stars with their own fan bases (Djokovic’s and Nadal’s are nearly as obsessive as Federer's), and all three will be on tour for the foreseeable future. If Federer can be No. 2 in the world at 34, it’s hard to see why Djokovic, who turned 29 on Sunday, can’t be in a similar position five years from now. While Djokovic may never match Federer as far as style goes, he may match him in the all-time excellence department. That, more than anything else, is what turns a player into a superstar that fans pay to see.

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Yet it’s also safe to say that there will never be another Federer, and his run of 65 Grand Slams is an underrated part of what makes him unique. Coaches in team sports like to say that the ideal situation is to have “your best player also be your hardest worker.” Federer has been both for tennis. As his career has progressed and he’s had his inevitable ups and downs, the thing that I’ve enjoyed most about watching him isn’t how easy he has made playing tennis look; it’s how straightforward he has made competing look.

Even the world’s best players are driven a little crazy by the stresses of one-on-one competition and the grind of the tour; and even they, at times, can look like they’d rather be anywhere else than on a tennis court. Not Federer. While he gets angry and anxious—he’s not always the king of cool or the maestro of moderation—during matches, he always meets the challenge head on. He never throws away games or sets, never goes into prolonged funks, never acts as if the world is against him. He never gives off the impression that he can’t deal with tennis that day or has a plane to catch; even when he's down 40-0 in a game, he runs after every ball. Federer gives his best for the crowds that cheer him around the world.

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Federer will be remembered for his grace as a player, but he should also be remembered for his grace as a competitor. It’s his acceptance of everything that competition entails, from match to match, week to week, year to year, that may be the most impressive thing about his career. That’s why his 65 straight majors matters, and it may be why ending it was such a big deal to his fans. Even when they couldn’t count on him to win everything, they’ve never had to worry about him not showing up to try.

And they shouldn’t worry now. If Federer’s enduring love for competition has taught us anything, it’s that, even at 34, this isn't the end.