Read the arguments from Bleacher Fan and Babe Ruthless about which athlete they believe was the best in 2009.
Arguably, maybe since the four writers at The Sports Debates were children, (well, at least Sports Geek was acting like a child then), one “Eldrick Woods” has been an annual contender for this award. Not this year, though, even before the “transgressions” became public in the past month (which I will write more about tomorrow). He did not win a major in 2009, so that eliminates him. Therefore, this ended up being a little tough for me. But, in the end I realized I was going to have to write two consecutive tennis focused arguments! Ha! That is a first in the still brief history of this website. If you have not guessed already, my selection as the athlete of the year is Roger Federer.
I know tennis is not the sexy pick as a popular sport, and it can be argued that tennis is not what it was during its prime when American stars like John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors were in action, and then later when Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi (pre-meth and post-meth) were duking it out. But, it is irresponsible as sports fans to ignore greatness, and Roger Federer is, simply, “greatness.”
Tennis stars, much like golf stars, are measured by what they do in the grand slam tournaments, or in golf’s case, the major tournaments. As I wrote earlier, Tiger Woods gets no consideration from me because he took a goose egg at the major tournaments, and he actually choked at the PGA Championship. Yet, he still won the PGA Tour Player of the Year award for the tenth time due to the fact that he won six times in 2009 and has the led the tour in earnings (good thing, huh?). Federer, on the other hand, won Wimbledon (as highlighted on The Sports Debates yesterday) and that elusive French Open title, giving him 15 grand slams titles for his career.
Now, admittedly, he lost in the finals at the two other grand slams (the Australian Open and the U.S Open.) But it’s not like he was knocked out early in those tournaments. He lost in the finals, both times to a player who was just a better player that day. Also, it’s not like the rest of his year was terrible. He actually had a great year. He won two other tournaments, won almost $9M in prize earnings, and had an overall record of 61-12. Not too bad huh?
He also continues to have a thriving and lucrative relationship with Nike, though you might not have known that due to Nike’s relationship with other athletes. He even has his own product line with Nike.
You can make a solid argument for other athletes like Usain Bolt and Jimmie Johnson, but Roger Federer stands out in 2009. He dominated the sport of tennis, and perhaps he will begin to get the recognition and respect he deserves from casual fans. Respect that I still do not think he is getting. He has my respect, though. For today, and 2009, that’s all that counts!
