Roger Alton Roger Alton

Rog apart, Wimbledon 2017 was a disgrace

Also in Sport: England’s woeful cricket collapse and the courage of Chris Froome

issue 22 July 2017

For obvious reasons this column always welcomes ‘King Roger Rules The World’ headlines on the back pages. And the front too. So warm congrats from one Rog to the greatest Rog of all. Is Federer the best sportsman ever? Pelé? Ali? Bradman? Maybe, but it’s hard to challenge Rog. Look at this year: two grand slams at 35 and four children under seven to tire him out, too. What odds on the two sets of Federer twins for the mixed doubles in 2040? Their dad will probably still be reaching the quarter-finals. Though just a word Rog: maybe you were slightly overdoing the whole Von Trapp shtick with the younger twins in their little suits and you in floods of tears. I mean I know you’re Swiss, but baby blue?

The Fed is now so far ahead that he felt compelled to give the next bunch of tennis players a sharp bollocking for being tactically naive and not competitive enough.

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