French Open

So I promised a friend I would do some more discussion on non-American sports, so since the French Open is most recent international happening, that seems too appropriate. First, I was happy to see Roger Federer finally win the French and capture his 14th Grand Slam event. He has officially put his name right near the top of tennis' all time greats. But let's stop all the talk of greatest ever. He lucked out in not having to play Rafael Nadal, who has shown the ability to dominate Roger on clay. Federer has played in an era in which he was the only great player until 2001 when Nadal appeared on the pro scene when he was 15. Had Federer played at the same time as Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, or any of the other greats, I don't think he gets more than 8 or 9. He is the best hard court player in the world, and has been for a long time, and he is still in the top 5 of clay court players, but we live in a world in which specialization has prevented some of the best athletes from experimenting with other sports. Guys don't play every sport under the sun and pick the one they're best at, they go for one sport and train vigirously for it year round in hopes of making it big. While this has created some advantages, it has left a void in the sports world that used to be filled with the Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders types of guys. Nowadays it's too much to ask for a pitcher to hit, or a RB to return a kick. But I digress, tennis seems to be one of the hardest hit sports due to this specialization because when football, baseball, basketball, track, and wrestling are finished plucking the high school talent pool, tennis is left to the fat kids and gays. Not saying there is anything wrong with that, but unfortunately its a trend, especially in smaller schools where there aren't enough male athletes to go around. And even though I love watching Roger Federer play tennis, and believe that he is the best player of his generation by more than most have been, he isn't the greatest of all time because his only test has come while he's on his way out the door, not when he was truly at his peak.