Roger Federer is 35 years old today. This becomes more mind-blowing when I think that at around the time he was being born in 1981, I was ditching afternoon classes (at Rhodes Junior High) to watch the women's U.S. Open semifinals on TV. (Tracy Austin was just finishing off Barbara Potter when I slipped in the front door, then Martina Navratilova, looking to finally win her first title in New York, took out defending champion Chris Evert Lloyd in an anguishing nail-biter, 7–5, 4–6, 6–4.) Equally mind-blowing is that Pete Sampras saw what seemed like an unbreakable record of major titles get broken by Roger in no time, and that Roger is already in danger of seeing his record overtaken. Whether you love him or not, the Federer era definitely reinvigorated my interest in men's tennis.
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