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The security guard at the French Open who finally tackled the pesky Jimmy Jump, as he is known, was only the opening act. After the tackle, two other members of the security force joined the fray and they each grabbed one of the jerk's limbs as they carried him off the court.
It hasn't made the mainstream television sports news shows as is generally the case but on You Tube you can find an English language version as well as one in German and French. Check out the video posted below.
If you watch you can see that the guards didn't prevent the attention seeker from actually putting his hands on Roger. But Federer was so dialed in he just shrugged it off and went on to win.
This French Open win (6- 1, 7-6, (1), 6-4 over Robin Soderling of Sweden) takes Federer to the pinnacle of his career with 14 Grand Slam titles to tie him with Pete Sampras. He has now won at each of the four venues which only five others in his profession have accomplished. Sampras isn't one of them.
Some will say that Rod Laver still trumps Federer because the Aussie won the Grand Slam in one calendar year. Federer didn't even get a Tiger Slam which would have required him to win all four events in order but not necessarily in the same year.
Ok, that might be quibbling and I don't mean to. But this French Open was his to lose after Rafael Nadal bowed out a week prior. He struggled, for him, when mere mortal tennis players took him to four and five sets in matches leading up to the blow out final.
We've become used to the emotional side of Federer that emerged after he stopped cruising to wins and lost his #1 world ranking to the flashy and talented Nadal. But he hasn't lost that surprising way he has of congratulating himself at the expense of his opponents.
I wonder how his colleagues feel when he says things like:
Now the question is: Am I the greatest of all time? We don't know, but I definitely have many things going for me because I've finally won all four Grand Slams, and I'm particularly happy reaching Pete's 14."
Or this, about the upcoming Wimbledon tournament:
"I do think I'm the favorite, actually, with all the success I've had," Federer said Monday.
Since Sampras has jumped on Roger's bandwagon I guess it's all good. And the guy is an on-court god so I will just congratulate him, although he's done a good job of that himself.
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