On Thursday, two of the finest tennis players in history faced off in separate U.S. Open quarterfinal matches.
One, Rafael “Rafa” Nadal made it through to the semi finals. The other, Roger Federer, was narrowly beaten.
While most of the media is understandably focusing on the relative skills of these players, I want to offer some thoughts on their characters.
After all, I have a personal insight here. I was a player security officer at Wimbledon Championships for 7 years between 2005-2012 and interacted frequently with both players and their respective support teams. And from those experiences I can attest that both men are true gentlemen.
First off, Federer. With 19 grand slam titles, Federer is widely regarded to be the best tennis player in history. His fan base represents that: at Wimbledon, he was perpetually swamped by fans. This was true even in the secure players area, where family members of less-well-known players would seek out Federer for photographs.
Yet where some top players reacted angrily to these requests, Federer was always a gentleman. He made a special effort with young children, taking photos and asking for their thoughts on tennis. And as time went on, Federer and his agent, Tony Godsick, came to trust myself and my boss, Kash Mahmood, and would speak openly in our company. They trusted us and we took — and always will take — that trust seriously.
While Nadal was slightly more reserved, he was also a gentlemen. I remember one occasion where our security team escorted Nadal from a just finished match back to the changing rooms. There were a lot of fans blocking the way on the route back to the changing rooms, and it took some loud shouting to clear the way. But as soon as we entered the players area Nadal gave me a smile, punched my arm and said “thanks.” It was a quick gesture of politeness but typical of Nadal’s understated but kind personality.
Still, what’s most remarkable about these two players is their blend of high rank and politeness. After all, aside from Novak Djokovic and Elena Vesnina, most top tennis players pretend their security officers or other tournament staff officials do not exist. That’s fine, of course, it’s just a little disappointing.
Regardless, whenever you next watch either of these two players, know that they are good men worthy of your support.
Anyway, here’s a photo of Nadal and myself!
And one with Federer.
