Is it his success or his sportsmanship? His style or his smile? His greatness or his goofiness?
When Roger Federer plays tennis the world holds it breath.
And there was a collective sigh of rapturous relief Sunday when the Swiss superstar defeated rival Rafael Nadal to win the Australian Open — and an elusive 18th grand slam title.
Federer’s stunning victory, after a six-month absence from the sport because of injury, prompted an outpouring of love on social media.
His 6.6 million Twitter and 15 million Facebook followers were joined by sporting celebrities — Formula One world champion Nico Rosberg, PGA Championship winner Rory McIlroy, Olympic legend Usain Bolt and Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar — in congratulating the 18-time major winner.
Just like Bolt, Tendulkar and footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, Federer has transcended his sport.
To mark Federer’s remarkable Melbourne feat, CNN Sport has picked 18 reasons to fall in love with the 35-year-old — and all is revealed in the video at the top of this page.
