WHO'S THE GREATEST?

The man's a chameleon. Roger Federer's the man for all surfaces. Be it serve and volley or slugging it out from the baseline, Fedex can change his colours at the drop of a hat. He's closing in with supreme ease on Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles. By now, he would have won everything in sight, if not for a Spaniard who's just too good on clay. But is he the greatest in the Open Era? (after the Grand Slams were thrown open to professionals in 1968)

For all his genius, Federer's had a free run for years without a worthy rival. Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt were humiliated time and time again, exposing them as one-dimensional, limited players. Marat Safin once showed he had it in him to oust Federer (2004 Australian Open semifinal) but then the temperamental Russian is his own biggest enemy. Age had caught up with Andre Agassi, by the time Federer displayed his wares on the big stage.

Only now has Federer found a rival who's here to stay. Rafael Nadal is the first Spaniard in the last three decades who's made the effort to prove he's not just a clay-court bully. Nadal this time proved he is serious competition to Federer even on grass. His sharp angles and net charges left one spellbound. The one drawback being the lack of a killer serve, with Nadal coming up with just one ace compared to Federer's 24.

Nadal's just 21 and a great rivalry is in the offing, with Federer yet to win the French Open and Nadal still awaiting his first Wimbledon title.

Cut back to 2001. Wimbledon 4th round. A talented Swiss youngster halts Pete Sampras in his tracks. At a time when Pistol Pete was unstoppable on grass, with seven Wimbledon crowns already. And he was poised to equal Bjorn Borg's feat of five successive Wimbledons.

The one and only time Roger Federer and Pete Sampras faced each other. The beginning of sunset for Sampras, who never won another Wimbledon. Fittingly enough, the man who scuttled Sampras' plans to emulate Borg's feat, has now achieved exactly that. Pity Sampras and Federer straddled different decades.

Coming to Sampras, did he have a worthy rival who pushed him all the time? Andre Agassi had an all-court game, but he discovered consistency only by the time he was pushing 30. And he couldn't hold a candle to Sampras on grass. Edberg and Becker were on the decline by the time Sampras won his first Wimbledon in 1993, Goran Ivanisevic was far too often consumed by his inner demons and Pat Rafter could have done much more though his serve-and-volley game was a treat to watch.

Federer scores over Sampras, thanks to Sampras' feet of clay when it came to Roland Garros. Only one semifinal appearance in so many attempts does take away some of the sheen from his legend status. For Federer too, the French Open remains a mystery, but that's not because he's failed to come to grips with clay. Just that he has to contend with a formidable rival, who's just too good.

So who's combined Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer year after year? Six titles on clay and five on grass, that too operating from the baseline. The answer is the Ice Cool Swede Bjorn Borg.

Borg consistently managed to be first among equals in a bad-tempered, colourful and competitive era. And it was quite a feat to remain ice cool pitted against the likes of John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Illie Nastase at their nasty worst.

Borg was supreme on clay, but when it came to Wimbledon he had to fight every inch of the way.

One side there was Jimmy Connors, who barked after losing to Borg in the 1978 Wimbledon final, "I'll chase that son of a bitch Borg to the ends of the earth." When it came to the US Open the same year, Connors thrashed Borg in straight sets.

At the other end, the sublime touch artist John McEnroe, who saved matchpoint after matchpoint to clinch a dramatic fourth set tiebreak in the 1980 final. Only for Borg to bounce back in the final set.

Five successive triumphs with Connors and McEnroe breathing down his neck is no mean feat. But then Borg too had one achilles heel, the US Open, where he reached the final four times, never to win.

The sheer versatility in his game enables Federer to score over Sampras and Borg. But when it comes to competition, Borg had a tougher time. It's thus stalemate between Federer and Borg.

So who's the greatest in the Open Era? It's still Rod Laver, who won the Grand Slam in 1969 at 30-plus.