“But he didn’t do anything wrong!… ”

“Because he is the hero that Gotham Deserves, but not the one it needs right now, so we will hunt him, because he can take it, because he is not our hero…

He is the silent guardian, a watchful protector, A DARK KNIGHT!”

Now replace Gotham with Tennis and Bruce Wayne with Federer. Both super rich, both brat turned gentlemen, both faithful to their parents, both one woman men, both compassionate towards charity, both fighting against ‘Time’ over and over again.

Consider the time when Federer was in exile from Mid 2012 to 2016. He had not won a single grand slam. The critics would chase him. Write down articles on why he should stop playing. Because he was not the hero that Tennis needed back then. Murray and Djokovic graduated to their prime form. They were taking the tennis legacy to newer heights with occasional help from Nadal. They even hunted Federer down whenever they would come face to face with him. He endured it.

However Federer will script his comeback because he is the hero that tennis deserves, for when the prime players in the Big 4 were bed ridden/ injury struck, he took it as his duty to bounce back in 2017 like the dark knight in his bat mobile after 7 years of exile when Bane’s men take over the stock exchange.

Because the current generation of tennis players could not match the level at which the Big 4 were playing, which would in turn put off the expectations of tennis fans world wide, the Dark Knight of Tennis rose to the occasion and took it upon himself to save it from losing popularity. He is still giving the likes of Dimitrov, Zverev, Thiem, Kyrgios  more ‘Time’ to catch up to the Big 4 league and carry forward the beautiful yet physically daunting legacy of Tennis. Because he is the guardian, watchful protector of  tennis legacy.

He can gift the next generation more ‘Time’ because he has conquered it by becoming the oldest #1 in ATP ranking history! He is no less than a superhero in flesh and blood.

–Varun Mannava