Sports biographies and autobiographies are always a fun read, and as a tennis fan, I have enjoyed reading tennis biographies in the past, most notably Andre Agassi’s and Rafael Nadal’s. But the story that every tennis fan and casual observer of the sport this millennium has been waiting for is that of the tennis legend Roger Federer. The Master, by Christopher Clarey, a noted sports journalist, is one of the most well-written biographies of its time and was a joy to read.

The Master chronicles the life of Roger Federer comprehensively. Covering all aspects of his storied life from his childhood, his immigrant parents, his training in Switzerland, his struggles with controlling his emotions, his girlfriend and future wife Mirka and their sets of twins, his rise to fame as a global phenomenon, his key rivals Nadal and Djokovic and milestone matches in his career and their aftermath and even his business interests.

While most of his professional achievements are well chronicled in public life, it was still interesting to get a first-person view of what goes into the mind of a champion of Federer’s caliber. His vision for the game, not just for his own career but for tennis as a whole, was fascinating to read. The author also gives us a keen sense of how important luck is in shaping the careers of such people and how things could have been so different if they weren’t at the right place at the right time.

The kind of awe Federer instilled in both his admirers and his peers and competitors tells a lot about the type of tennis genius he is. The interviews with different players provided fantastic insight and were the most enjoyable part of the book.

The author does due diligence to not just paint Federer as a saint and brings out different moments in his career where he wasn’t at his exemplar best, and re-affirming to the rest of us that he was still human. Most notable among these were Federer’s outbursts against Djokovic after he won after facing matching points and against his compatriot Stan Wawrinka during the Davis Cup.

Overall, The Master is the closest we’ve gotten yet to understanding the phenomenon that is Roger Federer. I can’t wait to read an autobiography someday.

Originally published here.