LONDON, Jan 30: Every Roger Federer grand slam success is accompanied by a fresh deluge of eye-watering statistics, but the tears of the great Swiss were the most telling part of his Australian Open triumph.

Federer’s four-set victory over Marcos Baghdatis on Sunday will not be remembered for the tennis itself, intriguing as it was to see the precocious Cypriot dominate the first set before eventually ceding to the world number one’s superiority.

The final was special above all for the remarkable sight of a player long recognised as the best in the world clutching the winner’s trophy like a comfort rag and weeping uncontrollably as if it was the last thing he had been expecting.

Someone watching Federer for the first time could have been forgiven for thinking this was his maiden grand slam victory, not his seventh in seven finals and his third in succession after Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year.

It was not the behaviour of a player whose dominance of the men’s game is almost absolute and whose place alongside the greatest players the sport has ever seen is already assured.

“I don’t forget that it’s been a tough road for me. I amaze myself every time I do well,” Federer said.

Those words and his tears reveal the extraordinary humility that underpins his greatness as a tennis player.

Such modesty insulates the Swiss from the dangers of complacency. The rest of the world may think he is virtually unbeatable but Federer genuinely believes he is vulnerable, despite statistics which include winning his last 52 matches on a hard court.

As a result the 24-year-old’s quest for improvement never falters and his concentration never wavers on court, his face a mask of serene intensity whether he has just lost a set or, as in Sunday’s third set, won it 6-0.

There is not a player among the top 10 who can match such mental strength.

At a telling point in the final, when a correct umpire over-rule allowed Federer to level the match at one-set all, Baghdatis approached the chair official and suggested the point in question had been effectively match point.

It was a fatal sign of psychological weakness from the Cypriot and the exuberant spirit that had accompanied his startling progress suddenly drained away.

Baghdatis won only two more games and Federer wrapped up what in the end was a convincing 5-7 7-5 6-0 6-2 victory before emotion overwhelmed him so endearingly.

After a difficult start to 2006 for the sport following the doping cases of Mariano Puerta and Sesil Karatantcheva, it was a timely reminder of how lucky tennis is to have the exemplary Swiss at its pinnacle.—Reuters