-30-

Today is my thirtieth birthday.

Roger Federer is generally considered to be on the downswing of his career. It seems like Novak Djokovic and (when healthy) Rafa Nadal have passed him by in the overall tennis world and if Federer is going to add to his record total of 16 major titles, it will be seen as something of a upset. But, regardless, he could retire tomorrow and still be Roger Freakin' Federer, probably the greatest tennis player ever and someone to be remembered as long as tennis will be played.

So, to recap, Federer has enjoyed a peerless career, worldwide fame, is the second-most respected man in the world and is now edging gracefully into the twilight of his tennis life. Federer turned 30 last August.

Now, since Federer has been on this planet longer than I have by two whole months, obviously that head start was all he needed to outpace my lifetime achievements. While I can't match him tennis majors, however, ol' Rog and I are tied in terms of doing something we love for a career, having scores of wonderful friends (I may have Roger beat in this category, since now he's down one Tiger Woods), more than one city we call home (I have London and Toronto, he has wherever he's from in Switzerland and presumably homes around the world), and, while I can't implicitly presume this about Federer, I can guess he's as satisfied with his life as I am with mine.*

* = You could argue that Federer has a wife and kids while I'm still single and childless, so he has one up on me. Not so! Has Roger Federer ever gone on a mission to find several free hamburgers in a single day? Doubtful. Surely that's as fulfilling as being a husband and father. *dusts off hands triumphantly*

It's been a fun 30 years. Let's hope my next 30 years are just as good. The 30 after that will probably be increasingly grim, but, what can you do?