Federer the tennis magician

No, the even more compelling reason to hail Federer is that he is quite simply the best thing to behold in sport today, a true artist who seems to be altering perceptions of what's possible in his game with his sublime all-court game and supreme athleticism.

He seems to have combined the vivid imagination and dazzling shotmaking of a John McEnroe with the almost robotic choice of the right option, like some latter day Bjorn Borg. Having found steel, hunger and judiciousness to go with genius, the combination seems irresistible.

With four Grand Slams to his name at 23 compared to Pete Sampras's five at the same age, the prospect of him surpassing the great American's all-time record of 14 titles does not feel outlandish, especially if he masters the French Open's red clay in a way Sampras never quite could.

But what about the Sports Personality bit? "I'm a funny guy, I'm outgoing, you can have a lot of fun with me," he has said, yet that's never really come across. Even despite the on-court blubbing after his first Wimbledon triumph, the public persona has perhaps been fairly grey.

It is interesting watching that in the Henman interview, Federer still sounds like the junior partner, a bit more shy and quiet than his mate.

In a desperate quest for colour, the best I could glean from his website is that he has a weird habit of banging his head against his pillow when sleeping, that he'd like to be James Bond in the movies and that he is a big cricket fan.

Still, forget it. The personality is all to be found in his tennis, the colour in his brush strokes on court.

Watching Schumacher's mastery ultimately leaves you cold; Federer's never does.

There's the virtuoso individuality in the one-handed shots he kept stubbornly persisting with as a kid when others urged him to switch to the double-handed backhand; there's the fearless risk-taking which reflects his bold decision to have forged this incredible season without a coach, having dumped Peter Lundgren last December.

It was Tracey Austin who suggested recently that some of

Federer's shots should be deemed illegal because they're just unplayable. Sometimes, the man himself appears to not quite to understand how he does it himself, though when asked how he returns Roddick's monster serves so apparently effortlessly, he just smiles sagely: "Magicians don't share their tricks."

Quite right too. His farewell to Henman on the film is to shrug modestly "I had a ridiculous year" as if it was a pure one-off.

Perhaps he just didn't want to crush the will of his hapless pursuers any further as he was really pondering to himself: "And for my next trick . . . the Grand Slam."