When Sampras was dominating men’s tennis, everyone said that no one would ever be as consistent as Sampras was, win as many titles, etc.  Well, now only a few years later, here is Roger Federer at age 25… and not to take anything away from Sampras, but Federer’s record over the past 2-3 years has been amazingly consistent.  For example, Federer is the first player since Rod Laver in 1969 to reach the finals of all four Grand Slams in one season and, of course, he won the title at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.  Following in Borg’s French-Wimbledon combo, Federer has won both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open for three consecutive years, a unique feat.  Federer has also now competed in 6 consecutive Grand Slam finals and has joined Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe as the only other players in the Open era to have won 3 consecutive U.S. Open titles.  Federer has also led the ATP rankings for 136 weeks and only two players have held the Number One ranking longer, i.e. Jimmy Connors for 160 weeks and Ivan Lendl for 157 weeks.  Federer didn’t win as a teenager like Borg and Sampras, but he started to win consistently earlier than someone like Lendl.  Records stir competitive juices and are meant to be broken; Federer’s legacy has yet to be written…