Another royal exit

 It's been a lousy month for royalty, and, no, we're not talking about the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the ascension of King Charles III, her personality-averse son. Seriously, if beige were a person, King Chuck would be him.

But enough about the inconsequential royals. Let's talk about the royals who matter, and who have better groundstrokes to boot.

Let's talk about Serena Williams, the queen of women's tennis and its GOAT, who announced she was gravitating away from the game last month. And now let's talk about Roger Federer, the king who won 20 Grand Slam titles and presided over the men's side with such elegance and grace, and who yesterday announced he was retiring from the game at 41.

It probably wasn't a surprise, given that Federer, plagued by injury in his later years, hadn't played in a tournament since Wimbledon 15 months ago. But somehow it was a surprise, anyway, because Federer's effortless dominance created the illusion that he would play on forever, gliding around the world's tennis courts for all eternity.

If he wasn't the GOAT he was certainly among the top three, the other two being his contemporaries, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Later generations will someday be slack-jawed that three such transcendent talents, all with at least 20 Slams to his name, played at the same time. Theirs is surely the greatest era in the history of men's tennis, Connors and McEnroe and Borg and Sampras and Becker and all the rest notwithstanding.

Federer was the classic stylist among the Big Three, a man who seemed to move around the court on a cushion of air while exhibiting strokes that should have hung in the Louvre. Every swing of the racquet was a Monet; every rally a Blue Period. 

And off the court?

He was the champion's champion, a true gentleman in a sport that still fancies itself a gentleman's pursuit. The fierceness of the competition has often belied that -- Connors? McEnroe? Hello? -- but Federer melded fierceness with elegance in a way that was uniquely his.

So here's to ya, Rog. Tennis may see another like you someday, but you'll always be the prototype. Everyone hereafter will just be an imitation.