NEW YORK (AP) -- They crisscross the globe, dominating on almost every continent, one whacking a small, white ball better than anyone in the world, the other whaling away on a fuzzy green one with equal aplomb.
Tiger Woods and Roger Federer are making history in their respective sports, owning golf and tennis the way very few ever have. Over the span of one particular weekend earlier this year, they wrote new chapters in their march toward sports history.
No. 1 in golf, Woods won his seventh straight PGA TOUR event on an early-season Sunday last January at the Buick Invitational in San Diego, a record eclipsed only by Byron Nelson back in the 1940s when the competition wasn't as tough. He also won the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in August, giving him a total of 13 major titles heading into 2008.
No. 1 in tennis, Federer won the Australian Open a half a world away at the same time, marking his 10th Grand Slam victory and furthering his quest to become the best tennis player ever. He went on to win the French Open for the first time and the U.S. Open for the third time, giving him a total of 12 Grand Slam titles heading into 2008.
Their excellence has united them over the years. They have become friends, and neither lets his own accomplishment go unnoticed by the other.
Theirs is a friendly rivalry between two men who never have to play each other -- the 31-year-old golf star and a 26-year-old counterpart on the tennis circuit. They are athletes who dominate in individual, sometimes lonesome, sports -- men who recognize the commitment and sacrifice that must be made, even if the games they play may seem foreign to the other.
Last year, Woods was in Federer's box to watch his U.S. Open victory. A few months later, Federer walked the course with Woods at a golf tournament in China and then again in the run-up to the WGC-CA Championship in Miami. Though many wonder how the joys of fatherhood might affect him, Woods conceded his charge toward the top of golf's record book might be a more realistic quest than Federer's.
"The only thing going for me is I've got longevity in my corner," Woods said,acknowledging the reality that golfers can play on a top level into their 40s, while tennis players fade out much earlier.
Not so long ago, Nelson's record of 11 straight victories seemed untouchable. Nelson racked up those wins under very different circumstances, before golf reached the heights it's at today and before seemingly every player had a swing guru and a personal trainer.
Though Nelson's record suddenly appears reachable, Woods remains focused on another number: 18. That's the number of majors Jack Nicklaus won. But as much as Nicklaus, maybe Woods really should bekeeping his eye on Federer, who's one major short in tennis of where Tiger stands in golf.
As in golf, excellence in tennis can be judged either by dominance in the majors or by week-in, week-out success. Either way, Federer passes the test.
During the Australian Open in Melbourne, he became the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to go through a major without losing a set. Federer tied a 73-year-old record by making his seventh consecutive final in majors. He needs only two more Grand Slam wins to match the record of 14 held by Pete Sampras.
"Roger is dominating the game much, much more than I ever did," Sampras said. "What he's done the last three years hasn't ever been done in the sport."
At the end of the Australian Open, Federer already has enough points in the tennis standings to ensure he would break Jimmy Connors' record of 160 straight weeks atop the men's rankings by the end of February. He recently stretched that record to 204 weeks in a row.
"Breaking records and doing something that hasn't been done for a long time, it's really nice," Federer said.
And as we have seen so far, with these athletes, almost anything seems possible.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
