King of kings Federer leaves the grand stage ... and tennis will never be the same again

A thing of beauty is a joy forever. And so it shall be long after the epoch of the maestro, Roger Federer. To borrow from that old Romantic, Keats, it will never pass into nothingness but only increase in loveliness.

It has been a miserable week for tennis fans. To know the joy that it is to behold the Swiss at court these last 24 years is to know the melancholy that comes from his announcement to retire from professional tennis this week – and in departure, grace. To conjure up tribute and praise of equal stature would require metaphysical prowess – his are the heights that words simply cannot scale. It is to decipher the language of a piece of music and still not fathom just the thing that had moved us to such catharsis. Unquantifiable. That thing unseen. Only sensed. Felt.

It all began in 2001 when a certain pony-tailed 19-year-old announced himself to the world. It was the fourth round at Wimbledon, the teenager's first appearance on the most haloed Centre Court. And he was about to face the great American Pete Sampras. Unmatched on grass, the 14-time Grand Slam champion, Sampras was then bidding for a record-extending eighth Wimbledon title. He never did reach it.

It may well be the most beautiful tennis match played, both men classical right to the very edges of form. Off the gun of Pistol Pete, with what we now know as that swift forehand return inside the baseline, that bites as much as it makes the heart sing, Roger Federer sealed a five-set victory that signalled the passing of the torch from one great champion to another. Only, never in our wildest dreams could we have known it was the only time these two players would meet.

As it turns out, Federer was beaten by Briton Tim Henman the following match. It was only