Roger Federer has always been a student of tennis. While still a teenager more than 20 years ago, Federer was interested in who the sport’s great historical figures were, what they won and how they styled their strokes.

Federer latched on to Rod Laver of Australia, who is the only tennis player to win the Grand Slam — Wimbledon and the Australian, French and United States championships — twice, in 1962 and 1969. Federer’s own play is reminiscent of Laver’s with graceful groundstrokes followed by explosive but perfectly timed forays to the net.