With two strong contenders—Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray—standing in the way of the World No. 1, some are already talking about how weakened Federer’s chances are. But, should it matter to the Swiss maestro?
Well-trodden path
This is not the first time that Federer has had to wade his way through younger opponents. Leave aside players like Stepanek, Haas, Hewitt and Roddick because most other players are younger and perhaps, stronger.
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Some of us can script our own life story, only a rare few of us can edit it. It is this editing in sportspersons’ lives that decides where they will eventually stand.
Federer has done it: from being a racket-smashing youngster to a man on a seemingly never-ending tennis campaign of seduction with his preternatural authority in shot-making. As for how influential he is as a human being and as an ambassador of sport, a lot of ink has already been spilled.
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Sometimes, monumental losses prove not how far apart the talents of the winner and the runner-up were, but how agonizingly close.
The 2008 Wimbledon final between Federer and Nadal proved just that. On any other day, losing a match by five points (204 of Federer’s to 209 of Nadal’s) would not have turned out to be so colossal.
But it did. Such was the game and the rivalry.
For most of his fans, I think Federer’s first French Open in 2009 almost erased the pain caused by this loss. For me, it is still the most tragic moment. I knew he would win the FO some day.
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Some players like Djokovic and Nadal make news about pullouts as much as they do about their wins and losses.
Djokovic has been off-colours lately. We have seen him struggling hard to catch a breath especially after long rallies in recent tournaments. And then came his loss to Nadal at Monte Carlo, putting to rest arguments about the likelihood of his continuing dominance.
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The celebrations of the truly epic final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal at the 2012 Australian Open had just begun. Firecrackers were lighting up the sky. Champagne corks were popping. Djokovic was being elevated to the highest ranks. Tombstones were being erected for Maestro Roger Federer.
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Pic source: Getty Images-B/R
As it rained confetti at the 100th Australian Open awards ceremony, there stood Rafael Nadal next to Novak Djokovic—facing floodlights of despair, looking lost, but still holding on gracefully. A layer beneath this grace was the look of a stranger in a strange land.
The Rod Laver Arena was no more the paradise that he inhabited some Slams ago. Someone else lives in there. And that someone has found answers to all the puzzles that helped him rattle his opponents and win ever so emphatically. The more defeats he suffers at the hands of his nemesis, the farther he walks from this paradise. Continue reading
Honestly speaking, I thought it was Nadal’s 11th. To think that you could beat the greatest retriever of the ball ever in the history of tennis in a five-setter that dragged on for nearly six hours is sheer audacity. More so after you go out of breath in the decider, go down a break and break back Nadal and break him again and serve out the for the championship! That’s crazy! Continue reading
It’s hard to scribble even a few lines when your favourite player gives his best and still walks out the loser. Yet, the only way to soothe this heartache is to just write it out. Continue reading
When Roger Federer‘s ATP ranking slipped to No.4 recently, it kicked off yet another “write-off-Roger” season.
There have been quite a few of those already.
Back in 2008, Mats Wilander had prophesied that Roger would never equal Pete Sampras’s 14 grand slams. No wonder a majority of tennis experts kept him out of the pre-French Open buzz this year.
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My first ever tennis writeup for Bleacher Report became the lead of the day!
When No.3 Roger Federer lost to J W Tsonga in the Wimbledon quarters this year, a friend of mine texted me saying, “The soul is out of Wimbledon.”
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Has Japan Open put together another brain-teaser for Rafael Nadal?
Having lost to Novak Djokovic in six of the 10 finals and beaten British No.1 Andy Murray in the last five matches, Nadal must have thought it would be yet another day in the post-tsunami Japan bringing in yet another victory over the world No. 4.
How Murray lost the first set of the Japan Open Finals today is a no-brainer: the same defensive Murray putting the ball back in and failing to dish out winners. Nadal kept thundering down winners after winners, while Murray struggled with his first serve. Continue reading
Looks like the last thing Novak Djokovic’s coach Marian Vajda told the champion before he stepped out of the locker room was, “punish Nadal when he serves weak, push him way behind the baseline”.
Novak executed it so well that it was the best part of his gameplan, winning him his fourth major, second consecutive one after Wimbledon this year. Had he not lost to Roger Federer in the French Open semis this year, Nadal could have probably suffered Slam-drought just like Roger, and Novak would have walked away with a calendar year sweeping all four majors. Such is the ferocity of his play these days. Continue reading
Looks like I am late to catch up with this current tennis season. Montreal whizzed past with, expectedly so, No.1 Novak Djokovic lifting the trophy, winning five ATP 1000 tournaments in a year, and tucking in “a winning percentage of 98.1 better than McEnroe’s season-ending percentage of 96.5 in 1984”.
No.2 Rafael Nadal and No.4 Andy Murray exited in the first round itself, while No.3 Roger Federer fell to Tsonga in a 3-setter despite playing some of his best tennis shots. Continue reading
Seven titles (three of them against the world No.1 Rafael Nadal on clay!), a dream run of 43 matches halted by Roger Federer at this year’s French Open semis – this was clearly not the Novak Djokovic I have to come to watch for some years now.
I have never been much of a fan of Djokovic. I always thought he didn’t have the serve, the strokes, the style, and the stamina to make his game interesting enough for me to sit through the match unless he was pitted against a powerful opponent. Continue reading
ENDLESSLY GREEN 