“With all the injury problems we have in men’s tennis at the moment, I’m happy to still be standing.” – Roger Federer
But for how long? How long can he stand the inside out forehand of Nadal or the authoritative cross court double-hand backhand from Djokovic.
We want to see that one-hand backhand one more time, down the line. We just want one more from Roger. Can he give us the 18th?
To go from slam number 16th (2010 Australian Open) to 17th (2012 Wimbledon), he took more than two years. And in those two years he was just there, just about there, in 2011 reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open and the US Open and the finals of the French Open (where yet again he lost to the Mallorcan on clay).
Can Serena show Roger the way? She is still doing it. Born just 48 days apart, Serena just won her 17th Grand Slam title, at the age of 31, demolishing everyone coming in her way. Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt found his lost touch in the US Open but lost in the 4th round. Hewitt lost the touch way back but still he has not stopped trying. Federer could take a cue from former world number one. Even our very own Leander is doing it at the age of 40 by winning his 14th Grand Slam title in New York.
For Federer it was never about hitting out opponents, he never played physical; he beat his opponents in the head. It was always his hand eye coordination, his deft touches that bemused his opponents. He could play the most outrageous of shots with ridiculous ease. But now his head and hand don’t work together. Even in the interviews he is always talking about how he missed a trick or two, how he had a bad day, how his opponent just outplayed him. We are not used to this. We want to see him win and talk about it.
It is not that he is not trying to get that touch back; he even went ahead with changing his racquet by opting for a bigger racquet (98-inch square frame racquet – eight inches larger than his previous racquet) after his dismal Wimbledon campaign, but to no avail as he lost to a little known Argentine qualifier (Federico Delbonis) in the semi finals of the German Tennis Championships. He soon switched back to his original racquet for the US Open.
His dip in form could be attributed to his bad back, as he is not 100% in shape, but so are other top players. Nadal came back from a long injury layoff that kept him out for seven months and won his 13th Grand Slam title on his least favourite surface.
A dismal year has gone by and there is a lot to reflect upon but the big question will always remain; Fed Ex has derailed or there is still some steam left in it.