Roger Federer no longer evokes fear at the other end

Circa July 7, 2008: A day after Roger Federer lost the Wimbledon final to nemesis Rafael Nadal, a journalist asked the Swiss master if anything had changed.

Well, given that the man had just lost the title he’d won five years in a row since 2003, tasted defeat after 65 consecutive triumphs on his favourite surface and slipped to No 2 in the world rankings after a mind-boggling 237 weeks at the top, the query seemed impertinent, insensitive and unreasonable.

But Federer being Federer came up with a candid reply, “Every day is a new day. But as long as I wake up to find Mirka by my side in bed, nothing changes.”

When Federer hit that short forehand into the net in near darkness — 9:16 pm London time to be painfully precise — he had, for all practical purposes, drawn the curtains on his era. The marathon tussle, watched by the likes of Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, and widely considered the greatest tennis match ever contested, lasted four hours and 48 minutes. In the end, the prince usurped the king.

But Federer, who lost in front of the man whose record of five straight Big W titles he was trying to surpass, did not lose heart. He did not quit the game in a jiffy; purchase an island off the Swedish coast, or a penthouse in Monte Carlo. Nor did he become fodder for the paparazzi by fuelling rumours of a drug overdose and an attempted suicide.

Federer, then a month away from his 27th birthday, came back to capture his 13th Grand Slam title in emphatic fashion by beating Andy Murray in straight sets at the US Open. Next year, he lost to Nadal in the final of the Australian Open, his tears at the end perhaps demonstrating how badly he felt the loss, leading poor Nadal to apologise!

Federer experienced, perhaps, the best moment of his tennis career when he got that monkey off his back by winning his maiden French Open title after several failed attempts. And in the process, he completed the coveted ‘Career Slam’. Weeks later, he went past Sampras’s record of 14 Grand Slam titles by beating Andy Roddick for a sixth Wimbledon title and regaining the No 1 ranking he’d lost exactly 12 months ago.

A shock loss at the hands of Juan Martin del Potro in the 2009 US Open final did shake him, but Federer started the next season with a bang by winning his fourth title in Melbourne to take his major tally to 16.

Having won more Grand Slam titles than any other man, the wait for the 17th trophy becomes longer — 2011 has been the first since 2002 without a major. In fact, he won three of the four majors in 2004, 2006 and 2007, besides pocketing two each in 2005 and 2009 while 2008 and 2003 and 2010, (one major each) were his ‘worst’ years.

Still, it’s an open secret that Federer is no longer invincible. Younger players know that they have the game to take on the champion. Robin Soderling (2010 French Open quarterfinals), Tomas Berdych (2010 Wimbledon quarterfinals) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2011 Wimbledon quarterfinals) did look like they had cracked the Federer code.

This year, Federer also suffered shocking losses (Wimbledon and US open) after being two sets to love up. He had an imposing 178-0 record before Tsonga stunned him in London. Djokovic emulated the Frenchman’s feat in New York.

Age is obviously one factor and like Andre Agassi when he crossed the 30 mark, the trick for Federer is to keep the points short. And then, for someone who holds every possible record in the game, motivation, or the lack of it, can also be one.

Evidently, Federer has admitted that he just needs to spend some time with his babies and even the worst of days turn out to be good. He has, however, vehemently denied that he lacks that desire to win titles. Federer still aspires to become No 1 and the singles gold at next year’s London Olympics is one of his many targets. Drive and impetus are subjective factors so let’s leave it at that.

Soderling, Berdych, Tsonga, Monfils — and of course Nadal, Djokovic and Murray — have all succeeded in their efforts to attack the Federer game, including the backhand which is weaker than his other strokes. But barring Nadal, who enjoys a superior head-to-head record against Federer, the others have, more often than not, bitten the dust in subsequent meetings with Federer.

The invincibility slowdown is evident in matches where Federer needs more than an inch to take a mile. In his prime, Federer required just a whiff of a chance and his opponents would be trampled in no time. Nowadays, even bucketful of break points do him no good. In sport, like in life, the emotion that psyches us out the most is fear. For, it commands respect. Once you fail to evoke fear, you cease to be invincible. These days, Federer is on the wrong side of that ‘exchange’.

Federer’s serve is, perhaps, his most underrated shot. He has so many tricks up his sleeve that many forget that it’s the serve that defines his game. The arrival of Paul Annacone has brought some admirable tweaks to Federer’s game, but statistics seem to suggest that his service is more error-prone now. The moment he fails to make the first serve, Federer, more often than not, goes for the kick serve — an Annacone addition — which catches the opponent’s racquet high. But the margin for error in this case is minimal.

As ever, it can sometimes be a problem that Federer has too many options on a tennis court, too many shots that only he can pull off. This choice — against better opponents — can sometimes do him in. Baseline grinders and counter-punchers, which the courts seem to create these days, stick with their Plan ‘A’ no matter what. Whenever Federer wants to impose himself, he does it by coming towards the net by executing silken volleys. That was indeed the striking feature of his game in Melbourne as well as the World Tour Finals in London last season. Those are chances he needs to take.

Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall (four each), Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi (two) and Pete Sampras (one) managed to do what many hope Federer can — win a Grand Slam in their 30s. They all fall in the ‘legend’ category and each of them considers Federer a notch or two above themselves. So to say that Federer won’t win a Grand Slam again would be like saying Sachin Tendulkar won’t complete that much-awaited century of centuries. Foolhardy to so speak! Tennis needs Federer more than Federer needs tennis.

Minutes after he lost to Djokovic last week, Federer said, “It’s awkward having to explain this loss because I feel like I should be doing the other (winner’s) press conference. He came back, he played well. I didn’t play so well at the very end. It’s disappointing, but I have only myself to blame. I had it. There’s no more I could do. He snaps one shot, and then the whole thing changes.”
Even though Federer looks like a pale shadow of himself, it’s worth remembering that shadows aren’t always black, are they?