Federer- Er Er Erred: Part-1

After 2 months of fortitude, I’ve done with downloading WIMBLEDON MEN’S SINGLES FINAL-08, so far the best Wimbledon finals, no no, the best tennis match I’ve watched.

With darkness enveloping Centre Court and the clock showing 9:15 p.m., Rafael Nadal watched as Roger Federer's errant forehand settled into the net, ending what might have been the greatest men's final on the greatest stage in tennis. With that, Nadal flopped onto his back on the worn-out lawn as Champion of Wimbledon for the first time and conqueror of the five-time winner and grass-court master. Roger Federer’s Wimbledon loss is too much of a shock to me that I really don’t feel like saying anything about this very sad result. All the credit goes to Rafael Nadal staying in the match but my heart truly goes out to Roger. 

The dejected expression in his face, holding the Runner-up trophy to his chest seems like grasping a fire and the one that is made for you, the trophy that can be changed as Federer Winitdon is bitten by arch-rival was a pain to watch. I keep on playing the video with a slight hope that Federer forehand turning a winner though I know it can’t.

 

Among all tennis players that I admire, ROGER FEDERER is my favorite and I always rate him the best player in the history of the game, I always thought that PETE SAMPRAS was the best, but personally I believe that Federer has better skills, but of course Pete Sampras is a great a player and he was my favorite in the past. Other players for whom I’ve cheered where Ana Ivanovic, Marat Safin, Martina Hingis, Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic. But of course on top of them is Federer. If you watch Federer playing, you will definitely notice how smart he is, I’ve never seen someone playing like him, the way he puts the ball on the line, the incredible back-hand shot that drives the opponent outside the field, not to mention the great aces.

 

For more than four years, Roger Federer was the undisputed king of tennis, dominating and demoralizing opponents like perhaps no other athlete in history. But he has looked very human last year. The Swiss genius lost the World No. 1 ranking after a record 237-week residency relinquishing the crown to Spain's Rafael Nadal. For the first time since 2003, he entered the U.S. Open without the top seed tag. He has stumbled through the year with just two tournament wins and not a single Grand Slam title beating worn out MURRAY who has stunned his nemesis-NADAL, in the US OPEN finals.

 

 

And Federer racked up almost as many losses (15) in a single year as he had in the previous three seasons combined (18). Worse, some of those defeats came against players outside the top 20 -- notably American Mardy Fish, Czech plunger Radek Stepanek, Giles Simon, Canas and Ivo Karlovic, all lowered his colors, whom he had previously dispatched in straight sets. Even Andy Roddick, usually a pushover rival, managed to get in on the act, registering only his second win in 17 starts against Federer and James Blake, who was 0-8 against Federer, shut him out of Olympics.

 

Federer's 2008 proved as much. His grand slam season was hardly shabby. The roots of Federer's struggles last season could be traced to the beginning of the year. The season began with an energy-sapping bout of glandular fever that affected his fitness level through the spring. Tennis history is littered with champions struggling for fitness or health. He lost in the semifinals of the Australian Open to eventual champion NOVAK DJOKOVIC and did not win his first tournament until April, enduring uncharacteristic losses along the way. Then, there was a frightful thrashing by Rafael Nadal in Federer’s third straight failed attempt to win the final on the Paris red clay in which he won just four games in a straight sets loss. But the big blow came in slaying the LION at its den. A crushing five-set defeat to Nadal at Wimbledon, that many consider to be the best ever played. Federer entered having won five straight titles at the All England Club and had beaten Nadal in the two previous finals. He has not gotten over it still. 

Federer has called the loss one of the most disappointing of his career, and he has yet to show he has rebounded mentally. Federer in press conference said that he played good match, I don’t agree with him because he missed so many opportunities which could have given him the record setting sixth Wimbledon Championship. He will realize his mistakes once he has chance of looking at the match critically and will avoid the same mistakes of getting alarmed on important match points.  Or if an exhausting four and a half years at the top or running smack into a wall of Spanish muscle habitually had derailed his poise and penetrated his resolve. Whatever has gone wrong, has there been a more precipitous decline from No. 1 to No. 2? A year ago, it didn’t seem possible that Nadal could close so fast. 

It shows you how uncertain tennis can be, even when you're talking about someone who dominated for four years. You never know when you're going to see the beginning of the end. It's hard to predict. You work so hard to build that invincibility, knowing that at any moment it could break. You lose a little confidence in your shots, and all of the sudden you start to second guess yourself, and the players start to feel that now they have a shot against you.  Roger has lost confidence and belief in his supernatural abilities, and so fails to blow his opponents off the court; and his opponents starting to see Federer as vulnerable, not as dominant as he used to be, and that they even have a chance of thumping him. Several young players, including Nadal, Djokovic and Britain's Andy Murray, have been improving rapidly.

Federer acknowledged that his consciousness has taken a beating.

“But at the same time I think it's always been difficult to beat all these guys. It's just a matter of losing some matches where I feel like I shouldn't have lost. And then sometimes it plays a trick in your mind where you think maybe you're not playing that well actually, but it's actually not the case."

It sounds crazy to ask, but is Federer even capable of reclaiming the titles he has lost in 2008? The twinkling star over his head has been replaced by an evil look. What troubles this 27-year-old, who paraded into 2008 with 12 Grand Slam titles, seemingly assured of passing Pete Sampras’s 14, but who now makes his legions of fans pensively wonder if he will ever cross 14 in 2009?

To Be Continued….. 

 

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